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My grandkids and I are having a fun time with an art class they are attending as part of their homeschooling programs. When I first heard about it, I thought, "I don't think they'll like it." But I was wrong! They LOVE it! And guess what, you don't have to sign your grandchildren up for the class to have fun doing what we are doing. You can do it sporadically with your grandchildren when they come to visit. How fun is that!
Head to the library, or Amazon, and look at all the various children's picture books. Pick out some that you enjoy. When the grandkids come over, sit and read one – three books by the same author/illustrator. One I'm especially excited to get to is all the books by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond. Among her many kids books, she's written, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie…" We all love her books, and I found several I'd missed at the library! Other interesting author/illustrators include Virginia Lee Burton, Dr. Seuss, and my personal favorite, Sandra Boynton.
Once you're read the book(s) together, spend some time reading the back of the book or looking up online to learn about the author/illustrator. Where they're from, if they're still alive, what art mediums did they use, and what was their inspiration. It's been quite fascinating to learn about old familiar authors and why they drew what they did, as well as explore new authors.
Then grab the art supplies (I have paint, colored pencils, markers, oil pastels, and charcoal), have a seat around the kitchen table in clothes that can get messy, and have fun trying to emulate the author's style. You could have them copy a picture from one of the books or you could give them something else to draw, like a figurine, just using the same medium.
Either way, the grandchildren will enjoy the drawing process, will be thinking about it more purposely than normal, and both you and they will have learned some interesting new facts about it all. A lovely way to add culture to all our lives, teach our grandkids while having fun, and exercising all our brains! For that matter, we might even invite our senior parents to sit and try a hand at the painting projects as well. Who knows! Grandma Moses started painting at 70! We might jet set our aging parents into a whole new career! Definitely fun and easy crafts ideas for the grand kids AND the seniors AND win-win-wins for all of us dealing with the Sandwich Generation issues.
And what fun for this Sandwich Generation granny nanny as I join up with the Carnival of Homeschooling – Homeschool Makeover Edition AND the Hip Homeschool Hop! Whether you are homeschooling your kids, helping out with homeschooling your grandkids, or just looking for more useful educational ideas, both of these are excellent resources. And another fun resource by a grandma for all of us grandparents, Grandma's Briefs! Be sure to stop by and say hi. 🙂 And…
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