Some children even though they know that they are tired, do not want to miss out on any of the action or excitement. They want to spend as much time with mom and dad as possible. They can even see the fact that they have to go to bed before their parents as unjust and even cruel. These types of children will want to disrupt and even avoid going to bed at all cost.

When I was a child I had a speech impediment known as stuttering. I was desperate to find out how to stop stammering and was aware that I would stutter more if I had had a lack of sleep the night before.

I myself have two young children and have been through this experience myself. The step-daughter is a person who requires a certain amount of sleep to ensure that she performs to her optimum on the next day – she can also become rather fractious if she has had a lack of sleep. As a parent it can become very frustrating as well as upsetting when you see your child crying because they do not want to go to bed. Comments like, please dad just one more program on the television, were far too regular, and at times I felt like backing down.

I have now learnt via reading many books on parenting, how to best deal with this situation. The children each have a specific time when they have to get into bed. This is a time that they have both agreed to!

They get changed into their pyjamas around half an hour before this time, and then can either spend that period of time playing with their toys or watching the television. If they want to play, we ensure that the games are relaxing ones and not too energetic.

You may well be wondering why I am so eager to get my kids to bed. Well it is because I need my own rest other wise I am a moody person at work the next day where I sell external doors as well as cheap hotel deals on a part time basis.

If there is a program that is on later than their agreed bedtimes, I agree to video it for them, this way they know that they are not missing out etc.

I have agreed that I will read them a story at bedtime. Both children have stated how much they enjoy this and it certainly helps them to chill out. They are also given a drink to go to bed with, therefore there is no need for them to keep coming downstairs. This drink is always a juice and should not be fizzy.

If you are reading this article, chances are you have a creative soul and love to let your immagination soar - because - why else would you be visiting a site aimed at crafts, hobbies and other such creative pursuits? You may well be  talented and artistic - but have your children inherited your creativeness and resourcefullness? And if they haven't - are there ways you can stimulate this part of their lives? Here is what you can do…

Encourage your children to be creative by providing them with the time, resurces and the space for making art.Set aside some interruption-free quality time for drawing, in a mess-proof zone – so that their creativity can run wild. Make sure you cover all surfaces so that any splashes of paint or scribbles of crayon are ‘caught’ – because  nothing squishes creativity more so than a parent saying “Don’t make a mess” every 2 minutes.

Choose the right drawing materials too as this is very  important. Many craft materials can be improvised, but when drawing tools and paper are required, opt for a small selection of good quality age-appropriate products, rather than loads of inferior products. Always ensure that you check safety information and follow instructions. During any ‘art-time’ children should always be surpervised because many necessary materials – such as crayons – pose a choking hazard.

Surroundings: As with writing or working at a computer, good posture and a comfortable position are important for drawing. With young children, a child-size table and chair is actually preferable to an easel. If the chair is a little high, provide a phone book as a footrest. A coffee table and an inexpensive plastic chair work well. A small kitchen storage trolley is ideal for containing supplies, or if space does not permit, a portable tackle box is a good option too. Messy toddlers may need a drop-cloth and supervision to avoid ink-stained walls, as even ‘washable’ pens often don’t deliver on that promise!

Art Materials: Avoid cheap markers, too-hard pencils and thin paints – these types of materials are discouraging to the child and therefore  a waste of money. Provide many sheets of blank paper to inspire their crativity and occasionally invest in a canvas so that your child can paint something and chances are you’ll want to hang it on your wall!Also provide coloring books or coloring pages – of which you’ll find plenty online. Granted – coloring pages are not so great for creativity, however they do provide children with the chance to practice their fine motor skills and sometimes it’s very relaxing and just what they need to simply color in without the ‘pressure’ of thinking about WHAT to draw. 

For example little girls may enjoy coloring images of Barbie and at sites like Barbie Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Barbie party printables

When it comes to drawing and coloring, at each age/stage of your child’s life provide….

