Invitations to Create 30 Day Challenge!

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For the month of October, We’ll be embarking on a super fun, “invitations to create” challenge. This simply means setting up a few art materials in an interesting way and inviting your child to create. It’s easier than you’d think!

The challenge is to do this daily for 30 days to see how it improves your child’s relationship to art materials and to the creative process (and it will!)

The hard part is coming up with variations of art supplies to help your child think out of the box and engage with the materials in new ways. That’s where we come in! During the challenge, we’ll send out weekly ideas, along with extra tips and useful information. We also encourage you to share photos and support each other on our Facebook page.

Making Science Creative

This week, Karuna had the amazing opportunity to attend Camp Galileo. As her third camp this summer, I was curious to see how it would compare to the other two camps. As I mentioned in a recent post, Camp Galileo talks a big game.
During each one-week session, they hope to inspire innovation by offering opportunities to imagine, create, and test their creations. Campers work together to build on their ideas and discover new ways to re-work their designs. All of this is based around a weekly theme and infused with fun & enthusiasm. After hearing the daily reports from Karuna and visiting the camp during their “art class,” I was pleased to find that this camp definitely walks the walk!
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Awesome Wall Organizer

Urbio Wall Organizer

Our art pantry sits in a corner of our living room, inviting Karuna to create whenever inspiration strikes. This little area is squeezed between a door and our wall heater and has just enough room for a table and a few narrow wall shelves.  I couldn’t find a table that would fit this awkward space, so I made one using a piece of wood and legs from an Ikea stool.
For nearly two years she used this space often, but neither of us could figure out how to keep it organized!  With most of her supplies stored on top of the table, it just encouraged more junk to pile up. Here’s what it looked like on a good day and on a bad day:

Then one day, I discovered Urbio! It’s a wall storage system, originally made for houseplants. With metal plates and strong magnetic cups, it looked like it might be the perfect solution.  Since this art space is in my living room (and it’s what you see when you walk in the front door), I was more inclined to splurge on this product. The design is super simple and sleek and I felt that if it functioned well, it would be totally worth it.
Here’s a snapshot of the easy installation process and Karuna testing out the strength of the magnets:

With this new organization, Karuna began to use her art space even more and actually made the effort to put everything away on her own!  The added bonus was when little sis, Ora, began to walk, she couldn’t reach any of the supplies. Too bad for her, but awesome for us.


(Update: Urbio has come out with a new, less expensive version called Perch. You can see it here.)

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