Freebie Friday ~ Free Art Resources

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Free Art Resources

Fifi is a budding little artist and i’m forever looking for free art resources to keep her occupied. Below are a few free online tutorials I have stumbled across over the years.

Ted Harrison Art and More! from Whimsy Workshop Teaching
Free Art Resources
We studied the art of Ted Harrison, who painted in the north of Canada. His colorful but simple images are perfect for elementary students.

Free Printable: Faith Ringgold Inspired Quilt Template from Art is Basic
Free Art Resources
Many art teachers have taught about the artist Faith Ringgold and had their students create paper quilts. I have a free printable for you that will make this lesson easier. My daughter did something similar at her school in her classroom. That’s where I got the idea to use a printed template to make it easier for the students.

Free Art Tutorials from Mindful Art Studio
Free Art Resources
Free art tutorials are a great way to increase your skills on your own time and on a budget. I have lots of resources for art journaling and mixed media techniques. These are techniques for using art for self-expression and relaxation, not art therapy.

FREE Yayoi Kusama Artist Study and Book List from Homeschool Giveaways & Freebies
Free Art Resources
Are you familiar with the art of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama? Kusama’s artwork is so fun to introduce to kids because it is so colorful, playful, and meaningful. Dig into one of the illustrated children’s books about Kusama and her life. The books on this list are an easy, no prep way to introduce a little art history into your home school day. No prior knowledge is needed. Cuddle, read, and learn about Kusama together!

*Op Art Shaded Shapes from Kinder Art
Free Art Resources
Students learn about “Op Art” and then create a picture (optical illusions) that can play tricks with the eyes.

When something plays tricks on your eyes it is called an Optical Illusion. Op Art is artwork that plays tricks on our eyes.

Artist M.C. Escher is famous for having created lots of different kinds of Op Art.

FREE Art Ice Breaker First Day of School from MamasakiArt on Teachers Pay Teachers
Free Art Resources
Have FUN on the first day of art! Use this icebreaker activity to help your students get to know each other.

Two game options are included.

You Get:

Two Game Boards (One ROLL and one SPIN)
Two Make Your Own Die Templates
Two Color Wheel Spinner Printables
Instructions on How to Make a Spinner
* This product is not editable

Free Art Lesson Projects for 1st Through 5th Graders!
from How to Homeschool for Free
Free Art Resources
Do you need a simple yet affective art curriculum for your 1st through 5th grader? If so, go here to check out a FREE Art Curriculum for 1st – 5th graders. This fun art curriculum from Art Tango will have your students creating self portraits, Native American Weaving mats, Leaf Art, Collages, Silhouettes, and much more. On Art Tango you will find 30 art lessons for 1st – 5th graders, a supply list for each grade, and a vocabulary list of art terms and definitions. There are also links to YouTube videos which include drawing lessons.

Art Tutorials from Art by Ro
Free Art Resources
There are many different fun art tutorials on this site.

Sketchbook Ideas and Printables for the Technology Lover from Kitchen Table Classroom
Free Art Resources
There is no avoiding technology these days. Instead, let’s embrace it. Use these fun (& free) sketch book ideas to encourage your kids to think about technology in a conscious and creative way!

These printable sketchbook ideas are perfect as conversation starters, early finishers, or brainstorming for projects to come. Keep a stack on hand for whenever you need them!

Seahorse Art Project for Kids from The Crafty Classroom
Free Art Resources
These beautiful seahorses are adapted from an amazing torn paper collage I found at Torn Paper Paintings by Wanda Edwards. I thought it might be fun to recreate this seahorse in a way that children could color and cut with ease so I drew a template based on this seahorse and decided to color it with bleeding tissue paper instead. It’s not as stunning as Ms. Edwards torn paper art, but I think your children will be amazed at the work they can do, and this technique might inspire them to start making their own shapes from paper as well.

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Freebie Friday ~ Creative Printables by BIC SA #BICStayInspired

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Creative Printables

BIC South Africa has amazing #BICStayInspired, connecting through creativity, creative printables on their website and I must say, they have been awesome time fillers for between lessons when I’m busy helping one of the other children. They have also been great boredom busters for the girls between their Zoom dance classes!
BICStayInspired

The girls received a surprise #BICStayInspired parcel earlier this week and have had an absolute blast pulling out their BIC crafting stationery and letting the creative juices flow.
BICStayInspired

We haven’t seen my folks since just before lockdown and we are all missing them terribly. Fifi and Pixie decided to make some surprise gifts for Oupi and Ouma.

The Origami printables are fantastic and the girls had tons of fun folding a Tshirt (which Fifi turned into a Father’s day card) and flower for Ouma from Fifi.