Toddlers

• Child-safe markers and wipe-off boards
• Chalk boards and safe chalk
• Plain paper and coloring pages

Juniors

• Sketchbook
• Student colored pencils
• Washable Markers
• Oil pastels
• Plain paper and coloring pages

Middle School

• Sketchbook  or scrapbook
• Graphite Pencils
• Watercolor sketch paper
• Watercolor pencils
• Marker pens, marker paper
• Plain paper and coloring pages

High School

• Sketchbook  or scrapbook
• Quality drawing papers and boards
• Graphite Pencils
• Artists’ quality colored pencils
• Illustration markers, marker paper
• Pastel paper and hard pastels if liked
• Plain paper and canvases to work on

All ages

• Safe sharpeners, erasers, dusters, stencils and rulers
• A  folder for storing large pieces
• Storage boxes for smaller pieces
• Consider photographing or scanning pieces for a permanent record.

If you're reading this article, chances are you have a creative soul and love to let your immagination soar - because - why else would you be visiting a site aimed at crafts, hobbies and other such creative pursuits?You may be talented & artistic - but have your children inherited your creativeness and resourcefullness? And if they haven't - are there ways you can stimulate this part of their lives? Here are a few tips as to what you can do…

Encourage creativity in your children by providing them with the time, resurces and the space for making art.Set aside some interruption-free quality time for drawing, in a mess-proof zone – so that their creativity can run wild. Ensure that you cover all surfaces so that any splashes of paint or scribbles of crayon are ‘caught’ – because nothing squishes creativity more so than a parent saying “Don’t make a mess” every 2 minutes.

Choose the right drawing materials too – because this is very important. Many craft materials can be improvised, think of decorated kitchen roll tubes and potatoes as stamps, but when drawing tools and paper are required, opt for a small selection of good quality age-appropriate products, rather than loads of inferior products. Always ensure that you check safety information and follow instructions. During any ‘art-time’ children should always be surpervised because many necessary materials – such as crayons – pose a choking hazard.

Surroundings: As with writing or working at a computer, good posture and a comfortable position are important for drawing. With young children, a child-size table and chair is actually preferable to an easel. If the chair is a little high, provide a phone book as a footrest. A coffee table and an inexpensive plastic chair work well. A small kitchen storage trolley is ideal for containing supplies, or if space does not permit, a portable tackle box is a good option too. Messy toddlers may need a drop-cloth and supervision to avoid ink-stained walls, as even ‘washable’ pens often don’t deliver on that promise!

Art Materials: Avoid cheap markers, too-hard pencils and thin paints – these types of materials are discouraging to the child and therefore  a waste of money. Provide many sheets of blank paper to inspire their crativity and occasionally invest in a large canvas so that your child can paint something ‘grand’ and chances are you’ll want to hang it on your wall!Also provide coloring books or coloring pages – of which you’ll find plenty online. Granted – coloring pages are not so great for creativity, however they do provide children with the chance to practice their fine motor skills and sometimes it’s very relaxing and just what they need to simply color in without the ‘pressure’ of thinking about WHAT to draw. 

For example little girls may enjoy coloring images of Barbie and at sites like Barbie Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Barbie colouring

When it comes to drawing and coloring, at each age/stage of your child’s life provide….

Toddlers

• Child-safe markers and wipe-off boards
• Chalk boards and safe chalk
• Plain paper and coloring pages

Juniors

• Sketchbook
• Student colored pencils
• Washable Markers
• Oil pastels
• Plain paper and coloring pages

Middle School

• Sketchbook  or scrapbook
• Graphite Pencils
• Watercolor sketch paper
• Watercolor pencils
• Marker pens, marker paper
• Plain paper and coloring pages

High School

• Sketchbook  or scrapbook
• Quality drawing papers and boards
• Graphite Pencils
• Artists’ quality colored pencils
• Illustration markers, marker paper
• Pastel paper and hard pastels if liked
• Plain paper and canvases to work on

All ages

• Safe sharpeners, erasers, dusters, stencils and rulers
• A  folder for storing large pieces
• Storage boxes for smaller pieces
• Consider photographing or scanning pieces for a permanent record.

