writer at play
Posted in creativity on Jun 28th, 2010
So, anyone up for a little game? Sir I. was playing this phonics game, which involves him making and reading nonsense words. The first word he made was “prete”, which sounded to me like it should mean “prattling moralistically”. Sir I. thought it sounded like a large orange-and-yellow fruit. His next word was “fleash”. Sounds [...]
Posted in creativity, inspiration on Jun 15th, 2010
Create a city skyline. Check here and here and here for cityscape projects for kids. Here are some skyline photos to get you inspired. Make a map of a city. This could be a street map, a subway map, the floor plan of a skyscraper or a museum. We made subway maps last week, featuring [...]
Posted in creativity, inspiration on May 22nd, 2010
I was at Joann’s yesterday, looking for something to embellish my ATCs for the upcoming swap and ran across a pad of this absolutely glorious fairy tale-themed paper. It’s thick card stock, glittery, textured, visually stunning and I kept coming back to it to admire and touch and soak up. Oh, how I coveted that [...]
Posted in creativity, inspiration, linktopia on May 20th, 2010
My sister-in-law went to Tuscany and brought back pictures. Speaking of awesome landscape pictures, here’s yet another plug for one of my favorite love-to-gawk-at sites. Via SF Signal: 40 examples of stunning space art. These images make me feel awed, insignificant, and sometimes disturbed. The artists have captured the vast scale and gigantic grandeur of [...]
Posted in creativity, kids at play on May 18th, 2010
A few weeks ago (like in, um, April because I am just that good about getting pictures off the camera), the kids and I hauled out paper, paint and brushes for an art project. I’d picked this cute bird lesson to do and the older ones set to with a will. Here’s Miss M.’s: While [...]
Posted in creativity on Apr 21st, 2010
In my last “ways for writers to play” post, I suggested that writers create ATCs (artist trading cards) based on their own fiction. Fellow writer Megs was so enthusiastic about the idea that now she and I are doing an ATC swap, and we’re inviting you to join us! If you’d like to participate, drop [...]
Posted in creativity on Apr 7th, 2010
Recently, I’ve been thinking about the interrelationships between various kinds of creative pursuits. Do some arts follow closely upon the heels of others? If you knit or crochet, are you more likely to take up spinning? If you love to cook, do you branch out into vegetable and herb gardening to provide fresh ingredients for [...]
Posted in creativity, kids at play on Mar 23rd, 2010
Sir I. has been into rockets in a big way. Here’s the one he made at the library’s art program: Miss M. made this sun (with salt dough) when we were studying Mexico: Both older kids drawing together: This is the circle-inspired art I did for the February creative challenge at daisy yellow: Doodling, and [...]
Posted in creativity on Feb 15th, 2010
I’m buried under index cards, hence this post. 1. Lists of all kinds. Book lists. Shopping lists. To-do lists. Lists of clothing and shoe sizes for everyone in your family. Lists of movies you want to watch. Lists of supplies for art projects. 2. Write a poem or flash fiction to fit on an index [...]
Posted in creativity, kids at play on Jan 28th, 2010
1. Read winter poetry (like this lovely illustrated version of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening) and paint winter landscapes. 2. Catch snowflakes on your mittens. Read books about snowflakes. Cut, draw, or make some of your own. 3. Go outside and make snow angels, snowmen (or snow dinosaurs) and ice sculptures. Have fun! [...]