Monday, August 15, 2011

Fostering Creativity

I lost my mom to cancer when I was a teenager, but her many lessons of love, nurturing, and creativity keep her memory vividly alive in my heart.  She always stressed the importance of art and creativity with children. 

Before they can even write, read or speak, children have an innate desire to express themselves.  Coloring, drawing, scribbling and creating allow children to have a safe outlet to communicate their innermost thoughts and feelings. 

Our home is filled with things to foster a little one's imagination and creativity.  In every nook and cranny, you can find books, easels, arts and craft supplies, paper, etc... so I was absolutely tickled pink to find a couple of treasures at garage sales this month to help organize our creative endeavors!

Just in time for back-to-school,
I came across these adorable items at local garage sales:


For just $2.00 I found an adorable pencil table that holds three shelves of creative supplies.   The nearly matching, little pencil-legged stools I purchased separately at another garage sale for $3.00.  How adorable for a child to sit on while leafing through a favorite activity book.


Designating a little area for arts and crafts not only keeps things nicely organized, but it also creates an appealing place that encourages little ones to explore and create.  You don't need special furniture to make an aesthetically pleasing craft corner - even a simple bookcase filled with containers of markers, stickers, crayons and colored pencils will more than suffice. 

An inexpensive Phineas and Ferb bucket from Target's dollar section holds colorful markers.
Stores are having awesome back-to-school supply deals right now which makes this the perfect time to stock up!  Set out buckets, cans, baskets and containers of glue sticks, papers, activity books, paper, folders, notepads, rulers, crayons, markers, etc.... all within easy reach for your kids to find. 


Empty aluminum cans (with the labels removed and the sharp edges bent under) make great little containers for holding markers and pencils.  Target's dollar section always has mini buckets, as well as other plastic containers, too.  Tin lunchboxes and pencil boxes can hold a variety of items.   


The idea is to make it accessible, colorful, and fun! 

With school starting soon, we want our kids to be enthusiastic about returning to the classroom.  As parents we want our kids to shut off the TV and do something that nurtures their development.  What child doesn't enjoy creating something of their very own? 

Simple mini bucket filled with colorful crayons


So as the summer winds down and you're out and about shopping for back-to-school supplies, pick up a few extra while the deals are hot, and create your own special spot for your kids to color, draw, and paint.  So when the temps get too cold or the weather is too harsh to venture outdoors, your kids will have somewhere extra wonderful to retreat to instead of on the couch in front of the TV :)



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this post is part of Making the World Cuter Monday.

1 comment:

  1. Of course my kids are all grown and the grandkids are MILES away, but I always like this time of year because the stores stock items that they don't throughout the year.

    Items for organization, lockers, college dorms... just neat items that can be used in the home.

    Enjoy you little ones now...

    Remember the Bunny Hop linky is up Tuesday night for my party.

    xoxo Bunny Jean
    Bunny Jean's Decor and More! (my main blog)

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