This art activity is free to download as a colouring sheet.

I love posting images on pinterest and watch them being downloaded around the globe.
This horse is now being coloured in, in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Russia, Paris, Ireland, Norway, USA, Canada and beyond.


Colouring in can be a very rewarding, relaxing and helpful activity for children (and grown ups too!)

Here are 10 benefits of the top off my head
1) quiet time after a long day
2) concentration skills
3) hand eye coordination
4) fine motor skills, pen holding, improve writing ability
5) explore colour, shape, design
6) experiment with colouring materials -  pastels, crayons, pens
7) sense of pride in accomplishment
8) frame or display your child's work - it builds self esteem
9) do it with them - quality time together
10) let them know from a young age that we all have the capacity to be creative

If you like this free idea, it would be great if you could hit the 'facebook like', 'twitter' or 'pinit button' below to help me spread the creative word.

Thanks and please visit The ImaginationBox again!

Following the popularity of my 'Modern Art' Trees, Angels and Stars at Christmas, I've continued this 'hidden / abstract' theme for Chinese New Year and to celebrate the Year of the Horse. This has been coloured digitally in rich reds, ochres and monotones. 
On my downloads page, you'll find a black and white A4 free colouring sheet to print out. It takes quite a while to colour in, so this should keep children, age 4+ and adults occupied for a while. 
I am going to 'track the horse' on pinterest. The modern art tree was downloaded in over 25 countries. I'm really hoping this little horse will be as popular!

I found this activity a while back on the Activity Village website, where a great template and instructions are available.
Thread the hearts to make bunting, glue them onto blank cards or here, we used recycled squares of cardboard and string to decorate a tree at Wood School - they also look great hanging on a door handle - a great little gift for mum, grandma, a school friend, someone special....
I pre-cut the paper and children age 5 upwards managed to weave them together on their own.
Great for developing fine motor skills, concentration, exploring colour and shape.
You can experiment with all kinds of paper - coloured, textured, magazine cuttings, old nursery rhymes to create different effects.

My favourite shop in Chorlton continues to be Quality Save! 
These cheap compartmental storage boxes have provided a good few entertainment sessions for my 6 and 4 year olds - housing buttons, marbles, sea glass and more.
I've been really interested watching them play.....

1. Meticulously sorting colours and shapes and sizes
2. Organising
3. Reorganising
4. Concentrating
5. Spending time quietly, thoughtfully, not talking much
6. Appearing relaxed
7. Not arguing with each other (as much)
8. Negotiating 'swaps'
9. Showing pride in their collections 
10. Learning a fun way of organising, saving me a job!

We loved the activity village eggbox dragon idea.
Ingredients - egg box body and eyes, card / paper wings, nose, felt tip eyes, felt tongue.
The hair is some northumberland sheeps' wool collected last summer and dyed with tumeric - I knew it would come in useful some day!
I'd say suitable for age 3 upwards with an adult helper.

Happy New Year everyone! We'll be taking down the decorations tomorrow and looking for new creative ideas to do as a family, now that Christmas is over and schools will be starting back.
I think be looking at activities inspired by Chinese New Year, Jan 31, and Valentine's day, Feb 14  - Horses and Hearts.
I'll keep the blog updated and look out for more free downloads, have a great 2014 folks!
Here are a couple of ideas.......

My lovely creative friend Adela set this project up for my children yesterday.
They decorated these beautiful horse cut outs - will moveable legs!
 Adela had been inspired by artist Ann Wood
Celebrate the year of the horse!

Wax resist is a simple and fun technique. I drew these hearts with a white wax crayon and then painted over them with water colours - an idea for a Valentine??