Toddlers are interested in the world around them. They are inquisitive and eager to learn. Teaching a toddler something new isn't always easy - however because their attention spans are short and not all of them are ready for a 'lesson' just yet. If you plan teach your toddler all about the different colors, here is the best way to start.

The first activity you do together should be just fun, simple and basic.  Get out your crayons and either a coloring book or some plain white paper. Start with the  primary colors: red, yellow and blue.

Show your toddler each colored crayon, say the color to him, then together. If he does not want to say it, that’s okay – he is still learning by looking at the color and listening to you.

Together, chose a picture to color.  Little boys enjoy coloring pictures of cars and trucks while little girls usually enjoy coloring images from fairy tales and princesses  -  at sites like Barbie Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Barbie colouring pages

If you are using white paper, let your toddler choose something to draw and color together. Now it’s coloring time!

As he colors, tell him what color he is using. Then attempt to say the name of the color together. Do not force him or her to tell you the color. This activity should be FUN for your child – not a military drill! Make sure to compliment his efforts by commenting as he colors, "What a pretty blue flower!” or “I love the way you colored the blue car.”

After you have colored together, make sure to put his picture on display somewhere prominent where visitors to your home can comment on it.  This will give your child confidence and boost his/her self esteem – which is great for you because he will want to color and draw with you again – and you will have yet another opportunity to talk about colors together.

Once your toddler has mastered the basic red, ble and yellow – you can move on to other colors – don’t overwhelm him/her with the rainbow just yet!

Remember that crayons pose a serious choking hazard - ensure you always supervise your child while he or she draws and colors.

Parents and caregivers can promote drawing and coloring  as a way to improve physical, social, emotional and cognitive development-and to have a lot of fun along the way too. Here are some suggestions:

The simple acts of drawing and coloring are  literally childs’ play, however, they both play an important role in a child’s physical, emotional and cognitive development. Drawing and coloring allows children to express their emotions like no other activity – it also helps them experience autonomy and builds their confidence. 

1.Provide children with drawing materials, blank sheets of paper and coloring pages that are nontoxic.

2. Model drawing. Show children that you like to draw and color too -  make designs but do not show your children what they  should draw.

3. Encourage all drawing and coloring in efforts by talking about the colors, lines and shapes the child has created.

4. Rather than ask ”What is it?,” say “Tell me all about your lovely drawing”. Asking “What is it?” suggests to the child that s/he may have failed to depict what they intended.

5. Talk about concepts like  thin, thick, wide, narrow, dark, light, edge, shape, contour, etc.

6. Don’t just display their art in their bedroom – give it pride of place in your home in places where visitors to your home will see them. Point their artwork out to visitors – the praise they will receive will make them feel proud of their work and will encourage them to draw and color again. 

7. Give children the freedom to choose the subjects of their drawings and of their coloring sheets. For example little girls  may enjoy coloring images of  Barbie and at sites like Barbie Coloring Pages you’ll find the best free Barbie printables

Little boys on the other hand tend to prefer images of cars, trucks and machinery – however, favorite characters such as those from Disney movies  are also hits with little boys.

8. Crayons pose a choking hazard – so always supervise younger children while they draw and color.

The simple acts of drawing and coloring are literally childs’ play, however, they both play an important role in your child’s physical, emotional and cognitive development. Like no other activity, the hobby of drawing and coloring allows young children to express themselves and their emotions, experience autonomy and build their confidence.

Parents and caregivers such as teachers and grandparents can promote the hobby of drawing and coloring as a way to improve physical, social, emotional and cognitive development-and to have a lot of fun along the way too. Here are some suggestions:

1. Provide your grandchildren with nontoxic drawing materials, blank sheets of paper and coloring pages.

2. Model drawing by example. Show children that you like to draw and color too – make designs but do not show your children what they should draw.

3.Encourage all drawing and coloring activity and efforts by talking about the beautiful colors, the lines and shapes the child has made.

