Make a Home for the Inspiration Fairy

Whenever I am in a museum gift shop, I find there are lots of art books for kids. Some are about artists, some are about the exhibits - and quite a few are big lists of art projects. They list materials you need, and generally show some work of art created for the photograph that looks really great and really perfect.

Here's something else to try: Set up an art Studio, rather than an art Project. This way the Inspiration Fairy has somewhere to land when she decides to visit you.

When you set up a Studio, you leave the end result open, and you create a space where it's safe to try things. You keep the materials organized so that they can be found and so that they last a long time. And, a Studio is available any time an idea strikes.

My classes are like a Studio. I like to get everyone drawing right away, then see what is on their mind. I don't talk about an end result too much. You never know what might happen - mini-comics, drawings on a white board, origami, who knows. We use different materials rather than setting up different projects.

Now, often a student has an idea in mind, and it's my job to offer ways of making that idea come to life. And, sometimes we will have a theme, such as superheroes and sidekicks or magic or the zoo. Sometimes I'm working with a teacher who is integrating art into a bigger curriculum.

But by thinking of art in terms of a Studio rather than a Project, you make art part of life rather than something that has to be finished or done a certain way.

You don't need much, some combination of these things is great:

- Paper, white and colored, scrap, recycling, notepads, what have you

- Pencils, erasers, and a good sharpeneer

- Chalk or pastels

- Scissors

- Glue sticks

- Old magazines to cut up (look through these if they are not for kids, they have a tendency to find only the underwear and alcohol ads)

- (Washable) markers

- Crayons

- Clay

- White board and dry erase markers

- Anything else you think is cool or you find around - white glue, glitter, extra buttons, etc. Newspapers can be coloring books. Everything is fair game.

Give these things a permanent home, in a cupboard or box or basket. Then when Studio time is over, all the materials get put away properly. Respect for the materials is really important. Then whenever inspiration strikes, there you go.