Hi John!

Have you ever felt like you hit a creative low, when nothing seems to be going your way…

😾 Maybe you spent too much time just trying to find the perfect art activity?

😾Or you didn’t buy the right supplies for a project.

😾Or the supplies you do have aren’t in the right place

😾And now your child has fixated on how things “should” be and is getting frustrated when it doesn’t turn out “right”…

I’ve seen many families and kids who face these frustrations, many of them stemming from perfectionism, and totally get how hard this can be.

First, take a breath.

Nothing in life is perfect and if it was, it would probably be pretty boring.

Incredible things are born from mistakes and unexpected circumstances.

For example:

💫Getting lost in a city and discovering a part of town with cool things to do and see

💫Burning dinner and having an excuse to try a new takeout restaurant

💫Breaking a dish and gaining perspective on what really matters to you

💫Mixing paints to create new and surprising color combinations

When your child sees you turn mistakes into opportunities, they learn that imperfections are a beautiful part of life that can lead to some truly amazing places. This philosophy will follow them not only in their artistic endeavors, but in all areas of their lives as well.

So, next time you have a frustrating art day, try these things:

💫Breathe

💫Remind yourself and your child perfect is not the goal

💫Laugh off mistakes

💫Look for an opportunity in disguise

💫Try an open-ended art activity from the TinkerLab Art Starts book: these offer room for mistakes and imperfection

Warmly,

Rachelle

Founder, TinkerLab

p.s.Get inspired with hands-on creative prompts for children ages 3-8 featuring simple materials you can find at home: TinkerLab Art Starts: 52 Projects for Open-ended Exploration​

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