Freebie Friday ~ Free Art Resources

Posted on 01/01/2021 by Momma Jo

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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.

Freebie Friday ~ Creative Printables by BIC SA #BICStayInspired

Posted on 26/06/2020 by Momma Jo

_{This post may contain affiliate links which help support my family. Thank you for stopping by.}

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!

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.

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.

©Monsters Ed

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

©Monsters Ed

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

©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.

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.

Monsters in the kitchen: Milo Brownies Recipe with Fifi

Posted on 21/07/2018 by Momma Jo

_{This post may contain affiliate links which help support my family. Thank you for stopping by.}

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!

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.

Do you have any go to Milo recipes? I’d love to hear what they are!

STEAM Kids Book Review

Posted on 14/09/2016 by Momma Jo

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STEAM Kids

STEAM Kids – Hands-on Projects for Kids

STEAM Kids is an E-book dedicated to over 50 science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics hands-on projects for kids. I printed out and bound the e-book for the kids to page through with me. The excitement on their faces was infectious! They are super excited to work their way though this book.

STEAM Kids is all about inspiring our next generation of inventors, innovators and leaders to question like a scientist, design like a technologist, build like an engineer, create like an artist, deduce like a mathematician and play like a kid.

This book was written by these amazing bloggers:
Anne Carey from Left Brain Craft Brain
Ana Dziengel from Babble Dabble do
Amber Scardino from Wee Warhols
Chelsey Marashain from Buggy and Buddy
Dayna Abraham from Lemon Lime Adventures
Erica Clark from What Do We Do All Day?
Jamie Hand from Handmade Kids Art
Karyn Tripp from Teach Beside Me
Leslie Manlapig from Pink Stripey Socks
Malia Hallowell from Playdough to Plato
PR Newton from STEAM Powered Family
STEAM Kids

What I Love About This Book

This book has an amazing array of activities that your kids will love. Each activity comes with a complete list of materials required for that activity as well as a difficulty rating that gives you an indication which activities you can do with different ages.
STEAM Kids
At the back of the book, they have an eleven plag Activity Planner that provides week-long activity guides as well as shopping lists to make those hands-on learning opportunities easy for you.

You can download the FREE PRINTABLE, 52 STEAM Challenges for Creative Kids, HERE.

ONE WEEK ONLY – 2 Books for the Price of 1!

Purchase the books Individually Below

STEAM Kids

Hearts for Home Blog Hop #124 ~ Crafts

Posted on 25/08/2016 by Momma Jo

_{This post may contain affiliate links which help support my family. Thank you for stopping by.}

H4H

The Hearts for Home Blog Hop is a weekly blog hop that begins every Thursday morning. The theme of this blog hop is showing that our hearts are for our homes. Post topics include: homeschooling, marriage, parenting, homemaking, faith, budgeting, crafts, DIY projects and more! We would love to see you link up your posts. We feature the most popular post and a few of our favorites every week! Will you be one of the next Featured Bloggers?

Not a blogger? That’s okay! This blog hop will be your one stop location to finding ideas and inspiration for fulfilling your role as a wife, mother and follower of Christ. We are so glad you have stopped by!

Meet my cohosts here!

Featured blogger with the most clicks last week ~ Why My Homeschooled Kids Are Not Given the Choice to Go to Public School (Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool)

8 Awesome Handprint Art Projects to Do With Your Kids (Enrichment Studies)

Paint Bones! Painting with a twist (The Jenny Evolution)

Vegetable Prints (Ava’s Alphabet)

Make a Brazilian Carnival Mask (A Moment in Our World)

HEARTS FOR HOME BLOG HOP GUIDELINES

Welcome! Please make sure to link directly to your post (not your main blog page) so we can find the fabulous post you want to share. Each week we will select someone’s blog link up that our readers “clicked” with the most and share some of my favorite posts that were linked up! Thank you!

Hearts for Home @ Monsters Ed Homeschooling Academy

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.monstersed.co.za/hearts-for-the-home-blog-hop/" title="Hearts for Home @ Monsters Ed Homeschooling Academy"><img src="http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/yy312/monstersed/Blog%20-%20product%20reviews/Featured300x300_zpsdc651239.jpg" alt="Hearts for Home @ Monsters Ed Homeschooling Academy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Please make sure to display our Hearts for Home button on your blog post, sidebar or tabs. This button can be found on the blog hop each week. Kindly make sure to visit some of the other wonderful bloggers who have linked up here. Were you featured on our Hearts for Home Blog Hop? Congratulations! Grab a Featured button to proudly display on your blog or website.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.monstersed.co.za/hearts-for-the-home-blog-hop/" title="Hearts for Home @ Monsters Ed Homeschooling Academy"><img src="http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/yy312/monstersed/Blog%20-%20product%20reviews/CoHostH4HButton300x300_zpscd87ae73.jpg" alt="Hearts for Home @ Monsters Ed Homeschooling Academy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

We invite everyone to get “clicking” and have some blog hopping fun!

We have created a Pinterest Board so that we can help spread the word on the blog’s that have had featured posts on our Hearts for Home Blog Hop. Make sure to stop by and check it out HERE.

An InLinkz Link-up

Hearts for Home Blog Hop #117 ~ Arts and Crafts

Posted on 12/05/2016 by Momma Jo

_{This post may contain affiliate links which help support my family. Thank you for stopping by.}

H4H

Meet my cohosts here!

Featured blogger with the most clicks last week ~ Summer schedules {a printable} (The Logbook)
Craft

Creative Block? You Can’t Force Creativity (Busy Being Jennifer)
Craft

Happy Mother’s Day Coloring Page (Sight and Sound Reading)
Craft

Mother’s Day Printable Cards (Sight and Sound Reading)
Craft

Spring Flowers Art Project (Greatly Blessed)
Craft

Springtime Paper Rose Garland (Sparkle)
Craft

Paper Plate Crafts for Toddlers (My Bored Toddler)
Craft

Even More Fabulous Fabric Projects and Tutorials (Nap-Time Creations)
Craft

Blue Pineapple Painted Serving Tray (Sparkle)
Craft

HEARTS FOR HOME BLOG HOP GUIDELINES

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.monstersed.co.za/hearts-for-the-home-blog-hop/" title="Hearts for Home @ Monsters Ed Homeschooling Academy"><img src="http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/yy312/monstersed/Blog%20-%20product%20reviews/Featured300x300_zpsdc651239.jpg" alt="Hearts for Home @ Monsters Ed Homeschooling Academy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.monstersed.co.za/hearts-for-the-home-blog-hop/" title="Hearts for Home @ Monsters Ed Homeschooling Academy"><img src="http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/yy312/monstersed/Blog%20-%20product%20reviews/CoHostH4HButton300x300_zpscd87ae73.jpg" alt="Hearts for Home @ Monsters Ed Homeschooling Academy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

We invite everyone to get “clicking” and have some blog hopping fun!

We have created a Pinterest Board so that we can help spread the word on the blog’s that have had featured posts on our Hearts for Home Blog Hop. Make sure to stop by and check it out HERE.

An InLinkz Link-up