{"id":11876,"date":"2016-11-11T02:44:16","date_gmt":"2016-11-11T02:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smallhandsbigart.com\/?p=11876"},"modified":"2018-12-31T03:10:01","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T03:10:01","slug":"wooden-bead-mobile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smallhandsbigart.com\/fort-mill\/wooden-bead-mobile\/","title":{"rendered":"Wooden Bead Mobile \/\/ Inspired by Art Bar Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An\u00a0unexpected reward of\u00a0doing what I love has been the connections & friendships forged through social media with other art teachers, creative parents & art ed bloggers around the world. \u00a0I\u00a0treasure being part of a\u00a0tight online network of kindred spirits who inspire, support, and celebrate\u00a0each other! \u00a0 I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some in person\u00a0(a “pinch me” moment was randomly finding myself standing in Meri Cherry’s infamous\u00a0Southern California\u00a0backyard art studio<\/a>, looking up through the open roof at giant lemons about to drop on my head! \u00a0While Ana from Babble Dabble Do<\/a>\u00a0was just chillin’, holding a melting ice pop for one of her kids. \u00a0Not making that up,\u00a0I wasn’t dreaming!! … or was I???) – but most of these friends I only know online and just fantasize about meeting in person one day! \u00a0Like in, oh, maybe Sweden or someplace (oh hej!\u00a0Willowday<\/a>).<\/p>\n And THAT run on paragraph, my friends, is how I came to If you’re like me and love holding a weighty, nice quality book in your hands, slowing taking in all the details of every photo and savoring every page, you’ll be in heaven! \u00a0 So imagine my delight when Bar asked us to participate in her book blog tour and road test a project or two! \u00a0Um… <thinking… thinking….> OK! \u00a0A quick scan of the\u00a0studio revealed a small, chatty group of little people who like to get messy, and\u00a0a pile of already semi-glittery leftover sticks, so the obvious choice was\u00a0Project #18 – Wooden Bead Mobiles!<\/p>\n No stranger to mobiles,\u00a0we pulled out our stash of trusty Twisteez<\/a><\/strong><\/span> wire so that we could – I won’t lie<\/em>\u00a0– not have to tie a bunch of\u00a0strings for the kids! \u00a0The wire is stiff and comes in fun colors- perfect for little fingers learning to lace, thread, twist & wrap. \u00a0 We also rounded up some wooden beads and wood discs that the students could paint with liquid watercolor and adorn with lines & shapes using one of our newest fave art supplies – Kwik Stix<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span> paint sticks (soft + creamy fast drying tempera paint sticks).<\/p>\n We also keep on hand some buckets of small pieces of mat board pieces cut into geometric shapes (thanks to a\u00a0local\u00a0frame shop that donates all of their “scraps” to us! \u00a0… one man’s trash…), and some scrap felt and foam pieces, straws, and anything else we could find that we thought would look pretty and we could punch a hole in! \u00a0We went to town, starting with painting the sticks!<\/p>\n As the sticks were drying, we drew lines & shapes on the wooden discs with the Kwik Stix and then painted those and the wooden beads with liquid watercolor. \u00a0 We then gave everyone a little selection of do-dads to string onto each of three or four wires. \u00a0We talked about how to use the straw beads as spacers and encouraged them to be thoughtful in their placement – maybe make a pattern or arrange by color.<\/p>\n The benefits of this type of project are many: \u00a0primarily, the kids LOVED it! \u00a0They loved that the mobiles moved and they all associated them with babies and cribs (a happy subliminal memory for them)! \u00a0They loved that they got to select colors and make choices about the rest of their materials to use. \u00a0Their fine motor skills (and tolerance for painty fingers) were definitely put to the test as they patiently poked the wire through the tiny holes in all of their materials.<\/p>\nknow<\/del>\u00a0stalk Bar Rucci from Art Bar Blog<\/a>. \u00a0I can’t remember when I first started following her, but I recognized her immediately as a soul sis-tuh. \u00a0While we both share a love of kraft paper covered tables and all things colorful and creative, there are at least two fundamental differences between us: \u00a0Bar\u00a0teaches art out of her home, in close proximity to an off-white couch<\/a>, which would require borderline lethal doses of anti-anxiety meds in my world (not for me, for the people who have to deal with me). \u00a0And Bar wrote a BOOK, while I seemingly whiled away the hours\u00a0fishing beads out of our button jar. \u00a0Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of having returned every last stray bead to its proper storage place, and the\u00a0fishbone diagram I created afterwards to identify the\u00a0root cause of the cross-contamination was some of my best work. \u00a0But Bar wrote\u00a0a BOOK! \u00a0A GOOD\u00a0book. \u00a0I am humbled.<\/p>\nBar’s book is called Art Workshop for Children<\/a>\u00a0and it’s a\u00a0visual art party for your senses! \u00a0Just like scrolling the pages of Art Bar Blog<\/a>!<\/h3>\n
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