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\nSchool holidays can feel like a marathon if all the kids want to do is watch TV, play Minecraft or repeatedly ask you for the iPad.<\/p>\n
\nSchool holidays can feel like a marathon if all the kids want to do is watch TV, play Minecraft or repeatedly ask you for the iPad.<\/p>\n
There are lots of things you can do inside the house that do not involve a screen. And will help ward off any whines along the lines of: \u201cI\u2019m booooooored\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a\u00a0previous piece<\/a>\u00a0I talked about how to set up an art studio at home. This time, here are five creative ideas to try in every room of the house.<\/p>\n Kids enjoy making potions in the garden by adding dirt and flowers and you can have similar fun in the kitchen making paint from ingredients in the cupboard.<\/p>\n Paint is made with pigment and a binder. The\u00a0first paint on cave walls<\/a>\u00a0was made with charcoal, ochre, minerals mixed with water, saliva, blood, animal fat and even wee. The history of paint is fascinating and kids are intrigued by the stories, like how a certain purple (tyrian) comes from the\u00a0glands of sea snails<\/a>\u00a0and how a type of yellow was cruelly made from\u00a0cow wee<\/a>, after forcing them to eat mango leaves.<\/p>\n You can make your own paint with spices like turmeric, curry powder and cinnamon or hunt through the house for chalk and eye shadow for a variety of colours.<\/p>\n Grind the pigments up with a mortar and pestle (some will need this more than others but it\u2019s a fun part of the process). Then in a glass or jar, mix your ground pigments with a bit of egg yolk, a teaspoon of vinegar and a small amount of water as a binder and you have made\u00a0egg tempera<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a type of paint the Egyptians discovered and some artists still use today.<\/p>\n Experiment with other spices, berries, grass or charcoal. If it\u2019s colourful, you can grind it and its not too lumpy, give it a go. See how many colours you can make, then make a painting.<\/p>\n Kids who may not like to draw or paint often love construction. So, collect different types of boxes and see what your child can create.<\/p>\n Apart from the boxes, you will also need masking tape. Kids can tear it themselves, or use a dispenser. Staplers and hole punchers are good connectors too. Also give them some thick markers, fabric scraps and glue to add details to their creations.<\/p>\n One holiday, we lived around my daughter\u2019s construction zone as she worked with cardboard, other items from the recycling bin and things from around the house to make her own house.<\/p>\n This won\u2019t be possible for everyone, but think about letting your child paint a mural in their bedroom. My mum let us create fantastic scenes in our bedrooms growing up.<\/p>\n Start by mapping out a basic design on paper. This slows the process down, allowing the child to think about what they would like on their walls. But be prepared for the plan to go out the window. Sometimes as artists we respond to the materials when we get them in our hands.<\/p>\n The trick to creating a successful mural with kids is selecting a good colour palette and you really can\u2019t go wrong.<\/p>\n Get some sample-sized pots of water-based interior paint and bristle brushes from the hardware shop. Then tape a drop sheet to the floor and cover anything else you don\u2019t want covered in paint and go for it!<\/p>\n If this is too freestyle for you, have a look at the wonderful \u201cfield of flowers\u201d activity in Herv\u00e9 Tullet\u2019s book,\u00a0Art Workshops for Children<\/a>. This is a more structured approach to a collaborative painting and yields beautiful results (it starts with dots, then dots within dots and you end up with a field of flowers).<\/p>\n If this is not possible where you live, consider liquid chalk pens to create murals on the windows. This is so much fun and you can play with tracing things outside the window.<\/p>\n Pick an array of colours and overlap line drawings to build up patterns on the glass. This is so easy to clean too \u2013 just wipe it off with a wet cloth.<\/p>\n The dining table is the perfect spot for projects and drawing. I find kids love creating comics. The book\u00a0Making Comics<\/a>\u00a0by Lynda Barry has excellent exercises to get you started on comic strips, storyboards and zines.<\/p>\n Zines are mini DIY booklets. You can fill them with ideas using drawing, collage and words. Check out my\u00a0how to make a zine video<\/a>\u00a0done for the National Museum of Australia\u2019s\u00a0Ancient Greeks exhibition<\/a>\u00a0last year.<\/p>\n You could do something similar: take your young person to see an exhibition, collect some flyers or postcards, and then at home cut them up and stick them into a zine. This can extend your child\u2019s museum experience, and provides a chance to discuss and make sense of what you saw together.<\/p>\n Children use drawing to make sense of the world around them. When my son was five, he made a comic about a gallery experience: how he didn\u2019t want to go, how he felt about some of the artworks, and how he was relieved to get out because he was scared by some of the work.<\/p>\n This gave me the opportunity to see how strongly he was affected by the exhibition and we were able to talk about those feelings.In the kitchen: make your own paint<\/strong><\/h4>\n
In the living room: create a box masterpiece<\/strong><\/h4>\n
In your child\u2019s bedroom: paint a mural<\/strong><\/h4>\n
In the dining room: make a comic<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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