by frosted flamingo | Nov 13, 2024 | Blog
Over the past week I have been contemplating the (apparent) deep division among Americans, and I have wondered how I can personally address this issue as an artist. On the day of the presidential election, I was greatly surprised by the results, and I spent the entire day having open and candid conversations with anyone that would engage or listen. At work, in the grocery store, outside and inside my children’s daycare–I had excellent conversations, and I heard widely different perspectives and opinions. Of course, all of my big questions were not answered, but I went to sleep feeling a little bit better.
My takeaway was that we all need to have more uncensored conversations about politics (as uncomfortable as that may be). We all need to keep the discourse going, and especially between people who we don’t agree with. As long as we disassociate with the “other side” the divide among Americans will grow deeper, and fear and hatred will continue to infect us all. We need to set our emotions aside and try to have rational conversations and civilized debates with people we encounter-friends, family, and strangers.
We gain nothing by avoiding political discussion for fear of being impolite or offensive or confrontational. Honest and personal conversations help us humanize and understand how others think. As the journalist and political analyst Ezra Klein says: “There are two ways Democrats can respond right now. Contempt or curiosity…There will be a desire to retreat back, hunker down, draw the boundaries of who is decent and who is a fascist ever more clearly.” But we can’t afford to do that! If you are reading this blog, I challenge you to dig deep. Ask questions, listen, empathize, and ask yourself what you stand for and what you believe in.
In the coming months, I will be orchestrating creative opportunities where these types of conversation and connection can take place. Details are still in the works, so stay tuned!
by frosted flamingo | Sep 17, 2024 | Blog
Over the past month, my older son, who is four years old, has been participating in several new activities. Music on Mondays, Soccer on Tuesdays and Saturdays, Tumbling on Sundays. I shuttle him around to these classes, and for the most part, I am required to stay on site. Before I became a parent, I remember thinking that if I ever had kids, I would avoid overly programming their schedules. I was repelled by the idea of adults curating childhood. I secretly judged the parents that spent their time doing exactly what I am doing now. I thought kids should have ample time for free play and that they should be comfortable with boredom. I believed that kids should learn how to amuse themselves.
I still believe all of this…but I also believe in the power of trying new things, especially at a young age. I would never make my son attend a class he didn’t want to attend. He is thrilled about all of his new activities, and his excitement is contagious. I have seen his confidence soar from pushing himself outside of his comfort zone. His social skills have expanded by working and playing with new kids, and he has become more comfortable with adults, since each of his teachers has a different style and approach.
While our current schedule is busy, there is still plenty of space for unstructured play, and I hope that my son considers these new activities as nothing more than fun and exciting experiences. The point is not to score a goal in soccer or play Mozart on the glockenspiel, but to muster the bravery to try something new. Of course there are so many benefits to mastering a skill, be it painting or reading music, hockey or ballet, but I am more concerned with fostering the drive to embrace the unknown. I strongly believe that trying new things (and being a little intimidated or scared) is essential for human growth. The feeling that comes after we overcome a new challenge is priceless.
Another argument for these activities is that they potentially reduce screen-time. As parents, we can of course decide that unstructured play does not involve a phone or television, but screens are designed to be addictive, and as soon as they are introduced into our lives, we all know they are an option. Growing up, my sister and I did not have cable television, and cell phones weren’t around. We created plays and dance performances, set up shops with our own currency, and romped around the neighborhood and pretended we were spies. There was no end to our imagination. But that was around 1990-2000. The world is different now and technology plays a much larger role in all of our lives. As parents, we need to be more intentional about the kind of childhood we want our kids to have.
If you are a parent in Summit County (CO), here are a few links for the activities I mentioned above. What activities do you enjoy doing with your children and how do you balance structured or programmed time with free play? Thanks for reading!
https://www.kindermusik.com/in/usa/colorado
https://www.coppercolorado.com/woodward/passes/tots-tumble
https://www.highcountrysoccer.com/
by frosted flamingo | Jul 10, 2024 | Blog
Next week, we are excited to host an Enchanted Forest Summer Camp for elementary age students. If you can’t participate, try making these crafts at home, and keep your eyes peeled for our art camps in 2025 (with half and full day options). I hope you enjoy this free resource for kids and adults!
MONDAY: Setting the Scene with Leather, Yarn, and Leaves
TUESDAY: Forest Creatures with Clothespins, Straws, and Fabric
- Clothespin Creatures (25 min), Materials: clothespins, paint, brushes, googly eyes, feathers, pom poms, yarn, scissors
- Colorful Straw Dancers (25 min), Materials:Straws, Pipe cleaners, scissors, small ball of air dry clay
- Fabric Scrap Forest Bag–to store creatures (45 min), Materials: canvas bag, fabric scraps, 1 fabric fusion glue per kid; optional: needle, thread, yarn (option to do 2 bags)
WEDNESDAY: Forest Dwellings with Wood, Paper, and Glass
- Mini Wood Homes (25 min) Materials: popsicle sticks, wood stick stirrers, glue
- Mushroom Corner Bookmarks (25 min), Materials: origami paper, scissors, white paint (for dots)-kids can do multiple with different colors
- pressed flower mini lantern and flower sun-catchers (50 min) Materials: baby food jar, pressed flowers (7 pieces per kid), mod podge, paint, paint brush, tea light, self laminating paper (kids paint lid any color they want)
THURSDAY: Fairy Land
- Straw Weaving (25 min), Materials: Straw, yarn, tape, scissors, beads
- fairy garden (45 min) Materials: cardboard base, assorted fairy garden pieces (8 per kid), glass beads, wood door, paint, brushes, plastic flower pot (glue door to one side), fake grass square, mini fencing (14 inches/kid)
FRIDAY: Trees and Birds
- Tree Sculpture (45 min) Materials: Wire, Pipe Cleaners, Beads, Fabric, Clay Base, etc.
