Mother Goose Time

When it comes to fun stuff for teaching your kids you just can't miss with the creative arts. Through art, children are challenged mind and body to create something that is, in essence, a reflection of themselves. When Mother Goose Time added the invitation to create to the curriculum many of us were a bit apprehensive. Really? Art project with no clear end? Globs of paint, glue, and corpus amount of glitter mixed with twigs, grass, and other things found in nature. At the time all I saw was a mess but after a while, I began to see the benefits of giving children freedom when teaching the creative arts. Here is why you should embrace the mess when teaching kids the creative arts. Kids are expressing and growing in their capacity for creative thinking. When you hand a child a verity of things and challenge them to turn those materials into something new you are opening their mind. As they look at their work with a deep thought you are witnessing growth beyond your imagination. Embracing this allows them the freedom to develop without fear of getting into trouble when the mess gets out of hand. This is why messy stuff is perfect for doing outside. Find ways to get your child to dive into the creative arts. Programs like Mother Goose Time makes this easy but you will find that anyone can do this at home. Raid the art supplies and give your child a few things to work with but no directions on what to do. after the first few tries, your child will begin to find joy in this freedom and begin to truly express themselves. How to embrace the mess This #invatationtocreate stuff is serious business. #mgtblogger #homeschool #preschool A post shared by Jenn Gerlach (@jennsimpleathome) on Sep 11, 2016 at 11:06am PDT Grab art supplies when you find it on sale. The cheaper the better so you don't cringe when your child puts giant globs of sopping paint on their project, cover it in glitter... only to drench the top with yet more paint that leaves you wondering if it will ever dry. Set up an area that you don't have to worry about the mess. We love to take our messy art outside when the weather is nice so I can just smile and move on knowing the rain will wash away the school glue, sprinkles, and watercolor paint that lands... pretty much everywhere. Dress for the occasion. While some parents are all about their kids looking put together each day this is not the time for that. Dig out the old stained clothes. Turn your old t-shirts into art smocks, and invest in your favorite stain remover. Life is short and these messy moments are memories for your child. Grab that camera. At the end of the day, you will so glad that you saved those precious messy moments of your child's life on camera. Need inspiration? Check out some of our favorite invitations to create. Circle Collage invitation to create My Many Colored Days Invitation to Create