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The Art Teacher

Despite my last post on crayon etchings, art is not a subject we deliberately cover often. In the fall/winter of 2014, when we studied animals, Levi and Owen practiced drawing animals Ed Emberley-style, and all four of the boys draw and color every day of their own volition, but that's pretty much it.

Now that we've moved to Minnesota, we've become dear friends with a young couple at church. Silas and Angelina took to each other in a special way from the very beginning, not a small matter for an introverted three-year-old. She sits with us in church (and her husband, too, when he doesn't have to work), making my job of training children to sit in the pew while Daddy's preaching much, MUCH easier. Her sermon notes are works of art, and Owen especially loves to copy her drawings.

Twice now Angelina has spontaneously asked to bring over art supplies and do an activity with the kids, and we are thrilled to have her! Silas is currently obsessed with drum sets, so for his birthday she made her own screen-printing trays and let the boys make their own drum set shirts.

Adding paint to the tray.
Silas received a top hat for his birthday and wouldn't take it off. :)

Levi's turn, scraping the paint through the printing holes.

Owen's turn.

Toby's turn. I just missed getting a photo of the huge grin on his face.
(He wouldn't take off his construction hat that week.)

The only picture I have of a finished product is super blurry, but just so you can get an idea . . . 

Yes, Toby is almost always wearing a hat of some kind . . . 

More recently, Angelina finished up an art camp with 20-30 kids and wanted to give my boys (who did not attend the camp) a chance to try out a new technique. A mixture of paint, glue, and water goes in an upside-down bottle suspended from a tri-pod, then the boys got to swing the bottle around to make spirals. They're in a space-obsessed phase right now, so they loved the galaxy-like results!

Getting set up in the backyard.

Testing out the thickness of the paint with Owen.

Fascinated.


Levi's turn.

Two of the finished products (they each made two, but some were messier than others):



It has been such a tremendous blessing to have our very own art expert on hand and willing to share! 

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