Disclosure: This was a free event at a local library. Thank you to the amazing librarian for organizing this event. I know my boys had a fantastic time and we all enjoyed staying dry during the storm that passed while participating.
During the summer, I typically try to take the kids outside to enjoy the weather. Of course, this week that was not really possible thanks to the extreme heat and humidity. It was just too hot and hard to breathe and function while living in an oven. Once the weather cools off some, I hope to be able to take the boys out to do some painting with water.
Painting with water? Check out what I mean:
It is exactly what it sounds like. I have written about it before and it was inspired from a walk with my family at my favorite location. Walt Disney World helped me to come up with this fun way to keep the kids busy during the summer
My latest post on The Disney Driven Life is about Painting and Learning with Water. I show how this activity inspired by the creative minds at Walt Disney World gave me a fun summer learning tool to use with my child. Not only is it fun, but the kids really can learn items about science and more.
Please stop by to say hello and check out the other magical posts from my Disney Drive Life friends. My other posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!
Before I go, here is a video that Disney Parks shared so you can see the magic of Custodial Art come to life.
What would you draw with water if you had a chance? Please let me know in the comments below. Have a magical week!
Rain on a summer day earlier this week left me wondering what I was going to do with the boys. I had some projects to work on, but wanted them to try something fun and different. The boys wanted to use some funny smelling sculpting material on the table, but I was not in the mood for that mess. Suddenly, I recalled that I had some Wikki Stix. Do you remember those? This is what I am talking about:
What are Wikki Stix? From their website: “Wikki Stix are made of hand-knitting yarn enhanced with a microcrystalline food-grade, non-toxic wax, the kind used in bubble gum and lipstick. They do not contain latex, gluten, nor peanut or other nut oils or byproducts which makes them an ideal creative activity toy for children with allergies.” If you want to learn more, they have lots of details on the what are Wikki Stix page.
Several years ago, I had gotten a Curious George Wikki Stix book to use with NHL. At the time, he was receiving occupational therapy and this was to work on fine motor skills. The beauty of Wikki Stix, they allow kids to use their imagination to play, create, and even practice letter and shape formation. The Wikki Stix above were donated to us by a friend who had them in her classroom and never used them. 
For one reason or another, the Curious George book was never used, but I pulled it out the other day. JSL immediately grabbed it and wanted to see what was inside (see above). Here is JSL playing with a Wikki guy that we made together:
Of course, if one child is using something new and exciting, the other is bound to want to try it out. Since NHL was jealous, I went on a hunt for the other package so both of the boys could experiment with the Wikki Stix. NHL immediately made a flower for me:
JSL played for well over an hour and then wanted to move on. He’s four and was tired, but NHL played on and kept coming back to the new found favorite over and over.
The best part of the day was seeing the smiles on their faces, not having a mess to clean up, and just tossing them away like this:
Yes, the boys have used them multiple times again and keep coming up with new games and things to do with them. NHL has even gone to the Wikki Stix website with me and looked at their how to videos to see some amazing creations. There are also dot-to-dot and other crafts to download and use with our Wikki Stix. I am in love! We will probably be looking to buy more because we are all having such fun with them.
My questions to you this week:
Have you ever used Wikki Stix as a child or with your children? What would you make with them if given the opportunity to play?
Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.
Aloha #161
This summer, the boys and I have been trying to get to some of the free or less expensive events around the Capital District. The library that I went to as a child still has some amazing programs and we love spending time there.
Most of the events for children have materials already included and you do not have to sign up. One exception to that rule was earlier this week. The library had a “Make a Story Tower with Tang Museum” where kids would construct a 3-D tower that tells a story. NHL and I were intrigued and we got him into one of the last spots. The teacher in me loved the connection of art and literature.
When we arrived, the two women from Tang greeted the children and sat them down for a group circle. The kids were introduced to this:
This is a replica of a piece that is currently at the Tang Museum at Skidmore College in Saratoga called Tower of Babel by Josh Dorman. Dorman’s art, done in 2008, is made out of ink, acrylic, oil, antique paper on 32 adjoined panels which make it 96×48”. Thanks to the artist’s gallery online, I was able to check out more about him and his other amazing work that is also on display at the Tang Museum until August 16
The kids were fascinated by the art in front of their eyes. I do not think they understood when Leah told them the “real” piece is actually in Saratoga and so much larger. They really were way too mesmerized with the poster in front of them. The kids were brainstorming what Dorman may have been depicting with his art. To help them out, they had blown up sections of the Tower of Babel to look at.
When you look at this work up close, it has so many hidden details that tell story after story. That is exactly what this was about. Letting the kids brainstorm and make a tower of their own to tell a story. To do this, tables were set up with lots of supplies.
Barbara and Leah from the museum really interacted with the kids. They listened to them, helped them to find what they needed for their masterpieces, and even let my 4 year old participate since they had an extra space for him. Check out my kiddos making their towers:
When they were finished, the boys had their two story towers.
The kids met back in a circle at the end and NHL was the first to share his story. He was inspired to make a tower about Disney’s Animal Kingdom and some things that happened with the animals on the safari. He started with his Tree of Life and then moved onto savannah and other animal habitats.
Yes, this is why I love going to the library and keeping up on programs that are taking place. I also adore that museums like the Tang at Skidmore College are working with kids to integrate art into the world of learning (teacher geek talk for you). I know I am quite intrigued with their Family Saturday program. Check it out because they are running the same one that we participated in on August 5.
Disclosure: I was not asked to write this post about our experience. It was free to sign up, we loved it, and I wanted to toot the horn for all involved.
