Off the wall
OK, so I'll admit, this probably isn't for everyone...... but if you can go there... both you and your kids will go gaga for this one in no time! To set the stage a bit here...... When I was a little girl, I was lucky enough to have a room in our home where I could experiment with different crafts and hobbies, and make all sorts of messes... and my mother didn't mind one bit. John and I wanted to give this same kind of creative freedom to our four young boys. We started by painting their playroom a kicky lime green, and then... well, we just turned them loose!!! Crayons, markers, paint... you name it. I figure, when they (we) grow tired of it, we'll just paint right over it!! It's quite freeing, actually...... Of course, we do have a FEW rules... such as, they're only allowed to draw on THIS wall, and not the rest of the house!!! The boys are incredibly respectful of this... They really do understand that this is their space, and they can dream up whatever they want to in there...... If you want to try this on in your home, it doesn't have to be an entire wall, by any means...... You could designate a smaller portion of a wall by framing it off with some simple wood molding... or perhaps you could let them "graffiti" an interior garage wall instead? Craft and hardware stores sell this fantastic chalkboard paint now, too, so kids can draw and color with chalk till their hearts' content. Or, if wall space is limited for you, you can also buy inexpensive rolls of kraft paper and then spread it out on the floor or any table surface. Once the paper's full, you can tack up sections of it in their playroom or bedroom to show off their artwork (like a childhood gallery, if you will). After the "show" is over, don't forget to save bits of the decorated paper to incorporate into some of your own vignettes... or encourage your children to reuse their artwork by cutting it up and making other paper crafts out of it... or even help them wrap Christmas gifts with it! Just let your imagination (and your children's!) be your guide here!!
posted by Tracy Porter Blog
10 Comments:
You are the coolest mom ever!! ;)
Tracy,I did the same thing with my daughter only she was allowed to color on the double mirrored closet doors in her room. White board markers wipe right off. She has just moved into the dorms and we have changed the room into a guest room but left the mirrored doors with all their sleepover messages, phone numbers, Go Team comments etc. as a reminder of her. (empty nesters not quite ready to let go)Thanks for all your creative comments.
Diane
Wow what a great idea...I just finished trying to get pen off our hall wall, an original art work from my little girl. I guess I will just leave it, it might inspire my husband to paint it something other then white....
We had a huge walk in closet in our old home and allowed our boys to color with fun crayola markers on the wall. We called it the rainy day drawing wall. If it was bad outside, the kids could go turn on the light and have at the walls in the closet. The people who bought our house after we relocated with the hubby's job said they loved the coloring in the closet and never painted over it. That was 13 years ago and my old neighbor said it made them smile everytime they opened it to hang up seasonal clothing in the spare room.
:)
I have mixed emotions about this. I love the creative side of it but also think children should be taught to respect and care for belongings and nice things. How about a chalkboard instead?
To anonymous,
As Tracy said, the kids were told and respected the rule that this was the only wall they could color on, as was my daughter with the mirrored closet doors. All kids have a chalkboard but how many kids have parents free enough to allow coloring in an unusual place. Even as teenagers my daughters friends loved to come over and "color" on the mirrors and they are all successful young women in college respecting the rules of any surroundings they are in so I guess no harm done.
dear anon with mirrors, didn't mean to offend you!!!
We didn't have a wall to draw on, but when my 2 girls were young, we had an "art cabinet" in the kitchen. I designated one lower cabinet to be "theirs" and filled it with scissors, crayons, markers, glue and much more. As soon as they were old enough to toddle in there, they began using it and spent so much time creating masterpieces. The main rule was that the supplies stayed there on the kitchen floor, but they could cut, color, paint and glue to their heart's content. Later, when we moved to a different house, we made an "art closet" out of a small hallway closet---by this time they were old enough to just store the supplies there and use them anywhere in the house. They are now 21 and 24 and still talk about how much they loved it---one is a designer and the other works for a community arts council!!
As an adult artist who grew up feeling limited by a fastidious mother, I applaud the idea of providing a large-scale art-designated wall. When you offer a child a canvas this size, you are telling them, (not just one day, but in an on-going way): "We honor your art, your ideas, and what you feel in your heart!"
We live in a loft apartment with our 7 year old daughter. After over a dozen years of concrete floors, we have decided to tile from edge to edge with commercial tile. Our daughter has spent hundreds of thrilling hours decorating the concrete with huge drawings. So that we can always enjoy them, every drawing has been photographed for a homemade book documenting her art which will be like a time capsule under our tiles.
Seeing her excitement in having free reign in a large format, we are next going to paint a living room wall with magnetic paint, covered by chalkboard paint. In this, she will always have a huge wall on which to create multimedia collages for our home. We can hardly wait to see what she does with this wall!
And as we live in a converted commercial building, we have a huge mural on the back of our home. We painted it many years ago, and it is worn and due for repainting. This fall, we are going to scale up our daughters beautiful drawing, and paint it on the back of the building. She is so excited!
When you give a child freedom to express herself with art materials, you are giving a gift which builds confidence and provides tremendous happiness. It is a gift which says "We love what you are".
Wow.. I bet you are the best mom on the block.. I am becoming more of a free spirit and getting the drawing on the walls thing. My grown sister, who is an artist, drew/painted a giant collage all over the walls of her apartment. It is a little crazy but very cool... I just did a whole entry on it and it reminded me of this..... love your site!!!
http://lalalovelythings.blogspot.com/2008/08/artist-interview-amy-tompkins.html
Trina
la la Lovely
Post a Comment
<< Home