Hi John,
What are your childhood memories of Valentine's Day?
Making Valentines has long been a favorite tradition. I vividly remember my 6-year old self crafting up a doily-collage-marker storm on my bedroom floor with doily scraps everywhere! For some reason, doilies were the base of my cards for years and years. In that spirit, I'm sharing some easy process-focussed Valentine projects (one of them does include doilies, obviously) that are accesible to kids of all ages, along with the usual art, creativity, and education links.
On to this week's ideas!
- Collage and Watercolor Valentine Cards. Set up a series of watercolor papers, and then invite your child to paint. Once dry, add collage pieces, and then embellish with drawing and words. Make a batch of 25 paintings in one sitting - so easy! (image above)
- Fold a Valentine Heart Envelope. Invite your child to paint on a sheet of paper. Cut it into a large heart when dry, and then fold that same heart into an envelope. One piece of paper, so simple, and done! (See image below)
- Deconstructed Valentines. This is the toddler version of the aforementioned doily-collage-marker storm, designed to go along with the Fancy Nancy Valentine's Day Book.
- February daily art challenge. Ongoing this month, TinkerLab's monthly art challenge continues year round, and our list of daily prompts for February is live and it's not too late to join. Pull out a sketchbook, and bring the kids along!
- An experiment with late start high school. Starting school at 3 pm is improving some kids' lives. A clever concept coming out of Eastern High School in Lansing, MI. (KQED)
- STEM Valentine's Day Activities. Combine your art with science and check out this mega list of Valentine's Day activities from our friends at Left Brain Craft Brain.
- Updated 1895 film remastered in 2020. A fascinating look at a project that exists at the intersection of art and science. Denis Shiryaev updated Louis Lumière's 1896 short, "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat" using artificial intelligence. (Good)
- Process Art Accounts on Instagram. Jean at The Artful Parent pulled a list of 20 Process Art Accounts on Instagram, and TinkerLab is on the list! If you're into process art, this list is definitley one to check out. So many inspiring folks here!
- How to Raise a Reader. If you're curious about kids + reading, this is an interesting look at Mary Shelley’s father on How an Early Love of Books Paves the Path to Lifelong Happiness. Says her father, William Godwin, "“The impression we derive from a book, depends much less upon its real contents, than upon the temper of mind and preparation with which we read it.” (Brain Pickings)
Thanks for reading and wishing you a wonderful day! If you enjoy the newsletter, feel free to forward it to a friend.
Your creative collaborator,
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Rachelle Doorley
TinkerLab
Read my books: TinkerLab: A Hands-on Guide for Little Inventors + Creative Adventures in Cursive
Join me in our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/clubtinkerlab/
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinkerlab/
