And a Happy Year End To You!

Another year is finding its end.... strange thing time, we always seem to think that with a new year so rolls in a new energy renewed possibility and change.  We reset, realign and begin to look forward again.  In reality it is merely the passing of days, another cycle of day and night, weeks and months.

But I think there is something in its energetic power.  By each December people are exhausted and worn out with the daily grind, and yes the annual holiday brings about vitality, excitement and rest  which certainly renews belief in ourselves and the world at large.

So for most of the western world (and much of the southern and northern world) it is Christmas that signals the apex of the year end focus. Over the art table the children and I have been discussing the benefits and meanings of various religious celebrations particularly Hanukkah and Christmas, with some interesting perspectives.  The general consensus (amongst the babes) is that Christians are lucky because they get presents (so much for Christ's impoverished birth and subsequent suffering!).

A few years ago we watched a nativity play with my parents.  My mother leaned over to Alaska and asked her if she was enjoying it to which she replied, "Yes, but what has this got to do with Christmas?" We are not Christian yet we celebrate Christmas. So what is it we celebrate?  For me it is precisely the changing over of energy, the gearing down, remembering to breathe and, days on the beach and dare I say it, spending time with my lovely family, all of them. As I get older the last part rings particularly true.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and General Generous Joy!!

Lets Fly!

You will need:

Sheets of stiff card
Tubes
Wood/craft glue
Masking tape
Elastic
Shiny pipe cleaners
Paint
Scissors

The idea is that you give them the gift of flight by gently bouncing them on the elastic.  Its lovely.

The End Of An Era

Its that time of year again, November, the tease. Beautiful weather but no holiday in sight, but still it is undeniably beautiful, this month which signals the beginning of the end. And so each end brings a new beginning.

My youngest daughter is in her final days of preschool.  We have been driving back and forth from this beloved mulberry mad, terra cotta sanded, child's haven for 4 years and so it is an end of an era.  It is the end of my children's early childhood and the beginning of a new stretch of life, another evolution.  One where reading, writing, mathematics, information and  complex friendships will begin to outweigh society valuing their world of play (may they never cease to play). I hear people comparing the milestones of their tiny babes and I feel lifetimes removed from it. But there are no tears shed for this loss of childhood, but rather an elation at how beautifully they (we) have grown and a marvel at how they continue to show us the things we have missed, the details we overlooked and the wonder and simplicity of the world.

Jungle gyms are not necessarily made of metal or wood.

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children.  One of these is roots, the other is wings." - W Hodding Carter

(I most humbly thank my friend Bijana for this beautiful quote!)

Of wings and play...

Mobile Creatures

You will need:

• Moderately thick plastic
• Craft/wood glue
• Paint brushes
• Acrylic paint
• Glitter
• String
• Beads
• Scissors

They really do make beautiful mobiles!

So there are some interesting things for children happening in Jozi at the moment and increasingly so as December draws near.  Here are but two...

Standard Bank Gallery - But Men Do Not See It

Corner Simmonds And Fredrick in the CBD (please do not fear folk, for town is wonderful and not scary, take a trip)

Justin Fiske is the artist and his work entails kinetic sculptures which are interactive, exploring the complexity of movement. 

I intend to take my girls over the weekend.  It sounds fascinating and fun. www.standardbankarts.co.za

National Children's Theater - Seussical Jnr

Parktown

Its based on Horton Hears a Who.  Now who doesn't love that?

www.childrenstheatre.co.za

Driving into the Sunset

I am back!

It goes without saying that I love my children, immensely and completely, but there are occasions when I could get into my car, and drive alone into the sunset ( midday smog will suffice too).  It is tough and half the time I am winging it, trying to overcome myself in order to be a good parent to an emotionally sensitive child.  When she is wonderful words fail me as to how great she is, but when she wobbles her world falls apart and mine sometimes shows mighty cracks.

Alaska was all of 2 1/2 when she asked me where she came from, 'but not from your tummy mommy, before that".  I was flummoxed.  Not confuse religion with spirituality but  I think when you have God sitting at your table nightly, the question is easier to answer, there is a book to which to refer to and buildings to visit with stories to tell.  So I searched and answers were provided.  Lately I have been thinking about how the spiritual and the emotional are interconnected and how in nurturing the one intelligently perhaps you care for the other. Or at least a spiritual journey can bring you (and/or your child) emotional peace.

 At the very least it can provide you with a zen place to visit when the sun has already set.

Que Soul Space..

