This Mother’s Day, create art together as a family and let the process strengthen your bond.
Art — just like a mother’s care and attention — empowers children with confidence and reinforces the building of optimism, resiliency and strength.
Art brings the family together to talk, laugh, learn, share ideas and create.
Creating art together with mom, or with the family in honor of mom, helps teach problem-solving, self-love and appreciation. Mothers can utilize art as a confidence-building tool for their kids because there is no right or wrong way to create art. It helps calm minds and is a fun, healthy activity for a family.
Some fun arts and crafts activities include:
Themed family collaborative painting: This is where the theme or subject of the painting is personalized. Each individual’s piece comes together to create one image. For example, when connected, the canvases may depict a beach or under-the-sea scene and can incorporate seashells that the family collects together — and even paints, to add fun, nature art embellishments. This can also encourage the family to get out in nature, with quality time and a bonding experience. They can take a stroll through nature together to find inspiration and items for their artwork.
Family collages: These are always a great expressive, relaxing and crafty activity, and are also really fun and easy for the younger kids. Each person can put their personal touches on each other’s art as well. Collages are a great, playful introduction to art for younger children as mommy-and-me art time. It can include painting or coloring, or drawing images on a canvas/paper, then decorating by gluing elements on top. Elements can include magazine cut-outs, various crafty items and stimulating sensory elements, such as feathers, stickers and pom-poms, or even special personal items that can remind you of each other. Various mediums can be used, including paint, watercolor, colored pencils, markers crayons, etc. The possibilities and exploration through collages are endless. Families can also reflect on the meaning of the elements they choose.
Mom-and-me art journal: This can be used daily and last for years to come. It’s a wonderful tool that children or teens and mom can utilize and share together as a fun, expressive and unique, safe personal space. The journal is particularly fun because you can also get crafty with entries by writing, creating poems, drawing, asking questions, using various mediums, making collages, etc. And this too can be a great keepsake memory. You can also take it on a trip or outing, such as a spring picnic together.
This will hopefully inspire and motivate you to use art and creativity as a mindful activity to do together or in honor of your mom as a gift this Mother’s Day and in everyday life for healthy coping, self-care, self-love and wellness for years to come.
Diana Shabtai, Psy.D., ATR-BC, “Miss Dee,” created Art Therapy OC in 2012. arttherapyoc.com
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