Creative Printables

©Monsters Ed

The girls also coloured in pictures for each of the grandparents, which turned out beautifully!

BICStayInspired

©Monsters Ed


Creative Printables

©Monsters Ed

There are so many different activities to choose from, that you can keep your child, or children, busy for ages.

BICStayInspired

©Monsters Ed

Connecting Through Creativity

The Importance of Creativity in Children During Lockdown

Life under lockdown has been tough on everyone, particularly parents. Balancing work life and family time has always been a point of contention among working parents. And now that kids have been learning from home, things are extra hard.

Children are struggling too – their normal weekday routines are gone and there is limited contact with their classmates and teachers. What’s more, these changes to the structure of daily life can have a significant impact on young minds. Luckily, initiatives like the #BICStayInspired campaign have been created to inspire your little ones during this uncertain and confusing time.

Link between creativity and well-being

There have been multiple studies conducted to show that creativity and well-being are positively linked. Psychologist Bernice Castle agrees, saying that art and creativity help the development of children in various ways. “Art can be a powerful tool among children and adults alike. If children engage in hands-on art activities, they learn much better in all disciplines.”

Castle continues, “Art helps children apply their gross and fine motor skills to something meaningful and tap into their problem-solving skills through visual cognitive responses. Art has been proven to stimulate imagination, improve observation skills, boost self-esteem, provide a sense of accomplishment and reduce stress.

“Finally, art creates opportunities for them to communicate how they see and experience the world and allows them to give expression to their feelings about the situations they encounter in their daily lives,” she concludes.

Getting creative together

The need to keep kids engaged and entertained during the lockdown has left many working parents scratching their heads. Here are some ways you can tap into your kids’ creative outlets and keep them engaged in meaningful ways during these uncertain times:

Set up an art station – Dedicate a small section of your home to art projects. BIC has a wide range of high-quality stationery perfect for art projects with the kids. They’re made to last, and widely available at your favourite grocery or stationery store.

Set daily challenges – Give your kids a challenge for the day. This will help them meet daily goals and provide a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.

Keep everything – Don’t throw anything away. Display the really good art pieces and keep the rest in storage. Not only are these great keepsakes, but they show kids their work is special and deserves attention.

Find online resources – There are thousands of resources online, from blogs to Youtube tutorials and more, like the ones above. Make use of these resources to add a creative spin to things. Also see the #BICStayInspired tutorials HERE!

Get involved – Whether it’s reaching out to fellow parents or school educators or searching online, use the resources you have to get involved and stay connected.

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ABOUT BIC
BIC is a world leader in stationery, lighters and shavers. For more than 75 years, the Company has honored the tradition of providing high-quality, affordable products to consumers everywhere. Through this unwavering dedication, BIC has become one of the most recognized brands and is a trademark registered worldwide. Today, BIC products are sold in more than 160 countries around the world and feature iconic brands such as Cello®, Conté®, BIC FlexTM, Lucky Stationery, Made For YOUTM, Soleil®, Tipp-Ex®, Wite-Out® and more. In 2019, BIC Net Sales were 1,949.4 million euros. The Company is listed on “Euronext Paris,” is part of the SBF120 and CAC Mid 60 indexes and is recognized for its commitment to sustainable development and education. It received an A- Leadership score from CDP. For more, visit www.bicworld.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube.

 

 

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Gluten Intolerance

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Gluten Intolerance

We recently, through the process of elimination, discovered that Fifi has a gluten intolerance.

She has been struggling with, almost, constant stomach aches for the last few years. We learned, also though a process of elimination, that she cannot eat carrots and corn, though we suspect that this was actually the gluten that was prevalent in our diet. We are going to hide pureed carrots in food to see if she still has the same problem.

But I digress…

The bloating and cramping had persisted and her amazing ballet teacher, Kate, had been keeping a food diary (unbeknown to me) for her own records and discovered that whenever Fifi had bread (or any gluten) during her dancing hours, she would complain of stomach cramps.

We have since cut out all gluten from her diet and the bloating has disappeared! She is sleeping much better and her skin has even cleared. She always wore clothes a size bigger than her age, and has lost so much weight that we’ve had to go shopping for her age group sizes!

Finding affordable gluten free treats and bread has proven very difficult. Paying R55 for a quarter size loaf of bread is simply unreasonable on my budget, so I started baking keto bread for her.

I have found that she prefers the seed loaf from Sunflower Seed Bread. I make her bread in muffins tins. We freeze the bread individually and take two out every other day for her. They are very filling, so one “bun” per meal has been sufficient.