Soul Space is an 'esoteric' event happening this weekend in Muldersdrift, perfect for the scrubbed up hippies amongst us and a wonderful alternative day out for those who prefer suit and tie. There will be fun activities for children from crafts and yoga to building labyrinths.

And I am exhibiting my paintings there.  Such fun!

The cost is R125 per adult and R75 per child. www.soulspace.co.za

This weeks craft is the superbly expressive Body Mapping

You will need

1. Large sheet of card
2. khokis
3. crayons
4. paint
5. glitter
6. bits and bobs

And here are some of the fantastic results:

Jayden hang his alter ego's arm over his shoulder walking around with it as though it were a good friend!

Just When You Think You Are Free

Last weekend was our 10th wedding anniversary.  I find this remarkable is so many ways, but yes, we have survived, we made it to a large milestone.  It was quite a  marathon.  I mention this primarily because Pete and I went away, alone, sans children.  Prior to having children we seemed to be in constant motion, weekends away, long journeys without predetermined destinations.  Car journeys on unknown roads.  Needless to say once our girls arrived the holidays dwindled and the journeys were well planned right down to where and when and how frequently we should stop.  Alaska does not endure long distances well, although she is beginning to see the light.

So for the second time in almost 8 years (since the birth of our eldest) we ventured forth without them, for three whole nights! Not having available grandparents the girls were divided amongst Thandi, and two friends (see earlier blog on the blessings of tribal living), households they know well.  In those three days our daughter phoned us 31 times from her phone (yes she has one), not counting the calls made from various other devices.  Yes, she missed us.  In that time the conversations we had about our absent children well exceeded that.  Yes, we missed them.  We had a beautiful time and remembered what fun we have together, why we love each other and how wonderful it is to indulge only ourselves.    However, that we are parents is inescapable, it is this great giant love that you lug around no matter where you go.  It is beyond and above all that you do and all that you are, in this love you have no choice. And so it is a bit of a quandary wanting to feel the silence and quietude, but once you have it, so needing the laughter and the noise. The wonders of children..

And so keeping in line with the notion of craziness, allow me to introduce the fabulous funny bunny!

Funny Bunny

You will need:

1. Scissors
2. construction paper
3. Sewing machine
4. Needles
5. Thread
6. Fabric
7. Stuffing
8. Felt
9. Fabric Paint 

I love them!! Happy stuffing!

Move Away From The Oven..

Apologies for the absence of last weeks blog, but my sister was visiting and she took precedence.

So holidays are upon us (well at least our children's holidays are upon us!) and those of us who have  children at 4 term schools now have them lazing on the couch or have packed them off to holiday school.  I have the ultimate middle class school horror - one child at a 3 term school and one at a 4 term school.  It literally means that I play 'pass the holiday baton' throughout the year, as one goes back to school, a short breath is taken and the other one goes on holiday. Sigh.  It means that I am forever trying to work with one babe at home (avoiding merely plonking them in front of the tv for the duration of their vacation - perish the thought!) which is really tricky.  It also means that we seldom get to go on adventures as a little unit.  As we know, it would be unforgivably unfair to enjoy a day out with one child and not the other. Thankfully this moan is coming to an end as I shall send my baby off to primary school next year to join her sister.  Hail the one drop off, hail the one holiday. So how does one make the most of their the time off? (I work unusual hours!)

I used to feel really bad about how I would avoid cooking and baking with my girls, or take them on slow ambling walks through the Koppies (I would usually land up carrying at least one of them with the other bemoaning the weakened state of her young legs) until I read a Martha Beck book in which she stated the same whilst coming to the conclusion that her children would probably enjoy things she liked doing as long as they did it together.  It's truly true.  I so seldom bake with them now, instead they set up a canvas on a neighbouring easel and we paint together.  Or we dance about the lounge like idiots or sew silly things or we go to the park and I walk the dog while they fly the helicopter.  Next week we are going to the scratchpatch in Midrand where they apparently give an underground tour.  What fun! My girls probably won't be marvelous bakers (they might be fine chefs thanks to their dad) but at least they will grow up with an enthusiasm for discovery while knowing that we sincerely had much fun together.

And now for this weeks art class.. actually it was a couple of weeks ago.

Printing!!!

You will need:

1. Styrofoam plates
2. brayer
3. old paper
4. pen/pencil
5. block printing/lino ink

You can also cut up smaller pieces of Styrofoam and make multiple prints to create wrapping paper.  Try using different colours.

And Don't Forget To Breathe...

