How many times have you been in the middle of a major deadline with a business project or assignment, when, all of a sudden, your home office door opens, and it's your child saying "Mommy/Daddy, I'm bored......" ?



You usually just groan and say "Honey, go play with your toys or watch tv...." Children - especially young children - get bored easily. They need a constant string of activities to keep themselves occupied.

Well, sometimes that works and sometimes you have to stop what you're doing and think of an activity to keep your child busy and out of your hair for awhile.

One of the more popular activities for children is making art projects. They absolutely love art!

All of us can probably remember how great it felt when we were in grade school and drew or painted a picture of our house or a special friend. Why did that feel good? Because you were tapping into that special place inside each of us that wants to create and express ourselves. Those were your creative juices flowing through your mind-- sometimes gently, and sometimes in an excited manner!

There seems to be a growing need to promote creativity in pre-school aged children, as well as school-age children. Creativity is being discussed in almost every realm: books, articles, tv and radio programs and the work place. Creative arts and crafts can be used to teach reading, writing, history, etc. We need to get the word out to many teachers on how to use art in teaching more than just art. The arts are extremely important--very basic to the total learning experience. They are a means of self-expression: a way to communicate ideas, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, and values. Some of the values we get from creative expression include self-discovery, self-reliance, and enthusiasm. We also learn to use our leisure time constructively. And getting an early start with our children is very important.

So when you provide an art activity for your kids, you're giving them an experience that they will cherish right then and into the future as well. Sometimes they want to do those same art activities over and over again, embellishing in a different way each time.

So I'm going to do something special for you and your business. I'm going to share one of my more popular art projects with you. It will give your children a fun activity to do, keeping them occupied for a couple of hours - giving you a chance to finish that business report or project that's due today.

Enjoy!

"PAPER MOSAIC ANIMALS"

Grade Level: 1st or 2nd Grade (But can be geared up with increased details or geared down if animal is extremely simple.)

Materials: colored construction papers - 3 x 6" in size, in various colors, 12 x 18" black construction paper, glue, scissors, pencils, erasers, zeroxed sheets of animals (or pictures of various animals),scraps for practice drawings

Procedure: 1)Use one 12 x 18" black sheet to draw one large animal (rabbits, elephants, turtles, pigs, etc.) that nearly fills the paper.

2)Choose several 3 x 6" colors for your animal's body parts.

3)Take one 3 x 6" color and cut it into 1/2" wide strips.

4)Next, cut a 1/2" strip into smaller squares, approximately 1/2" in size. Now you have a small pile of tiny squares that are about 1/2" x 1/2".

5)Use these small squares to fill in a part of the animal's body. (Spread a small amount of glue where you want the squares to go. Place the squares carefully on the glue, close together.)

6)When one part of the body is filled, choose another part of the body to fill. (If you have squares left, use those squares to fill another part of the body that you want to be that same color.)

7)When you're ready, choose another 3 x 6" color and cut it into the 1/2" x 1/2" squares. Use these to fill the next part of the body that you chose.

8)Repeat this process until all parts of the animal's body are filled.

9)Put away to dry.