Kids’ Korner

Holiday Fun and Creativity

Holiday ornaments can be created from materials in nearly every home and for just pennies.  One idea is to create “stained glass” ornaments.  These ornaments will add charm and sparkle to any area you decorate, but are especially lovely on a holiday tree with lights that catch and reflect colors.

Materials you will need are:  cardboard or heavy paper (like shirt cardboard); aluminum foil; white glue; patterns for ornaments in simple shapes; markers in a variety of colors; pencil; and hanging ribbon or yarn.

The first step is to cut your cardboard or heavy paper into the shape of an ornament.  Large circle shapes with a square top-knot and a slightly pointed bottom are great. 

When the shape is cut, draw lines to divide the ornament shape into sections.  Use the bead of glue to define the shapes.  Allow the first side to dry, and then add lines/sections to the back side of the ornament if desired.

Once the glue is totally dry, cover the ornament with foil.  Gently press the foil over the raised glue lines and into the recesses, creating a high/low look.  Use your markers to color in the low areas between the lines under the foil.  The result will look like a stained glass ornament with colored areas and silver divisions. 

Pierce a hole at the top of the ornament and hang by a length of ribbon or yarn.  As simple as these instructions sound, the results are really dashing!  The ornaments look far more complicated or technical than they actually are. 

Another simple holiday decoration can be made by recycling old holiday greeting cards to create a wonderful keepsake Advent Calendar.  Start with a piece of red felt (or a bright red place mat) onto which you draw a grid containing 25 days. 

For each of the 25 days, cut out a holiday shape from your recycled holiday cards.  To use the calendar, select and glue a shape onto the grid for each day starting December 1^st and ending December 25^th.  What you complete is a great collection of images and a wonderful holiday decoration for years to come.  You could create a collection of colorful calendars over several years.

To decorate the holiday dining table, consider making a neat holiday table runner.  It can be made easily from holiday gift wrap as a base or use an inexpensive store-bought runner to which you add your own personal touches.  Metallic pipe cleaners can be shaped into holiday designs such as holly leaves or stars and glued to the runner.  If the runner is smooth paper or fabric, use holiday stamps and colorful stamp pads to create striking looks.  Metallic markers can be used to draw designs and markers are great for added color. 

There are many ways to decorate for the holidays that can be so much fun.  Look for unique things that will set your décor apart from others.  Try new color combinations.  Transform simple ornaments into dynamic new ones just by adding cutouts, glitter glue, layers of tissue paper glued with overlapping edges, etc. Happy Holidays!

Adventures in Wonderland

The Children’s Museum of Atlanta presents Alice’s Wonderland through January 13.  In this interactive exhibit kids can follow Alice down the rabbit hole and discover a world filled with adventure, wonder and learning. Visit www.imagineit-cma.org.  CMA is ideal for children age 8 and younger.

Best Illustrated Books

The gift-giving season is upon us, so you may wish to consider the New York Times Book Review’s choices

of the 10 best illustrated children’s books of 2007.  Chosen were Every Friday, Dan Yaccarino, Holt (ages 3-7); Jabberwocky, Christopher Myers, Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children (ages 5-9); The Arrival, Shaun Tan, Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic (ages 10 and up); First The Egg, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Neal Porter/Roaring Brook (ages 2-6); Not a Box, Antoinette Portis, HarperCollins (ages 2-6); 600 Black Spots, David A. Carter, Little Simon/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (ages 3 and up); The Frog Who Wanted to See the Sea, Guy Billout, Creative Editions (ages 7 and up); The Wall—Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, Peter Sis, Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux (ages 8 and up); Old Penn Station, William Low, Holt (ages 5-9); and The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick, Scholastic (ages 9 and up).

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 18 No. 2 — December 2007