On the advice of a dear friend, we have been keeping a food diary and tracking her reactions to meals. So far, she has had no more adverse reactions.

We will be ordering more baking mixes from MojoMe and using my Low Carb Solution for Diabetics recipe book (AKA my diabetic bible) when making treats for her her.

I always assumed that gluten intolerance was going to make my life extremely hard. But I’m thrilled to tell you that its been a lot easier than I had expected. Many brands now have gluten free options. Baking gluten free isn’t as hard as I had expected, however, the ingredients are, unfortunately, very expensive.

Do you have any favourite gluten free recipes, or a go to website? We’d love to add more recipes to our repertoire.

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Cheese Muffins Recipe for #PackYourOwnLunchDay

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#packyourlunchday

Today is #PackYourOwnLunchDay and I’ve been challenged by NetFlorist to share our lunchboxes for tomorrow. Being homeschoolers, I don’t pack traditional lunch boxes. The children all have very busy afternoon schedules and packing snack boxes is a high priority for … Continue reading

Star Wars Party on a Budget

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star wars party

I have always found the throwing birthday parties for the kidlets to be extremely stressful and expensive. We recently gave Koko a Star Wars party for his 11th birthday. He chose a Star Wars movie night.

Our party budgets, as a rule, are small. We don’t do elaborate parties. The only “big ticket” item at parties is the themed cake or cupcakes (whatever the birthday kidlet decides they prefer).

So for Koko’s 11th birthday decorations, I found some free online printables to use as his decorations. His Happy Birthday banner came from Libby Grove Designs and the food labels from Claire from Frugal to Free.

Koko and I sat and made our list of snacks to eat at during his party. The main idea was that it should all be easy to eat without having to lug plates or bowls around.

And so, for dinner, he decided that traditional South African Vetkoek and curried mince. These mini vetkoek were dubbed Hansburgers. Get it???
star wars party
star wars party

For the drinks, he chose the Sparletta Sparberry as the C3PO OIL and Sparletta Apple Rush for the Yoda Soda.
star wars party

The other snacks that were a hit was the Simba Chips as Ewok Snacks and the Popcorn as the much anticipated Yoda.
star wars party
star wars party

Princess Leia Buns were Romany Creams, which was a brilliant stroke of luck.
Star Wars Party

Death Star Donuts were represented by chocolate covered donut ginger biscuits. These were blinking delicous!

I tried to make Lightsabers by dipping Pretzel Sticks into melted chocolate, but didn’t buy the correct chocolate *face palm*. At least the kids still ate them and pretended to sword fight with them.
Star wars party

Koko and I had also made Quick-make, no-bake brownies at his insistance, but didn’t have a label for those. These are divine and were polished off quickly. The red blobs on the serving dish is the chocolate I wanted to use for the lightsabers.
star wars party

And last, but most definitely not least, are the gorgeous and absolutely delicious Wookie Cupcakes made by the very talented The Gourmet Sugar Fairy. These are exactly what Koko wanted.
star wars party

This party was everything Koko wanted. Movies, a handful of his closest friends, food and drinks. He had the best time. You don’t need to spend thousands on a party to make your child’s day special. It’s the people and the atmosphere that count the most.

Keep an eye out for our Shimmer and Shine Party on a budget coming next month!

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Monsters in the kitchen: Milo Brownies Recipe with Fifi

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milo brownies
This week, Nestle South Africa launched the New and Improved Recipe Milo cereal and I was honoured to be at the launch. Fifi and I decided to test a new brownies recipe that’s been brewing and to change the cookies we had originally used out for the new Milo and, boy oh boy, they came out perfectly!
Brownies Recipe
Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
150g Milo cereal
2 eggs
250g butter
100ml cocoa, sifted
500g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method
1. Beat the eggs and set aside.
2. In a large microwaveable dish, melt the butter in the microwave, then add the cocoa, icing sugar, vanilla essence and eggs.
3. Mix well.
4. Microwave the butter mixture on high for 2 minutes.
5. Add the Milo Cereal to the chocolate mixture and mix until all the cereal is covered in chocolate.
6. Spread the mixture in a rectangular baking dish lined with baking paper.
7. Leave in the fridge overnight or until set (about 2 hours).
8. Cut into 4 cm squares. (I made our brownies really thick, so I had to cut mine smaller).
9. Enjoy with a hot cup of Milo.
Brownies Recipe
Pixie really, REALLY, loves these brownies, I can definitely see us making these again in the very near future.
Brownies RecipeBrownies Recipe
Do you have any go to Milo recipes? I’d love to hear what they are!

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