4. Rather than ask “What is it?,” say “Tell me about your drawing”.Asking “What is that?” suggests to the child that s/he has failed to depict what they intended.

5. Talk about issues such as thin or thick, or the concept of wide, narrow, dark, light, edge, shape, contour, etc.

6. Display their art on the kitchen fridge, in their room and in places where visitors to your home will see them. Point them out to visitors – the praise for the work will boost a child’s self esteeem and confidence.

7.Give kids the freedom to choose the subjects of their drawings and the types of coloring sheets they would like. Some argue that coloring sheets do very little to foster children’s creativity – however they do play a vital role in developing a child’s fine motor skills – a pre-cursor to writing – and often encourage children who wouldn’t otherwise draw and color to pick up a crayon to color in their favourite character. For example little girls may enjoy coloring images of fairytale princesses while boys enjoy coloring images of favourite characters such as Pokemon or Spongebob Squarepants and at sites like Spongebob Coloring Pages you’ll find many Spongebob squarepants coloring pages Always supervise younger children while they draw and color – crayons pose a choking risk.

The simple acts of drawing and coloring are literally childs’ play, however, both of these past-times play an important role in your child’s physical, emotional and cognitive development. Like no other activity, the hobby of drawing and coloring allows young children to express emotions, experience autonomy and build their confidence.

Parents and caregivers such as teachers and grandparents can promote the hobby of drawing and coloring as a way to improve physical, social, emotional and cognitive development-and to have a lot of fun along the way too. Here are some suggestions:

1. Provide your grankids with nontoxic materials, blank sheets of white paper and coloring pages.

2. Model drawing by example. Show children that you enjoy drawing and coloring too – make designs but do not show your children what they should draw.

3. Encourage all drawing and coloring efforts by talking about the beautiful colors, the lines and shapes the child has made.

4. Rather than ask, “What have you drawn?,” say “Tell me everything about your drawing”.Asking “What is that?” suggests to the child that he may have failed to draw the image correctly.

5. Talk about concepts like thin, thick, wide, narrow, dark, light, edge, shape, contour, etc.

6. Display their art on the kitchen fridge, in their room and in places where visitors to your home will see them. Point them out to visitors, friends and relatives – the praise fthey will receive for the work will boost a child’s self esteeem and confidence.

7.Give kids the freedom to choose the subjects of their drawings and the types of coloring sheets they would like. Some argue that coloring sheets do very little to foster children’s creativity – however they do play a vital role in developing a child’s fine motor skills – a pre-cursor to writing – and often encourage children who wouldn’t otherwise draw and color to pick up a crayon to color in their favourite character. For example little girls may enjoy coloring images of fairytale princesses while boys enjoy coloring images of favourite characters such as Pokemon or Spongebob Squarepants and at sites like Spongebob Coloring Pages you’ll find many Spongebob squarepants coloring pages Please supervise children as they draw and colour because crayons are a choking hazard!.

The benefits of arts and crafts such as drawing and coloring for kids are frequently argued by child development experts, educators and parents alike… especially so for the real impact they can have on child development. However, it is difficult to argue with the top three reasons why we should all encourage the children in our care to take part in arts and crafts.

Creativity – Ask anyone what the first personality characteristic arts and crafts develop in a young child and most will answer ‘creativity’. And they are correct. Everyone has natural talents and skills and it is possible to improve and boost them… even if you only have a tiny bit of little natural talent. Creativity enables your child to try out and benefit from new
ideas, options and alternatives in any future career. Kids learn to do things in new and alternate ways and literally profit from thinking “out of the box”.

Perseverance – Perseverance is perhaps the single most important quality for any successful business person, sportsman, professional or individual. In fact, most well-known breakthroughs in life have been attributed to perseverance alone. Arts and crafts improve everyone’s level of perseverance.For instance, children learn to keep trying until they accomplish the task, be it a sculpture or a coloring in sheet. If something goes wrong… they are encouraged to perservere by trying different ways and means and the outcome is a wonderful piece of art that they have created.

