Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Michelangelo, Van Gogh...

I couldn't help myself... one last post before vacation... then I'm done... for a little while.

I'm sure those famous artists and sculptors weren't followers or imitators. They had innovative ideas, new concepts, able imaginations-and ran wild with them!

My kids...
Color outside the lines, push the limits, find new adventures, explore, create, imagine the possibilities, and look past the edges.

My Kids...
...may or may not become one of the most talented artists to go down in art history but using their imagination to create art unique to it's one-of-a-kind creator, is a marvelous dawning activity for their growing jovial minds. No plans, rules or blueprints-scolding, impatience or eye-rolling. Just a child's hand, free to move about, a vision, permitted to be made into reality by being united with chosen malleable materials-It's a beautiful thing.

"Another name for creativity is courage." -George Prince

"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun."

-Mary Lou Cook

The freedom to create opens up a young one's mind to ALL of the diverse possibilities afforded him/her and gives them courageous confidence in their abilities for a life time. I truly believe that to grow mentally and overcome fear of failure you must be free to let your creativity flourish uniquely and evolve at it's own pace.

"It is better to create than to be learned, creating is the true essence of life."

-Barthold Georg Niebuhr

So let your little ones loose, just a little bit, to lead the way, glue those sticks, build that shoe box fort, paint those papers, assemble that list, cut up those egg cartons, sew those buttons, write those mis-spelled stories, construct that blanket tent, twist those pipe cleaners, play their own songs, pile that dirt, act out their own puppet shows, start a new club, bead their own necklaces, pick their own mis-matched outfits, bake that concoction, organize their own room, visit that retired neighbor, and sort those leaves. Let them find, create and make plans of their own as you supply, enable, supervise from a distance and encourage creativity and artistry to the best of your ability!

It's amazing the wonderful things that transpire from simply putting paper, scissors, glue and coloring crayons in front of a child and setting them free to CREATE!