Monday

Guest Post by The Book Chook: Digital Art Websites for Kids

If you've been wondering about my sudden disappearance - it's all been for a good cause. Our house has SOLD! I won't jinx things by packing yet, but we're out of attorney review and pending the "all-clear" on the inspection, we'll be moving to our new home (dubbed Frog Pond Farm) the first of August!

Back in January when I took the plunge and starting blogging publicly, Susan of The Book Chook left one of the very first comments on my blog. If you've never been introduced to her site, it's a treasure trove of literacy activities, laughs and lots of book reviews. I'm excited to have her guest posting here about the convergence of technology and art. Susan has rounded up a group of kid-friendly sites where kids can try their hand at digital art. Take it away, Susan!

Friday

Pizza Box Loom -- A Cardboard Box Challenge

To celebrate her blog's one year anniversary, Rachelle of Tinkerlab issued a challenge - do something fun with a cardboard box and share it with the world.

We've raided the recycling bin before for cardboard boxes (the peanut butter covered YUM sign was my personal favorite) but I tried to come up with something unique this time. And something not too messy because last night when a buyer gave me 10 minutes notice to see the house, I wound up putting a sinkful of dirty dishes in my car. Yeah, not my best moment but the house looked good!

My original thought was to create a solar oven out of a pizza box, but Claire has been obsessed with my scrap pile of fabrics (I've been busy whipping up curtains and she plays "sewing" or "spaghetti" with the scraps) so I instead I whipped up a cardboard loom for her.



The "how-to" for this project could not be easier, and for the minimal effort put into this, it kept Claire busy for a good hour.

While eating the pizza, I cut long vertical slits into the box.


See them below? Claire thought if she laid in the box she could be a pizza that "Mommy would gobble up in kisses." This kid cracks me up.


We raided the scrap pile for a hodpodge of fabrics. Recognize the blue and green ones from the refrigerator quilting project?


I got things started for her and Claire pulled the fabric through each row. It was tricky for her to get the hang of it, but after a few minutes she was able to take over. If the slits had been wider vertical slats rather than single line cuts, weaving would have been easier.