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Welcome to Creative Mama, where mamas can have fun connecting creatively with their kids and find meaning in mamahood. |
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These easy to create colourful elephants (haathees) have been bringing hope to our loved ones, during these times of change. Whilst we continue to put up colourful rainbow artwork around our home to invoke gratitude and show support, we decided to upcycle old milk cartons and deliver funky haathees with positive vibes to family and friends who are recovering from surgery, live alone and celebrate their birthdays in lock down.🌱🙌 What we used:
Let's Create: Lay the milk bottle on it's side and cut the entire bottom half of the bottle off with a serrated (bread) knife, just below the handle, which forms the elephant’s trunk. Cut arches on all four sides to make the legs. Now the fun part! Decorate your haathees with different coloured paint and glue on sequins, stickers, gems with PVA glue. Glue on some (googly) eyes if you have them or paint them on, along with some ears and a tail! Connect and Inspire... Creating these rainbow haathees have helped the kids feel connected and purposeful, knowing they are uplifting their loved ones, during the pandemic. Needles to say, our family and friends have loved receiving their colourful inspirations of hope. These haathees have also been great for imagination play and story-telling. In addition, the kids have practised their fine motor skills and coordination, whilst they designed and experimented with colour. For more rainbow art ideas to bring colour to your kids days, especially during the gloomy grey winter weather, take a look at Painting with Marbles and Creating and Colouring Mandalas. This activity was inspired by The Imagination Tree's Milk Jug Elmer Elephant. The kids enjoy reading this much-loved patchwork haathee's books!
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Mandala is Sanskrit for ‘circle’. It represents wholeness and balance. The symbol’s purpose is to assist with healing through meditating on a central or guiding focus. Many cultures around the world use them as part of their spiritual practices and as a therapeutic art technique. It was an honour to design hand-made mandalas for author, mama of three and creator of Happy Mama, Amy Taylor-Kabbaz. The mandalas are part of Amy's Divine Mama Circles, where mamas sit in circle together (physically or virtually, online) and hold space for each other. For more information on Matrescence and the transition to motherhood, please listen to her amazing Happy Mama Movement Podcast. Colouring mandalas has numerous health benefits for kids and adults, used as a form of:
The psychology behind the therapeutic art effects of colouring such intricate symmetrical patterns is attributed to the use of fine repetitive motor movements that assist us to return to the central point of focus and put aside thoughts that arise. The floral mandala pictured above was inspired by Amy's focus, 'Simplicity, Creativity, Connection' for a program currently underway. It is my hope that mamas connect with their innate creativity and feel inspired as they colour the pattern surrounding the focus. The buta mandala pictured below was inspired by Amy's affirmation, 'Rest to Rise' for another recent program. The buta is Sanskrit for ‘fire’. I hope mamas in this program feel relaxed and renewed with fiery energy as they colour and contemplate the mandala. Colouring is one of the kids - and my - favourite activities. My kids enjoyed colouring in these mandalas over the school holidays :) WHAT WE USE:
LET'S CREATE!
CONNECT & INSPIRE... It was great to see my kids physically relax and get creative over which colours they would use. Be as creative as you like and unleash your imagination. The flowing and swirling patterns in the mandalas pictured here are especially helpful in reflective thinking and encouraged my kids to let go of the day. To learn more about my mandala designs for your unique project or program, please email me at creativemama.com.au@gmail.com and I would love to hear your feedback in the comments below! Painting with Marbles is an art activity for your kids that is super simple to set-up and do - again and again! So it can get a little messy...but the end result - a colourful and abstract piece of art - is totally worth it! It's also a fun indoor play idea that combines art with movement, for kids who like to be active! This activity even encourage kids to apply basic creative skills as part of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) concepts into their play - what's not to love about it?! To learn more about STEAM, go to Fun Marble Runs. WHAT WE USE:
LET'S CREATE! Drop a marble into each section of the muffin tray. Using a spoon, coat the marble with paint and then transfer it to the paper in the shallow dish. Lift the dish and tilt it from side to side so that the paint covered marbles roll around and leave trails of paint, creating interesting and colourful patterns on the paper. CONNECT & INSPIRE... Depending on how much the kids are enjoying the marble painting process, more marbles can be added and can be rolled around the paper to blend colours, creating new colours and designs. Or, you can replace the painted paper with a fresh one and create multiple marble paintings for framing, along side each other. A little messy play is sometimes worth all the effort! I would love for you to share your experiences in the comments section below and any photos you might have taken of your kids cool creations! For some more creative STEAM activities, go to Amazing Mazes and Sensory Play with Light. |
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