My backseat boys

Here's to never forgetting the view from here! Oh how I love my rear view mirror full of silly boys in baseball caps and baby shades. :-)

ARTistic Pursuits Inc.-A Review

If you're looking to expand your art horizons with more formal instruction, ARTistic Pursuits Inc. provides a complete, top quality art education for home and school. My little artists and I were so excited receive a copy of the Elementary K-3 Book One to review!

What is it? In short, ARTistic Pursuits Inc. is a totally comprehensive art curriculum.  The K-3 Book One is beautifully laid out with colorful illustrations and clear, easy to understand art history and technique instruction. This early elementary book is geared towards ages five and up and contains 36 art lessons-just perfect if you figure one project a week over a 36 week school year. 

The K-3 Book One is thoughtfully laid out in three sections-what artists do, what artists see, and where we find art.  The first section "What Artists Do" covers basic activities artists engage in and think about when creating art, like imagining, looking, outlining shapes and drawing in color. The next section covers elements artists use like shape, line, space and texture. Lastly, "Where We Find Art" exposes children to ancient art and culture, drawing on inspiration from art found in caves, cathedrals and pyramids of the past. I've found these to be particularly engaging and fun topics to study with little boys who love to make believe in mummies and cavemen!  

How we used it:
Each lesson is comprised of an introduction including a famous piece of artwork, project instructions, a "student gallery" picture, observation questions and finally, the project!

The very first lesson in the book is about composition. For this project Evan chose to piece together details from everyday life in the form of our house front. We were careful to include details like doorways and windows and things surrounding the house. After coloring the picture with watercolor crayons he went over it with water and a paintbrush to bring it to life-for our first lesson and first time using new materials, I was happy with the outcome!

I have so many favorites about this product, but my number one would be that it gives clear, precise direction and at the same time leaves plenty of space for creativity for the child to put his or her own unique stamp on it. Here Evan is below working on drawing a picture from a photograph, which we learned was first explored by Edgar Degas in the 1800's as he began to use photographs of ballerinas to study their movements. 

And, here is the product of our very first adventure in sculpturing with dry clay-a horse. I'd say it was a success! I've already learned so many new things and can't wait to continue through this book. This book is truly a treasure of an art curriculum, and contains in it everything you need to teach art at home with confidence and without compromise.

Product details:
There are several different levels of books offered by ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. including:

• Early Elementary {grades K-3}
• Elementary {grades 4-5}
• Middle School {grades 6-8}
• High School {grades 9-12}
• Sculpture technique-Construct 
• Sculpture technique-Model

The Early Elementary K-3 Book one is $47.95 and can be purchased through the ARTistic Pursuits Inc. website. Materials required for the Elementary K-3 Book One include pastels, watercolor crayons, ebony pencils and self hardening clay. You can find most of these at your local craft store, and there is also an Art Supply Pack(complete with easy carry tote) for each book sold on their website.  
 Read more reviews from my fellow crew members by clicking the banner below!
And, check out ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. on social media by clicking the following link:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtisticPursuitsInc

Kwik Stix-a Review for The Pencil Grip, Inc.

Attention mamas! If you have an art loving little but absolutely dread the prep and clean up of art supplies, the Kwik Stix 12 pk from The Pencil Grip, Inc. will be your new best friend!

What it is and how we used it:
The Kwix Stix 12 pk is a set of twelve solid, quick drying tempora paints that are simple to use and best of all-mess free! No water, brushes, or hair pulling required! These paints are advertised to dry with a paint like finish in 90 seconds, but I would say it doesn't even take that long. They are so easy to use. As the products says, just "uncap, twist, and paint!"

The Kwik Stix 12 pk comes nicely packaged in a variety of bright, vibrant colors, including white.  The individual paints cleverly resemble your traditional glue stick, and as such are easily handled by little fingers.

We used them on a variety of surfaces including watercolor paper, computer paper and also a thicker, more textured cardboard. In my opinion, I'd more quickly describe them as leaving a pastel or oil crayon type finish over a painted one-but still very clean and colorful. They draw with a creamy and contained texture which is a nice departure from the average paintbrush that's been mishandled by four year old hands, perhaps dripping with water over your artwork-and the table!

I can't emphasize enough the value of a "no mess" product in the life of a mom with small children. Can I be completely honest and admit that I kind of dislike doing arts and crafts with my kids? Seriously, for the love of carpets everywhere...it's nerve-wracking! With little ones in particular, the time spent setting up and cleaning up(often full on bathing children) after art projects is just not worth it. But of course, we still do it anyway because it's fun for the kiddos and I promise I really do appreciate art. Having a product like this available makes art more accessible and less of a chore. It takes the anxiety away when asked those previously dreaded words "Mommy can we paint?!" Now I can confidently say "Sure, if you use the Kwik Stix!" :-)

On a technical note, I would point out that this product was a better fit for my preschooler over my rising first grader. The wider surface area at the tips lend themselves to basic, broad strokes over the more detailed drawings where you would want to fill in color with a finer tip. For example, both my boys and particularly Bennett enjoyed painting rainbows, bright suns, bubbled letters and patterns like zig zags with the Kwik Stix 12 pk. Since Evan is a little older and more mature in his drawings he found it challenging when trying to color in something like eyes on a face where the detail itself was smaller than the tip of the stix. This is not necessarily a complaint about the product but more of an observation of its ideal age group and use. 

In addition to receiving the Kwik Stix 12 pk to review, the company also generously included a Pencil Grip for us to try out as well.

Product Details:
You can purchase the Kwik Stix 12 pk for $11.99 from The Pencil Grip, Inc., and also via Amazon (with PRIME!).

Not only have they been fun to use in our own home, but I can see this product being a big hit with preschool and kindergarten teachers and classrooms. Not to mention a great birthday gift for an artsy child! To see what the my fellow crew thought, read more reviews by clicking on the banner below.
And check out The Pencil Grip, Inc. on social media by clicking the links below:

Website:  http://www.thepencilgrip.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thepencilgrip
Pinterest:   : https://www.pinterest.com/KwikStixPaint/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ThePencilGrip @ThePencilGrip

Evan's Scuba Dooby Doo party!

Zoinks!! We had the best time celebrating Evan's sixth birthday at our local Rec center pool. True to his love of dogs and swimming, Evan's theme was "Scooby Doo" and his pool party totally rocked. The boys had such a fun time splashing around with their friends, I only wish I took more pictures!

 

Present palooza!

Asher took a short swim in the pool too, and was a trooper for the whole party considering it was naptime! We are so thankful for the amazing friends we've made here in Wilson, and it's been so sweet for Evan, and then Bennett, to grow up alongside such awesome kiddos.

Last but not least, the traditional birthday video!

Evan is 6! from Rebecca Scott on Vimeo.