Lately I have found myself becoming increasingly concerned with the level of anxiety I see in a number of the children I work with. Creative anxiety. These are the children who are immensely critical of the imperfections in their work and it seems to be exponentially on the rise. Criticism of the expression of self is a worrying thing.  For me it seems to be counter intuitive to the child's process of creating and begins to reflect on the adult state of mind, one of inferiority on a deep level, for children work in the space of the unconscious when drawing and making.  Now my very small ones don't exhibit this, but somewhere around 5 it seems to start taking hold in some children. Why? I don't really know.

Certainly anxiety is a normal part of life in certain respects.  At some point we all get anxious and from an early age, right from infancy, children assume anxious behaviour, separation anxiety, pain, insecurity, birth of a sibling... for the world, their world and our world, is an unstable, unpredictable place.  And no matter how hard we try as parents to be the shining example of calm and love, we are fallible, life is hard and anxiety a prevalent part of daily existence.  I have an anxious child.  I have an anxious father and brother, no doubt I too am full of anxiety, but for me the real concern is how it creeps into the creative space to the point that children are near tears with distress because a picture or task has failed to meet their expectations of perfection.  Here words fail.  I tell them that if I wanted perfect I would go to a factory or a computer, that we are looking for unique instead.  Alas, the trauma continues.  I praised one little girl (who is usually fraught with anxiety) at how well she was doing and, in particular, not requesting my assistance.  I thought we had climbed that mountain for that day.  Not so.  When the next meltdown came she was beside herself that she might require my assistance and that in itself signaled failure!

Children are natural artists, they draw on an inner world to understand and evolve a true expression of self, so if anxiety is present here, in a space that aids in breaking open pain, connecting the dots of the inner world, in an environment designed for therapeutic processes, then what do we do?  How can we calm and curb?  Now I am by no means a psychologist or any kind of mental health professional but I have given it a lot of thought and read a lot lately about it.  As with everything it stems from parents, genetics and environment. As parents it is not how we view our children (our criticism of them)  but rather the way we view ourselves.

In support of our children perhaps we need to cut ourselves a break. Yes, life is hard, and making sense of our own emotional injuries is a life long journey, but we work hard and need to accept and praise ourselves. Drop the internal risk manager, fire the critic who never leaves your side and find a little acceptance.  Honour ourselves and we learn to honour those we are raising. Perhaps we also need to understand that while our children undoubtedly need boundaries, love and sincere praise, that who they are right now, anxieties included, forms part of their life path in an imperfect world.

And as a teacher of anxious artists perhaps all I can do is persevere with acceptance, patience and a wonder at how they persevere in their creations, attempting each and every time to overcome the demons of anxiety to find that inner world of magic which art allows to emerge.

Ps.  My favourite definition of anxiety is" anticipation of future collapse!"

Now on to an almost connected topic...

Teaching the concept of positive and negative to children...

You will need:

2 (preferably) A3 pieces of paper
paint
card
scissors
double sided tape/prestick
glue

I like to discuss the elements of art and drawing with children.  We have long discussions on line, how crazy it can be, colour and how messy it can be etc, always relating it back to the topic at hand and how we can incorporate these concepts into our work.  This deals with the idea of light and dark relating to positive and negative.  We start with a child standing with arms out to see how she/he is the positive shape in space, then we look at the background and further single out the positive and negative elements - curtains vs wall. Sometimes we land up looking at the spot on the wall vs the wall itself!

Place the two finish articles next to each other and simply point out how the negative becomes the positive and vice versa.  It is a simple experiment of shape and colour that I find quite effective. Some of the children had great fun creating new shapes, this is a lovely aspect to encourage even in younger children.

Have fun and try to guide your children in their creative endeavours instead of authoritatively teaching them!

Slowly Slowly Does It

Lovely folk, this week I have no craft activity to offer but I have chosen something else instead...

Today was Rosha Shana, Jewish New year, and while I am not Jewish, it is with grace and thanks that I mention it. The northern suburbs of Jozi slow on such holidays, the traffic eases and with that so does the stress. Many of my little artists stayed  home today with their families to celebrate, classes were cancelled and my day went from insane to calm. Calm.

I have been feeling flustered, knackered and worn out for the past few weeks. It is life on the never ending run. Always somewhere to go to, always somewhere to be, always something to do. So yes, I offer thanks for Rosha Shana.  The thing is, this is but one day, tomorrow the haste returns and in and amongst this we raise our children, in the blur of doing. We raise them to become doing junkies, always on the go, always being entertained, not knowing how to be still. Certainly, it is through the process of action that children grow, physically, mentally and emotionally, but it the what and how of the doing with which we need to be concerned.  In a non stop world, a space of slow and centered needs to be created which leads me to possibly one of my favourite subjects (anyone who knows me knows where this is going..) - yoga!

