I am always on the look out for new ways to use cardboard tubes.  As people who come to my classes will attest, they crop up in a myriad of different guises. This is a new one though.  I love it when making has a practical use and this really does!  Telling the time is …

Happy New Year and welcome to my first blog post of 2017. I wanted to start the new year off by sharing some ideas about childhood drawing I have come across recently.  In my pre-school and after school club classes I am privileged to see a broad range of developmental stages in drawing.  I absolutely …

Not long to go now!  I was told recently that it is going to be 16°C on Christmas Day so I think it’s fair to say that snow is not looking very likely.  Let’s not get downhearted though – we can make our own snow at home and have lots of creative fun along the …

Phew! I have just returned from my garage where I have been attempting to get everything ready for classes next week.  This is no mean feat at the moment as the garage has been plunged into utter chaos.  My normally organised art materials are buried under piles of things normally stored in the shed.  The …

It seems like winter has finally arrived.  Time to dig out hats and gloves and spend a good fifteen minutes getting ready to leave the house! On a positive note, we have had some beautiful frosty mornings here over the last few days.  Even our bike shed was transformed in to a work of art …

This week our mini Art Explorers have been getting to grips with salt.  We have been busy making Rangoli patterns using coloured salt and Diva lamps with salt dough. I thought I would include this in the blog this week as a few people have asked how I made them and it is so easy …

Isn’t it strange how sometimes your memory is triggered for no apparent reason?  Out of the blue, the other day, I suddenly remembered how much the children at a school I used to teach at loved making ‘stained glass biscuits’.  This is a fantastic activity for any time of the year but is particularly great …

Autumn is such a lovely time for art and craft activities.  There is such an abundance of free materials just ripe for the taking! Whilst out on my run this morning I was struck by just how many different types of leaf were littering the path between Hertford and Ware. Big ones, small ones, smooth …

I have been busy this morning preparing activities for our classes next week.  Of course, the theme is Bonfire Night and, inevitably, this involves the dreaded glitter. Over years in education and with my own small children I have found that resistance is futile.  During November and December glitter will be making surprise appearances all …

I don’t know about you but here at Art Explorers HQ we have been getting rather excited about Halloween.  My own mini explorers came home from the grandparents house the other day with a beautifully carved pumpkin each.  Poor Grandad had been very busy!  They had apparently designed the faces and then Grandad had carved …