- Paper Bowl BirdFeeder (45 min) Materials: paper bowl, paint, brushes, birdseed, string, hole punch, fruit loops
by frosted flamingo | Jun 11, 2024 | Blog
Summer is a great time to play outside, read more, and of course, make more art! We’re thrilled to share this free art resource with you, combining play, books, and art. Enjoy!
5 Days of Pete the Cat Crafts: Making Art Inspired by Books
Books for Art Inspiration:
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes
Read: Pete the Cat: Crayons Rock
Read: Pete the Cat Plays Hide and Seek
MONDAY: BUTTONS
Brainstorm Drawing (5 min) Draw Pete the Cat from memory
Draw Pete the Cat Worksheet (15 min)
Materials: printed worksheet, blank paper, pencils
Read: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons (10 min)
Make Button Stampers and Stamp Art (30 min)
Materials: corks, foam shapes/letters, paper, paint, paint palettes (hot glue to attach foam)
Button Mosaics (50 min)
Materials: buttons, cardboard squares, glue, pencils
TUESDAY: PIZZA PARTY
Read: Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party (10 min)
pizza worksheet (10 min)
mini clay pizzas and pies (30 min)
Materials: printed sheet, colored pencils, pencils; 5 bottle caps per kid (125 total), air dry clay, 1 inch cookie cutter, popsicle stick (to make lines in crust), polymer clay, tools
felt pizzas with different toppings (60 min)
Optional if kids finish early: Create a name/menu featuring all of your pizzas
Materials: felt (light brown, red, white, yellow, green, pink, orange), paper plate, glue
WEDNESDAY: CRAYONS ROCK
Read: Pete the Cat: Crayons Rock (10 min)
Crayon + Watercolor Paintings (50 min)
Make Cool Cat Crayons (30 min)
Materials: • watercolor paper, crayons, paintbrushes; crayon box, glue, scissors
Make Pete the Cat Puppets (20 min)
Make Another Puppet of Your Choice (10 min)
Materials: Brown or white paper bag • Scissors • Glue stick • Colored card stock or white paper that you can color
THURSDAY: SHOES
Read Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes (10 min)
Decorate paper shoes (10 min)
Sneaker Tread Printmaking (30 min)
Materials: printed worksheet, markers; shoe sole protector sheet, scissors, paint, brush, newsprint paper and other paper to print
Shoelace Craft (50 min)
Materials: a piece of scrap cardboard, pencil, a shoelace, white paint, glue and glitter
FRIDAY: HIDE AND SEEK
Read: Pete the Cat Plays Hide and Seek (10 min)
Play Hide and Seek with Cut out Shapes (10 min, small groups)
Create Collage with Pete and His Friends (40 min)
Materials: large paper, scissors, glue, printed sheets, markers/paint
Secret treasure box (decorate and make treasures to hide inside)
Materials: cardboard box (1 per kid), scrap paper, mod podge, brush, buttons, other misc decorations, glue
by frosted flamingo | May 9, 2024 | Blog
Over the past couple months, a handful of friends have sent me links for articles and podcasts interviewing Jonathan Haidt. Haidt is a social psychologist whose new book, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness,”(published in March 2024), recently reached the No. 1 spot on the New York Times’ best-seller list.
Haidt argues that the teen mental health crisis is directly linked to the use of smartphones and social media, and he encourages parents to limit their children’s phone and app use before high school. Critics of Haidt say that his data is lacking, but he counters that the correlation between the rise in social media and the rise in mental health issues among teens is indisputable. Furthermore, he notes that it is near impossible to conduct research on minors, and that results from social science experiments are inherently faulty.
Personally, I think Haidt is not wrong in naming this an “epidemic of mental illness,” but for me, as a parent and a human that uses social media, I am actually more concerned by the “rewiring” of all of our brains, parents/adults included. This is not to sweep aside the widespread mental health issues that youth seem to be facing, but I am troubled by the changing way we interact with each other and the world around us.
In an interview with the New Yorker, Haidt describes how he encourages his students (at Stern School of Business) to refocus:
“Try to convince them that your attention is the most precious thing you have. You could make huge amounts of money; there’s no limit to how much money you could make. But there’s a very severe limit on how much attention you have. You can’t get more of it. So who are you going to give it away to? Tell me which companies you’re going to allow to take your attention every day…Once you phrase it like that, they turn off almost all their notifications, and we get remarkable results. They say that for the first time, they can think clearly. They’re able to do their homework. They’re less anxious. Modern life is fragmenting all of us, and it’s really doing a number on young people. If we reverse that, we improve their mental health.”
Even if all of your push notifications are off, think about all of the ways in which your attention is divided. For me, I am a mom of two young kids, I am married, my immediate family lives on the opposite side of the country, I am running my own business, and (oh, almost forgot) I am trying to take care of my physical and mental health! I really don’t need any more things vying for my attention! Do you?
As I wrote in my last blog post, I am not ready to eliminate my smartphone or all apps, BUT there is a strong case for greatly limiting use. Whether you start practicing “no phone Sundays” or make your bedroom a no-phone zone, I challenge you to do something! Make more art and scroll less. Life is too short to be wasted, staring into a screen.