Yoga for children is wholly different event than a class for adults. It does not focus on creating a perfect pose (if even for a moment) but it turns yoga into a story, weaving tales with both body and mind from the inside out. Most yoga poses are based on observations of nature with which children have a deep resonance, they imitate the world of animals and trees, taking on their qualities, internalizing and learning to express.  It teaches them that they are part of the web of life while connecting them with their bodies and instilling compassion, non competitiveness and co-operation.

 Yoga works on subtle levels, developing strength, balance and self awareness, focusing equally on both sides of the body and therefore integrating both sides of the brain. And of course the essential elements for which yoga is well renowned, are ever present, the lessons of reconnecting to the breath, using the breath fully and with consciousness. It is amazing how even at a young age breathing becomes stressed, shallow and reflective of emotional states. How wonderful to foster whole breathing at a young age. To control the breathe is to control the mind and so children learn to self calm. Calm. Stillness.

And so we come full circle, how to ease the mayhem, to raise our children with the ability to stop and breathe, to not only know how to do so, but to develop the healthy need to do so.  And yes it is a process. One I am still working on it.

There are numerous children's yoga classes in and around Johannesburg, most studios offer them.  These pictures were taken at at Yugo Yoga class led by the fabulous Biljana - biljana.cook@facebook.com.

On The Road To Jozi

I love the inner city of Johannesburg, but it is huge, time is permenantly in short supply and (here is the cinch) I live in the suburbs. So my good intentions of walking it bit by bit on a weekly basis has remained a distant dream. And as much as I would like to take my girls on a walk about, it seems a bit daunting. Enter The Red Bus!

The Red Bus is a hop on hop off, all day,every day bus which zig zags it's way through the city making 12 stops en route. It is also a double decker open top bus which scores big points with kids! Red earphones are provided which plug into the bus stereo through which a city "guide" is provided. The girls loved it.

We caught it from Gold Reef City but there more accessible stops like the Gautrain Station @Park. We took 3 1/2 hours making only one small stop, so I would recommend taking a whole day to do it and utilizing  the opportunity to really explore places like Ghandi Square and The Origins Centre (tip: if you do stop here do not eat at its restaurant, overpriced, bad service and mediocre food).  It also reminded me how many wonderful, inexpensive things there are to do with children in our city which is easily forgotten when living in the suburbs filled with shopping centres and child centred activities with large price tags.

So if you are at a loss as to what to do with your children for a day, or  simply want a wonderful days outing where you get to play tourist in your own city, this is the thing for you.  Unfortunately it only seems to be running until the 19th September.

Check it out on www.citysightseeing.co.za

It's Elemental My Dear

Working With The Elements

In this case, the element is water with colour.  I am a painter by trade and by heart.  I am happiest with a paintbrush in my hand. Pure meditation, pure joy.  Yet, until a week ago I had never used water colours, well not properly.   Oil is my medium of choice.  So in a moment of inspiration,when I undertook to teach the children water colour paints, it was also learning curve for me.  I fell in love with painting all over again.  Water, we all need it, it connects everything and when it comes in the form of paint its beauty does the element justice.  It is also vibrant, easy to use and non toxic. Perfect for children.

Before beginning we had a brief discussion on the joys of painting, the different kinds of paint, why it should take a while to create a painting and the unique qualities of water colour paint.  The key point here is that, unlike other paint, it does not allow for rigid lines.  It does not provide the same control as oil or acrylic. Multiple lessons within one!

You will need:

• Decent quality water colour paper
• A board
• Gummed tape
• Water colours
• Palette
• Soft paint brushes (preferably although any type will work)
• Tray
• Clean water
• Patience!

It takes a while, but the blessing of our African sun is that it speeds up the drying time!

My art children did briefly moan about how long it takes but the end result quickly eroded the groaning.  They all agreed it was worth it, delighted with their own work and unique talent!

I did warn the few immensely self critical, controlling babes, that they get one piece of paper and only one for this project, hence they need to think carefully before applying the paint.  I was truly amazed at how it conquered the critic within.  Instead of the internal critic, an internal fan emerged acclaiming the melding colours as wonderful forms, surprise mystical beings on their paper!  This watery paint allowed them to release control and accept what happened, what is.  Too beautiful!