Once again it’s been far too long since I last updated this blog, so when I was offered a product to review which I thought readers (and myself) might enjoy, I thought it offered an excellent excuse to create some new content. It’s not that I’m short of ideas for this, but simply the time to carry them out these days. You may have seen pendulum art before – there are lots of videos online showing it, and the concept is extremely simple. It’s also a fantastic fun and educational STEAM project for kids, since it combines both art and science. There is no doubt that if you are so inclined, you ..read more

Over the years I have always tried to add a free printable project at Christmas – I’m not sure I’ve managed it quite every year, but I recently came across this Christmas Fairy Doll in my collection of vintage items. It dates I think to the 1930’s. The original is pretty small, so I’m not sure if the original intention was for it to be scaled up manually, but today at least in the digital era, it should be rather easier to enlarge! To use, download the image, print out, attach the fairy onto lightweight card – I used double-sided adhesive film for this (affiliate link), customise and cu ..read more

Home-made gifts are especially meaningful to receive, and when those gifts are useful as well as thoughtful, it only adds to their value. This project for a useful creative gift is a very simple one which can be adapted for use with younger or older children, or by grown-ups, according to need, and also offers infinite opportunities to customise the shape, scent and style of decoration. This project contains affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission if you purchase using them. You will Need DAS Airdry Modelling Clay Essential Oils Dried Lavender Cookie Cutte ..read more

It has been a long time since I’ve managed to post anything on here. There are lots of personal reasons for this, which I won’t go into here, but with it already approaching the festive season, I thought it was about time added some new, and hopefully useful content. For the last couple of years I have been trying to find the time to establish a proper directory of resources on Artful Kids – it has been something of a stop-start project, but hopefully it is now, finally, starting to take shape. It is a combination of resources already on this site, external resources elsewhere which are free ..read more

I have dabbled with magnetic art in the past (see one of my early posts for junk magnetic art) – I love the simplicity, flexibility and infinite possibilities of magnetic art, and it is so easy to make your own unique sets at home. For this project I used my stash of painted papers, and purchased some thin self-adhesive magnetic sheets, which can be cut quite easily with sharp scissors. As an alternative to painted paper you could recycle some decorative wrapping paper, or images and textures from magazines. All that was required was to stick the sheets of paper onto th ..read more

It’s a while since I last did a product review here, but when I was offered this one, I thought it was something that readers might be interested in – particularly people looking for art inspired Christmas gifts which are reasonably priced, educational, good to look at, and offer some lasting value. Scratch off posters and maps have become a popular product in recent years, but this one is a little different in that it can also operate as an educational game as well as a piece of wall art. I’ve not had experiencing of using anything other than standard promotional scratch-cards before, but t ..read more

Since time immemorial artists have embraced and pushed the boundaries of new tools and new media as they have been invented, whether it be new pigments, surfaces, or equipment. For example, the Camera Obscura is thought to have been used by artists such as Canaletto and Vermeer, JMW Turner was notorious for experimenting with new pigments, (which sometimes proved to be so fugitive that they faded quickly on the walls of his customers), and artists such as the Impressionists were inspired by photography and the accidental compositions of snapshots. Today with the advent of computers and prin ..read more

Using our own body as a canvas for artwork must be one of the oldest forms of art in existence. Whether it be for ritual, cultural, cosmetic, or purely aesthetic purposes, using paint or tattoos on the body is millennia old and has never really lost its popularity. Summer is the perfect time to experiment with it, and having purchased some body paint for a forthcoming event recently, I thought the recent spell of good weather would be an opportune time to try it out. The paints which I purchased were a set of dayglo paints, which also glow under UV light, and this gives them an added dimensi ..read more

The Christmas Pop-up shop was quite successful in shifting some of the excess stock in our stockroom, so as Artful Kids changes its focus away from being an online store, it seemed like a good idea to add a few more items for clearance purposes, (though it has taken me rather longer than originally planned to get this on the site!) The items listed in the shop are all deeply discounted from their original price, and will not be replaced – there are very few left, so if you want to grab a bargain, now is your opportunity. The shop will remain live for about 6 weeks (possibly less if there’s n ..read more

Who says that art materials can’t be festive or decorative in their own right? If you’re looking to create an artfully themed Christmas Tree for a studio, creative space, or just at home, here are a few ideas you might like to try… Festive Paint Brushes Give those old worn out paintbrushes a new lease of life by transforming them into decorations. Decorate the handles with brightly coloured paints in any style you choose, and then dip the tips into glitter paint, or PVA sprinkled with glitter. Use the hole in the handle to thread a hanging ribbon through, and away you go. Alternatively you ..read more