Do you encourage your kid's interest in art?

[childbook]

My daughter started Piano at age 3 or 4 (my wife is in charge of this), and per her 1st Piano Teacher made a huge difference in her playing. She loves to draw, but has a real talent with Photoshop. The challenge is making sure that she has enough time for her class work, and does not spend it all on graphics. We have already had a talk about careers, incomes, and outsourcing (ie don’t pick a career that can be outsourced).

[buds]

[Editor's note: Topic selected for http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/sand-art.]


I have not sent my girls for any enrichment programmes this far,
and they're now P2 and K2 respectively... So far, i've only signed
up for an http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2410&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=75 during the last June holidays,
which i must say was a BIG hit with them both! They simply loved
their time doing http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3948 at the Twinkle Art studio!

I do think that as parents we can make effort to encourage or support
our childrens' hobbies in our own way without having to spend a fortune
on upmarket enrichment programmes... if we can help it, that is..
Meaning if it's to cultivate an interest in art or craft, we can provide a
headstart by sourcing for quality art materials in the market on our own..
to do with our children. Again, this provided we have time and the
interest to start this off. On top of it all, we also get to spend time
together to bond as a family too!

As i'm a very hands-on mum, i find great pleasure in looking for fun
stuff to do with my girls.. And one hobby the 3 of us girls share
is doing Art & Craft. We do together from just drawings or sketchings,
to painting, to stamping, to Spray Art, origami and so much more....
My younger daughter received this Sand Art gift from her friend... &
a family friend too... for her last birthday. My bad! I chucked her gift
aside and forgot it was there so today we made it a point to do this
Sand Art together! Buds hubs, me, jie-jie and mei-mei! :love:
Just to share our Sunday Craft with all..


http://www.postimage.org/


The instructions were extremely simple to follow.

1. Peel off the sticker where we would like to begin with.
2. Prepare a shoe box lid/cover as a base to collect the remainder of sand.


http://www.postimage.org/


3. From the dispenser of sand colours, turn the dispenser over and pour
over the white, peeled areas. Reminds me of their milk powder dispenser
from their babyhood. Ahakz! :lol:


http://www.postimage.org/


4. May use tip of finger to rub on excess sand on the peeled areas.


http://www.postimage.org/


5. Repeat this procedure until all the stickers are peeled and the picture
is completely filled up with sand colours.


http://www.postimage.org/


http://www.postimage.org/


And the finished product....


http://www.postimage.org/


Beautiful... :love:


And we all had great family fun!

I must admit this product brand \"ALEX\" is of very high quality!
Even buds hubs was impressed! And i'm thinkin' to get
more... to surprise the girls ... am sure they'll be ecstatic!

I've laminated the pictures for my girls to keep em' in their diaries.
Can't wait to see what they'll write for this one...


http://www.postimage.org/


PS : Anyone knows where to get more of this \"ALEX\" craft products?

[chie]

buds:

Anyone knows where to get more of this \"ALEX\" craft products?

Hi buds,

I found it at this singapore online store.

http://www.tokomama.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=366_465&zenid=625f7759744419f603389e59c0fd957e

Additionally, I found on their official website (http://www.alextoys.com) that they have a singapore distributor (http://bambinilaffare.com/). I didn't call up so dunno where else they further distribute their products for retail.

Hope this info. helps a little.

Best Regards,
chie

[buds]

Thanks, Chie!!


This is very helpful.
Lemme get in touch with the
distributor my friend bought
from (the b'day prezzie)
and i'll compare prices and
update all here. Great heads
up, Chie! Appreciate it a lot!

ps. I helped you edit the long quote,
I hope you don't mind, Chie.. :oops:
Reali very long leh..

[Funz]

ooohhhh!!! DD will love this sand art thing


DD loves craft work and she likes to explore with different materials. At home both dd & ds are forever doodling. They will make little cards or name tags. I did not sign them up for any art classes. I did however tried them out for a term on technique in drawing which was held at their childcare but it bored the hell out of them. Like most kids, they are attracted to all these art and craft stuff but neither have shown and strong inclination or talent for it.