Concentration – Akin to having perseverance, developing concentration is another quality well-worth having as an individual. Drawing, coloring, sculpting, painting and even doodling will definitely teach your child to focus on one specific task at hand… ignoring other distractions. In short their overall concentration will definitely improve.

Even from a young age children can draw & colour – so give them blank pieces of paper or coloring in sheets so that they can scribble away to their hearts content whilst also improving their fine motor skills.

For example little girls enjoy coloring images of princesses and fairies and at sites like Fairy Coloring Pages you’ll find the best pfairy colouring pictures

Little boys on the other hand tend to prefer images of cars, trucks and machinery – however, favorite characters such as those from Disney movies are also hits with little boys.

Give your child many opportunities to experience being creative, concentrating and perservering through the fun medium of arts and crafts. Provide them with materials as well as resources and the occasional canvas – this way, they can be creative and feel pride in what they create.

School Christmas holidays will soon be here and little kids the world over may soon be chanting, “Mummy! I’m bored!”

So, here are a dozen or so play-time ‘recipes’ to help keep your children entertained this winter.  Learn how to make homespun goop, papier mâché, cinnamon ornaments, soap crayons and much more. Pull out this article and stick it to your fridge – it will be one of your best weapons against the ‘boredom’ gremlins!

Washable window paints
A selection of tempera paints (powdered or premixed)
Clear dishwashing liquid
Mix powdered paints with dishwashing liquid until they resemble house paint. Ensure that you line the window sashes with masking tape & spread newspaper under the window area to protect flooring. To erase paint or touch up mistakes just wipe paint away with a dry paper towel.

Home-made coloring books

Go online and download a dozen or so coloring book pages and collate them into a coloring book. Put this aside for rainy days or for long car/train/plane journeys. Little boys love images of motorbikes, cars and trucks while little girls prefer coloring book pictures of fairytales and princesses. At sites like Hello Kitty Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Hello Kitty coloring pictures.

Cinnamon Christmas ornaments
3/4-1 cup applesauce
1 (4.12-oz.) bottle of ground cinnamon
Mix applesauce with cinnamon to form a stiff dough. Roll out to 5mm thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and make hole for ribbon using the end of a drinking straw. Carefully put aside to dry for several days – turning occasionally. This recipe makes twelve sweet-smelling ornaments/drawer scenters.

Goop

2 packets of cornflour
2 cups of water
Several drops of food colouring

Place newspaper or plastic sheets on your work surface. Mix the ingredients in a fairly large bowl. Children love goop’s squishy consistency. You can also use colored or plain black paper to make goop paintings if you wish. To remove goop from carpets, allow it to dry, then brush or vacuum. The brilliant thing about goop is that it may be re-used after it has dried out. Crumble it to a powder then restore it to the original consistency by adding water a tablespoonful at a time.

Funny putty
2 tablespoons of white glue
1 tablespoon of liquid starch
Food colouring
Mix glue and desired food colour. Pour starch over top. Swish so that all the glue is covered. Let this set for five minutes. Squeeze off extra starch and then knead until mixed.

Bubbles
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of glycerine
2 tablespoons of liquid dish soap
Mix water, glycerine and soap. Pour in sugar. Add food colouring if desired.

Papier mâché

1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
1/2 inch strips of newspaper
Balloon/s

In a large bowl, mix flour and water – add more flour is mixture is too sloppy (dripping). Place newspaper strips into mixture, then smooth onto blown up balloon. Cover balloon completely twice, letting dry in between layers. Do not cover the balloon’s knot. Dry in a warm place for around two or three days then hold the knot and pop the balloon with a pin. Paint, glitter and decorate the balloon as is or cut in half so you have a bowl/hat shape to embellish.

Modelling/play dough
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
water
food colouring

Mix the ingredients and knead to a dough consistency. To speed up the drying process, place the dough artwork in the oven on a low heat.

