Category: crafts

Rethinking Recycling

[ 0 ] 6.26.2012 | Children's Museum

Recycling in Rhode Island has recently changed to encourage more people to recycle, and so that we’ll recycle more than ever before. We can now recycle additional plastics – jars, tubs, yogurt and take-out containers, egg cartons and those ubiquitous plastic cups. All plastic containers up to two gallons can be recycled, regardless of the number in the recycling symbol, and we no longer need to separate our recyclables. (See www.RecycleTogetherRI.org for complete details on recycling changes.)

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how to make a tire swing (mama-style)

[ 1 ] 6.18.2012 | Erin Barrette Goodman

Erin originally posted this awesome how-to piece on her blog, exhale. return to center. I feel Erin and I are kindred spirits in how we both have many more creative ideas than we can execute in a timely manner but hopefully when we do — and as Erin demonstrates with her tire swing — worth the wait.

Erin’s How-To:

Step One: Admire tire swing at your kids’ preschool for YEARS. Think about how nice it would be to have on in your yard. Talk (a lot) about which tree it should go in and how much fun it will be.

Step Two: Hire your friend (who happens to be a very talented arborist) to hang a line from way up in the tallest oak tree at the top of the hill.

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Kidoinfo Presents Toddler Art at Providence Children’s Museum!

[ 0 ] 5.1.2012 | Anisa Raoof

Kidoinfo is pleased to partner with Providence Children’s Museum to present the new program Toddler Art.

Join Toddler Art on Mondays, May 7, 14 and 21 from 10:00 AM – Noon. Young children, ages 18 months to 3 years, use real tools and embrace the creative process as they delve into a different art exploration each week…

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Family Matters: 20 Ideas for Screen-Free Week

[ 0 ] 4.27.2012 | Anisa Raoof

It’s time for Screen-Free Week (April 30-May 6, 2012), the national celebration where children, families, schools, and communities spend seven days turning off entertainment screen media and turning on life. It’s a time, as the organizers say, “to unplug and play, read, daydream, create, explore, and spend more time with family and friends.”

Are you up for the challenge. Here’s how it works in our family…

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Springtime Projects with Paint Chips

[ 2 ] 3.29.2012 | Elyse Major

Here’s a fun idea that doesn’t require many tools and the main material is not only free but provides a little field trip! These projects are made from paint chips, the free cards displayed at paint departments that show ranges of related colors available from manufacturers. The white lines that divide the colors and the sturdy card stock make them perfect candidates for crafting. And did I mention they are free?

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Edible Rhody KIDS: Grow your Favorite Foods

[ 1 ] 3.26.2012 | Anisa Raoof

Welcome Spring! Edible Rhody Kids is created in partnership with Kidoinfo. Grab this season’s copy of Edible Rhody, available at various locations around Rhode Island. Read about how kids can learn to grow their own food followed by a list of resources, activities and books to share with your kids. Click on the chef’s hat for a theme-related recipe!

Ever wonder where the tomatoes in your taco come from?

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Family Matters: 5 Ways to Celebrate Spring with the Kiddos

[ 0 ] 3.23.2012 | Anisa Raoof

1. Take a walk in your neighborhood/park/woods and see what is starting to bloom. Identify plant species or make it a scavenger hunt.

2. Create instant works of art with sunlight and found objects. Make a sun print using construction paper or with special light sensitive photo paper (available at Utrecht or Providence Children’s Museum gift shop.)

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Make Nature Faces

[ 0 ] 3.20.2012 | Anisa Raoof

This is a creative way to explore nature with children. Grab a bag and take a walk around your neighborhood. Collect natural materials from your yard, a local park or while hiking. Almost anything can be used to create faces – sticks, leaves, pine cones, rocks, acorns, seeds, flowers, etc. Kids can sort or count the items before they begin. Arrange your found objects into faces (or robots, aliens…) Optional: Use chalk to outline the face first. Make your nature family then take a picture to document it.

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Family Matters: Connecting Kids With Art

[ 1 ] 3.9.2012 | Anisa Raoof

Visiting an art museum can be magical at any age. Sharing the experience with our kids offers the opportunity to see the world in new ways, engage our senses, share our opinions, and possibly inspire us to make our own art. I have fond childhood memories of visiting the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo with my family. I was mesmerized by Amedeo Modigliani’s portraits, I laughed at Andy Warhol’s Tomato Soup Cans and was intrigued by George Segal plaster life size model of himself with Cinema. I thought walking inside the Lucas Samaras’s Mirrored Room was the coolest place to be. I remember Sunday jazz on the lawn and art workshops for kids. I made art every chance I had.

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“Painting Air: Spencer Finch” Opens at the Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design, February 24 – July 29, 2012

[ 1 ] 3.5.2012 | Anisa Raoof

Take your children to see “Painting Air: Spencer Finch,” the new exhibition by Brooklyn-based artist Spencer Finch at the Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design. In this two-part show, the Museum debuts a large-scale installation by Finch, shown with more than 60 pieces—from ancient objects to late-20th-century art— selected by the artist from the Museum’s collection. The show opened
Friday, February 24 and runs through July 29, 2012.

Kids will enjoy exploring his joyful colorful mixed-media work along with discovering what and pondering why Finch pulled what he did out of museum storage. The exhibition invites conversation and may lead to interesting discoveries and creations at home.

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