At home we have all sorts of materials for them to explore with. Started with dough, crayons, then water colours, oil pastels, craft scissors, fabric paints, charcoal pencils, etc. Sadly all of which DH threatens to throw away each time they start doing their craft. He can’t stand the mess that inevitably accompanies any art or craft session.

[Cherry blossom]

buds:

...


PS : Anyone knows where to get more of this \"ALEX\" craft products?

You can get it at Times bookstore....

[buds]

Thanks Cherry blossom!

Would you know how much?

[buds]

We tried out the other ALEX craft gift my friend gave

yesterday and it's cool too! Here's what it was...

Another product that one usually needs to pay a lot for
if done in shopping malls and also takes time to be
baked/toasted before we get to bring the craft back.
When there are dozens of kiddies working at the same
time, gotta wait for one toaster to bake and cool for
quite a bit and that part i dun quite like. This ALEX
Window Stickers or some like to call it 'Sun Catchers'
> does not need baking. Just need to leave it
to dry and it'd be ready for sticking on your window,
mirror or glass surfaces... quite cool and pretty.

http://www.postimage.org/

First, place the plastic sheet given in the package over the
templates of pictures that you wish to work on. Simply use
the bottle with the plain coloured outliner & leave to dry for
about 2 hours. Having tried other brands before, i find the
mixture in this one is the perfect texture. Not too gooey-soft
and not to hard till it spurts. Tip : Shake bottle before use.

If one plans to do it with kiddies in the day, i wud suggest
that the outline be done the following night. It will dry up
nicely for play the following day.

http://www.postimage.org/

Once it's dry, it'll turn out to be a white and hard glittery outline.

http://www.postimage.org/

From a choice of 5 colours, it can now be coloured in! Do
ensure that there isn't too much colour mixture squeezed out
during the decorating process. It will cause the colours to spill
over the outlines.

http://www.postimage.org/

Prepare toothpicks to blend in the colours. In our case since we
didn't have toothpicks, i simply asked the girls to use the nozzle
of the bottle to blend the colours evenly over the desired space.

Also standby, tissues and cotton buds as well to clean up the
edges or any signs of smudging.

http://www.postimage.org/

Again leave it for 2 hours and it's ready for peel off. I left it
on top of the shelf and got them to peel off the next day... and
this is the product of our session yesterday.

http://www.postimage.org/

http://www.postimage.org/

My younger girl was lah-dee-daah-ing away, sashaying
the handbag like a fashion show... hehee... :lol:

http://www.postimage.org/

[mrswongtuition]

Funz:

At home we have all sorts of materials for them to explore with. Started with dough, crayons, then water colours, oil pastels, craft scissors, fabric paints, charcoal pencils, etc. Sadly all of which DH threatens to throw away each time they start doing their craft. He can't stand the mess that inevitably accompanies any art or craft session.

I hv all sorts of art materials for my boy too! Always buy them from overseas sprees or bulk purchases! Sometimes those small craft shops at Chinatown will have intereting things too!

& I hate the mess at home! My solution: my boy does his art in the lift lobby (mine is 4 units per level). We bring his table & chair out, lay newspaper on the floor and he can basically do anything he likes. If he makes a mess, my maid will sweep up or wash the floors (she does it on alternate days anyway).

Once my other neighbour move in, I'm considering buying those children's picnic table to put there permanently cos they have a girl who can play with my boy

[Funz]

I am sooo getting this alex craft thing.


mrswongtuition, we have a garden and that is where the kids do most of their messy stuff. But on rainy days then no choice stuck at home. And after that, my maid will help to clean up the mess but DH just cannot stand the work in progress part. Dunno why oso, not as if he is the one that does the cleaning up.