My SD Moms With drastic cuts to education budgets taking place in schools across the county, arts in the classroom is often an area that suffers most. What can parents do to expose their children to the arts, let alone keep them involved in music, art, dance and drama throughout the year?
To keep your kids’ creative juices flowing, try a few of these evergreen, affordable and fun arts and crafts activities for your kids.
Create a kaleidoscope of color — What is more affordable than reuse? Instead of tossing out old, broken wax crayons, make a project out of it! Simply mix and match the broken crayon pieces, heat them at 200 degrees in an old muffin tin for 15 to 20 minutes, and voila! You have funky new crayons that create a whole new coloring experience for your child’s next drawing. For an added educational benefit, this might be the perfect opportunity to teach your child about the value of recycling.
Shake it up — For the perfect fusion of arts and music, try mixing it up by making DIY maracas that can be used for your child’s next celebration. All you need are a few empty raisin boxes, dried beans or rice, and a Popsicle stick for a fun and easy-to-craft instrument. Simply place a spoonful of the dried beans into the empty boxes, tape them shut, and glue the Popsicle stick between two filled boxes for easy, DIY maracas that your child can decorate and enjoy long after the craft project is done.
Add some drama — To incorporate a bit of drama in your child’s next art project, have them make a few masks out of paper plates, paint and string and put on a show for the entire family. Add feathers or pipe cleaner whiskers for an animal-themed performance or add a bit of glitter or sequins for even more pizzazz. To keep the kids entertained for hours, have them go through the full spectrum of putting on a theatre performance — from writing the play, to creating their costumes to inviting audience members to see the show.
How about a local San Diego educational arts event?
WoW the entire family — For a sampling of all things creative this fall, take the entire family to the La Jolla Playhouse’s upcoming WoW (Without Walls) Festival from Oct. 3-6. This four-day festival provides the perfect opportunity to enjoy a number of art and theatre performances, live music and artist presentations in and around the La Jolla Playhouse. There is no charge to enter the Festival Village and all ticketed performances are accessibly priced from $5 to $25.
P.S. You can get a chance to be double WoW-ed. Just go onto www.DonorNation.org and enter the WoW Festival drawing for a $500 cash prize and plus $500 to your favorite school! Wow!
*The festival is supported by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation and presented by philanthropic ecommerce marketplace DonorNation. For more information about the WoW Festival or a schedule of events, visit http://www.lajollaplayhouse.org/wowfestival.
[DonorNation Edu-Blog]
