The Artful Parent – Book Review

The Artful Parent is a long awaited book by the wonderful Jean from The Artful Parent. I have long been an admirer of her creativity and her blog (I remember been smitten by these oh so gorgeous Flower Art Box – how delightfully creative is that?!). She then went on to wow me with her wonderful ebook series – something for all seasons… and then the grand finale: The Artful Parent, the book! (and if you hurry, you can currently get 2 for 1 – The Artful Parent Book AND the Spring ebook. Hurry!

I was expecting a “thicker version of Jean’s ebooks” in print. I got something completely different – and yet much more valuable. I got a parenting ethos. A frame of mind. A different way of thinking – support by a wonderful set of activities and projects to do with the kids.

You may remember my “Daily Creativity Series” that I then “rebranded” “Art with Kids“. The idea was to do lots of little bits and pieces of art with the kids on a regular basis. 5minutes here, half an hour there. All about exploration and doing. Well, We dabbled in it. We did a bit here. And  We did a bit there. And then other things and general busy life took over. And we just did the same things over (watercolours, pens, crayons etc).

Jean’s book is my reminder.  To stop.  To make time for ART. Just do it.

And not only was it a reminder to STOP and DO. Jean makes art accessible. Yes, Jean IS an Arty Parent. Yes, Jean HAS tons of art experience. But what her book, The Artful Parent does, is make it easy for YOU, to do art with your kids as well. You do not need an art degree to do art with your kids. You do not need experience. You just need the right frame of mind.. and a set aside a little bit of time. Add to it a host of fantastic simple and approachable ideas, you are off on your arty journey!

In the 10 days since reading Jean’s book, we have:

* Painted with Q-tips

* Got the pastels out

* Got the pastels AND the water colours out

* Collected and saved lots of flower petals from “bunches of flowers” we had in vases… waiting to add these to a contact paper collage

* Saved some broken eggshells for randomly sticking on paper

(PS sorry the little photos are all different! Uploaded via instagram! Must make more consistent use of the filters!)

Not only that…. but Jean has reassured me that we are already on the arty path. That I am doing well, with what we are doing and that I shouldn’t necessarily worry about not doing enough. We do more arty things without realising, as stimulating creativity, does not just happen in front of an easel or a piece of paper:

* We bake yummy treats

* We hunt for things to craft with in the park

* We plant seeds and watch them grow

* We often get the water colours out and Pip Squeak often likes to stick things on her water colour collages

* We draw ALL the time

* We pick flowers (in Granny’s garden) and arrange them in tiny little “vases” (aka bottle tops and small glasses)

* We go to galleries and museums. We look at statues or sculptures in the park or on the street.

* We collect “junk” and stick it together in whatever way Red Ted wants to.

* And of course.. when we get crafty – though product orientated here on the blog, the kids usually end up making something of their own with all the bits and pieces that are out and about.

I am refreshed and inspired to continue the “Art with Kids” series – by just documenting the little things we do.

I recommend this book 100% as a manual to artful parenting! It also has some great featured sections by other arty writes that I love and respect – MaryAnn Kohl, Tinkerlab, Crafty Crow and Inner Child Fun to name but a few!

So. Now to the best bit! You can WIN ONE!! Yes, you can get your very own copy!

To win, visit Jean at The Artful Parent – check out her 2 for 1 posts where she shares a range of artful parent activities – take a look, come back her and tell us which activity you want to try out first!

T&Cs:

* One entry per person.

* Open WorldWide.

* Giveaway closes on the 8th April 2013 at 11pm.

* A winner will be picked at random.

* The delivery of the price is the responsibility of the Publisher and not Red Ted Art.