Soap crayons

1 3/4 cups of soap flakes

50 drops food colouring
1/4 cup water

Mix water and soap flakes together. Add food colouring and put mixture into an ice cube tray. When hardened, pop the ‘ice cubes’ out. These soap crayons are fun to write with on the tub and tiles during bath time. If grouting stains, simply spray with a weak solution of bleach.

Sand dye

Fine sand

Water

Food colouring

Paper cups

Plastic spoons

Fill paper cups half full with sand. Next, add water to the cups to completely cover sand. Add food colouring until you get the desired colour. Stir with a plastic spoon and let set for 15 minutes. Pour off the water, spoon sand onto paper towels and then spread the sand out to dry. Use sand to make sand – art – pictures (spread glue on paper and sprinkle sand on top) or to fill pretty bottles in layers.

Cornstarch Art/Finger-paint

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

2 drops of dishwashing liquid

1 cup boiling water

Food colouring

Combine cornstarch and cold water – stir until smooth. Add dishwashing liquid. Pour boiling water into the bowl and stir until the mixture thickens. Next, add food colouring and let cool. Use as you would finger paint.

Puffy Paint

Flour

Salt

Water

Tempera paint

Mix equal parts of flour, salt and water in a bowl. Add a small amount of tempera paint to the mix and then pour into a small plastic squeezy bottle. Repeat the procedure making as many colours as you wish. Squeeze onto heavy paper or cardboard to make designs. Mixture will look great when it hardens into puffy shapes.

Colourful Salt

1/2 cup salt

5 to 6 drops of food colouring

Add food colouring to salt. Stir well. Cook in the microwave for around 1-2 minutes or spread on waxed paper and let the salt air dry. Store in an airtight container and use as you would glitter.

Culture plays a large role in  many things – from what we eat to how we dress – and it even has an effect on the minutae of life – like whether or not drawing will enter into a child’s repertoire of behavior.

For instance, studies have shown that Taiwanese-American & Chinese-American parents tend to plan more drawing time for their children than they European-American counterpart parents do. As a result of more time spent drawing, Taiwanese-American and Chinese-American children’s drawings have been deemed more advanced than those of their counterparts.

According to  studies carried out in 1983, when children are provided with drawing materials and encouragement they tend to create works that reflect their particular culture – and each culture has its own ’style’. For instance, French children are prone to spending a good deal of time on drawing, filling the entire page with large, colorful designs, drawings by Japanese children meanwhile tend to be more complex, harmonious and complete than drawings by North-. Children from the island of Bali on the other hand, use many small and intricate marks to draw complex, colorful designs which fill the page.

While many cultures use and value drawing as art, there are a few cultures that do not foster coloring of drawing at all.

The children from the island of Ponape have no prior drawing experience. Yet when  a recent study was carried out, those Ponape children that were given drawing materials  tended to draw  by starting in the center of the page making shapes that connected outward like  groups of linked bubbles – they also tended not to fill the page and used only one color per drawing.

When children from cultures that do not encourage nor include drawing in their children’s early childhood are first introduced to the tools, they tend to experiment, scribble, or attempt realistic drawings right from the start. There appears to be great variation in first attempts. However, in general, it has been found that children usually draw from a cultural perspective – imitating the designs reflected in fabrics, architecture or other aspects of the adult culture including symbol systems such as written letters or characters and numerals.

Culture therefore confines and defines  the art of children.

Children from ‘First World’ countries like the USA have many opportunities to draw and color and are encouraged to do so by their parents, teachers and other caregivers. Material abounds too – we have crayons, paper, coloring books and even online resources in plentiful supply. Little boys tend to enjoy coloring pictures that represent what they sees every day such as cars, trucks and machinery while little girls enjoy coloring images of fairytale scenes – however you can seldome go wrong with Disney characters as most children have a favourite and at sites like Disney Coloring Pages you’ll find many Disney free printables

With both encouragement and resources a-plenty, our children are very lucky to have both the means and the support to express themselves creatively through drawing and colouring.