This summer, try telling mixed-up fairy tales!  Recommended for road trips, plane trips, camping trips, bedtime and waiting rooms. From three different fairy tales, pick a character, a setting and a plot.  Put it all together in your own unique way and voila — you have a mixed-up fairy tale.  You are now a storyteller.  For example: -... [read more ]

Artist Date guest post by Mary-Frances Main, writer, crafter, blogger and mama. We’re enjoying a warm summer but spending a lot of it inside in the air conditioning. If you think about it, it’s a lot like being snowed in – but lazier! Of course there are the rainy days, too where you must find something NEW to do around the house. So, why not... [read more ]

Artist Date guest post by mom and author of Spilling Ink and other books, Anne Mazer. Years before I read Julia Cameron, I was doing artist dates with my kids. It was called “writing with mom” and for years, it was a nightly ritual. Like many good things, it happened by accident, almost unconsciously, and without any intimation of how important... [read more ]

Guest post by Melanie Sklarz of A Dose of Creativity. Part II:  Encourage Your Child’s Creativity As I mentioned in my last post (Part I), creativity allows children to develop skills for life. So how can you encourage creativity in your child? First of all, you don’t even have to consider yourself creative. Raising a creative kid is more... [read more ]

Guest post by artist, educator and blogger, Melanie Sklarz. Part I: 3 Reasons for Creativity Did you know that as humans we have the unique ability to make connections between different ideas and things, understand symbols and metaphors, and use our imagination? By tapping into our personal creativity and imagination we help our brain and positively... [read more ]

Artist Date Guest Post from Debi Huang of Go Explore Nature. I love to seek creative inspiration from nature. Now that I have kids, I encourage them to do the same. Nature provides an endless and ever-changing landscape with an array of free tools and resources right at your fingertips. What better place to enjoy an artist’s date with your kids... [read more ]

Guest post by Maya Bisineer, author, mom and founder of Memetales. I do not recall making up stories until I had my kids. And then, all of a sudden I started making up stories – out of thin air. Well, not really thin air. I think the imagination spark that kids create and  the inspiration they provide really makes us all wildly creative. In... [read more ]

I’ve read about dream boards and never gotten around to making one.  Basically, the idea is to find things that you’d like to see in your life, your future dreams.  But, it is also a cool, creative artist’s date you can have with your kids — although theirs will be less intentional and more whimsical which is wonderful, too! ... [read more ]

Have a Dad-Style creative artist date with your kids. Guest post by Todd Davis, host of HGTV’s Over Your Head and author of Handy Dad 25 Awesome Projects for Dads and Kids. A slip and slide is always so easy to do and guaranteed many laughs. Go to your local paint supply store and get a heavy duty plastic tarp that folds out lengthwise at least... [read more ]

IDEAS AND INSPIRATION FOR SUMMER ARTISTS’ DATES guest post by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich I loved Melissa’s summer artist’s date post so much, I was just full to bursting with new ideas and old memories. And my mind immediately went…all over the place. I don’t know if anyone out there is at all like me, but sometimes I tend to... [read more ]

Ever go through your day in such a rush of busyness that you don’t stop to notice the moment — any moment? Living mindfully helps us observe and trains our senses to absorb each moment.  As writers, we use this to write with sensory details. Practice living mindfully and observing with your five senses. Even younger (not-yet-writer) children... [read more ]

You can help me win by voting for me in “Books and Reading”! Yes, it’s true!  I’m a finalist in the Scholastic Blog Awards for best blog in the Book and Reading category. Help me get into the Scholastic Parent and Child Magazine by voting for me to WIN. Please! Click here to vote. Did you do it? THANKS!  I’m giving... [read more ]