Artful Fridays: Reading books, making messes, having fun.

Now that Traveler is almost 3 months old, I'm finally getting back into the swing of things. Life is getting a little easier and I figure it's time to get back to my creative/crafting/art interests.

And, what better time to do that than summer, right?

So, in an attempt to keep my kids from being bored this summer I'm starting Artful Fridays at our house. Every Friday the plan is to get the girls outside, read some new children's book, and make a little art inspired by the book.

I've always wanted to be a part of a kids' art group where the focus was on having fun, getting creative and socializing so we've invited friends to drop in on Fridays, too. I think it's a great way to keep the kids entertained so moms can get some much needed grown-up conversation at the end of a busy week. I'm keeping it open-ended for friends so they can come when it works for them and there is no pressure to be there every week. Some weeks we may have lots of friends, some weeks it may be just me and the girls, but every week we'll be getting messy, creative, and fun with art and reading.

Our first book is going to be Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems.

It's a great kid's book about a Monster who is terrible at, well, being a monster. But when he finally gets good at the scary monster job he realizes he'd rather be a friend than a monster anyways.

And Leonardo and his terrible monster friends will be inspiration for our own crazy, silly monsters. I think it's going to be a fun way to engage the kids in the book and I can't wait to see what monsters they come up with. I'll be posting pics of their creations, soon!