Let’s be honest, a modern art museum can only hold a kid’s attention for so long. I’m guessing this awesome (unofficial) audio tour created by kids will make everything a bit more relatable. “Each piece of art is analyzed by experts aged 3-10, as they share their unique, unfiltered perspective on such things as composition, the art’s deeper meaning, and why some stuff’s so weird looking.” Brilliant.
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If it weren’t 9:30pm on a Sunday night I’d be racing to the lumberyard right now. How cool is this? And with as much as my daughter loves picking flowers, I can’t imagine I’m not going to be able to get her excited about building one with me. A designer named Brian Johnson is the brains behind the idea. He sells them on Etsy, but also invites you to do-it-yourself. Seriously, how late is Home Depot open?
“Grey is out. Gloom is gone. It’s time to live our lives in colour. The Let’s Colour Project is a worldwide initiative … to transform grey spaces with colourful paint. A mission to spread colour all over the world. We are working together with local communities across the globe, rolling up our sleeves to paint streets, houses, schools and squares.” What a great concept. Love it! Learn more here.
Over the years I’ve stumbled on some great pancake creations on the internet (such as the glorious rainbow ones shown above). But no one has given me a greater appreciation of The Griddle Arts than Jim (Jim’s Pancakes). He’s taken things to a whole new level. Below are just a few of his masterpieces. Congrats, Jim, you win.
I’ve been sitting on this post for months because it didn’t seem fair to get people excited about trying some of these fun ideas and then not be able to get outside to do it (without risking hypothermia). Well ladies and gentleman, Spring has sprung!
Quite a few years back my wife, looking for a gift for her 10-year-old (at the time) niece who was visiting us in New York, bought the activity book called Tricky Pix (by Klutz). They had an absolute blast. These are a few examples of their efforts.
Apparently there’s also a book for video tricks. They’ve got some samples on their site. Both books are available from Amazon (Tricky Pix / Tricky Video).
German photographer Jan von Holleben has made a career out of this kind of playful camera trickery. His images will undoubtedly provide you with plenty of ideas for trying some creative stunts with your kids.
Perhaps these ads by Kindle (Ad #1 / Ad #2) were inspired by his work?
Love it! Available here. Be sure to poke around the rest of The Spoon Sisters store.
Thud. Another great click-tivity created by Rafaël Rozendaal.
Here’s a fun (and perhaps educational?) way to spend a thirty minutes with your kids. Save some toilet paper rolls, make yourself some binoculars, download the iPhone app called Chirp! (available from iTunes), and go pretend bird watching! Or, if you can go REAL bird watching maybe you should do that. In a pinch, however, this works.
Here’s something fun (and pretty) to click on with the kids. By Rafaël Rozendaal.
This is by far the best interactive website I’ve come across. Packed full of interesting and playful things to do and hardly any fluff or annoying loading screens. I was really amazed at how many different ideas they managed to squeeze into this. They’re trying to keep it free of advertising, so if you like it, make a donation!
Interested in finding something for under $20 that will entertain your kids for… I don’t know… say… their entire childhood? Of course you are. Get on over to eBay and win yourself an auction on a “lot” of scarves. From peek-a-boo, to dress-up, to fort siding, you will NOT run out of ideas and uses for these things. Search “lot vintage scarves” and you should have yourself some options. Obviously “vintage” is optional, but the patterns from ‘back in the day’ seem far more inspired.
Welcome to our family’s current obsession. Invented way back in 1951 by two art students who were experimenting with flexible vinyls for a friend that manufactured pocketbooks, Harry and Patricia Kislevitz inadvertently created one of the most classic of American toys, Colorforms. They claim that playing with them “promotes creative expression, concentration skills, comprehension of spatial relationships and manual dexterity.” We think that’s only the beginning.
Even before you peel up the very first one, they’re beautiful.
And they can be scary fun to play with on glass.
In digging around we stumbled on this playful stop-motion animation created by Carleton Torpin. We thought it worth sharing as further evidence of the creative possibilities.
But wait, it gets better. Guess what we learned? The Colorforms logo? The work of design über-legend, Paul Rand. Of course!
Get your set! Available from Amazon.
Added 1/13/10:
Just came across another product that feels right at home in this entry. Almost feels like the Colorforms travel companion. A simple box of wooden shapes with magnetized backs. Made by the (great) toy company, Djeco. You can buy it here.
We’ve long been fans of making sun prints. It’s a perfect no-mess outdoor activity that makes everyone feel like a brilliant abstract artist. The only downside is the paper (Super Sunprint Kit, shown above) is a bit on the pricey side.
That’s why we were so excited to see this on More Mom Time. Construction paper! (File this one under D for Duh, why didn’t I think of that?)
If you still prefer the greater contrast achievable by using the Super Sunprint paper, it can be purchased from Kid O.
