The ImaginationBox Blog, creative art projects and printables at your fingertips

FREE Growth Mindset Poster Pack for the classroom and homeschooler

I believe that it is key to kids' development to create a learning environment, at school or at home that is:

imaginative
inspiring
colorful
positive
stimulating
motivational
fun
engaging

What might kids with a Growth Mindset say to themselves or others?
'I love a challenge'
'Can I try this a different way?'
'I am determined to succeed'
'I'm going to solve this problem'

What do kids with a Fixed Mindset believe?

'I'll never be able to do this'
'There's nothing I can do about it'
'I'm just not good enough at this'
'There's no point in trying'

Download my FREE 8 page Growth mindset Poster and Writing Activity Pack if you would like these eye catching posters to decorate your classroom!

If you like the freebie, you might like to view this 50 page Motivational Classroom Decor Resource, available for $3.95 from my Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Motivational and mindful posters for the classroom

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10 Reasons Why Art is Important in our Classrooms

5/7/2019

In this blog post, I’d like to explore why I feel including a good dose of art and creativity can be really beneficial to kids and their new teacher during the first week back to school - and throughout the rest of the year!

10 Ways Art can help kids in the Classroom

I’m a great believer in the positive power of art on our mental wellbeing.

Art is a fantastic vehicle for learning, communicating feelings and exploring outside of the box thinking.

Do kids feel more comfortable or free to express themselves in a deeper way via creating imagery rather than just using words?

I’ve listed 10 Ways Art Can Help Both Kids and Adults:

1. to make sense of our thoughts
2. to connect with our feelings
3. to tell our story, explore our internal world
4. to encourage play, stimulate our imagination
5. to relax, quieten our minds, aid concentration
6. to relieve stress, reduce anxiety
7. to develop self awareness
8. to build confidence and self esteem
9. to lower blood pressure
10. to express complex states of mind

(Posters are available to download for FREE at the end of this post)

So, it's Back To School Week....
The class meets up again after the long holiday.
Children get to reflect over their summer memories, catch up with friends, and start to get to know their new teacher.
They explore their learning preferences, where they excel, the challenges they face, they set new goals for the coming year.

And the new teacher starts to build a picture of each child - what a lot is going on!!

How are the children really feeling on their first day back to school?
And how do teachers feel?
A mixture of excitement and apprehension?
We are all unique and can feel happy, sad, scared, anxious and excited all at the same time.
Excited to see friends again.
Sad, or maybe glad that the summer holidays are over.
Anxious about building a relationship with a new teacher.
Scared that maths might be too challenging this year.

This is where we can introduce icebreaker games, ‘all about me’ activities, student surveys and teacher questionnaires.

Researching ‘Back to School’ activities on the web (mainly pinterest because I love it), I found such an abundance of printable pages and activities, teacher surveys and questionnaires.

Most of them involve answering questions with words.

Being a visual, creative type who sees the world in pictures, this information gave me the inspiration to fill what I see, as a gap – to design some relevant, modern, imaginative back to school activities that involve illustrating our answers, exploring color and imagery, alongside expressing ourselves with words.

View my popular Back To School Resources available at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store by clicking on the images below:

Have a great start to the new school year!

All the best,
Diane

Imaginative Back To School All About Me Activities

Download these 4 posters, for FREE, just click on the jpegs below:

Blog: 10 Ways Art Helps Kids / Back To School

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Back to School Art Projects That Kids Can Really Relate To!

5/7/2019

Blog: Both girls and boys really do love to engage creatively with current, relevant themes that reflect their 'tech savvy' lives and 'appy' pursuits! Art is great for Back To School Week when anxiety can be running high. Through art, kids can express themselves in an abstract way, explore their feelings, how they fit in the world, their hopes, fears, goals, likes and dislikes - often in a deeper and more meaningful way than using only words.

Through designing and road testing art resources for the classroom, grades 3 to 7, I've learnt that kids - both girls and boys - really do love to engage creatively with current, relevant themes that reflect their 'tech savvy' lives and 'appy' pursuits!

Many pre teen kids now own cell phones or mobiles as we call them in the UK.
Most parents, including me, are keen to limit screen time and remind our kids about pastimes from 'the olden days' including engaging with 'books', 'paper', 'pens' and 'pencils'!

So my mission is to keep art going in the classroom and combine the two - Good Old Art with a Modern Tech Twist! -
Through art, kids can express themselves in an abstract way, explore their feelings, how they fit in the world, their hopes, fears, goals, likes and dislikes - often in a deeper and more meaningful way than using only words.

Art activities can be especially useful at the beginning of a new year when anxiety may be running high - for both teachers and students!

A ROBOT ABOUT ME

A T SHIRT ABOUT ME

A PHONE ABOUT ME

Themes that spark kids' interests include:

Modern Technology - phones, tablets, watches, gadgets, computers, social media, instagram, facebook. Tech Geek is the new cool!
Sport themes - always a great cross over with art, and can help engage reluctant artists, energetic boys and girls. Kids love expressing themselves through the clothes they wear and the sports they participate in and watch - prints, logos, t shirts, hoodies - all part of their developing identity.
Graffiti, Street Art - Banksy, 'tags', spray can art, reflections of the world today
Pop Art - bright colors, bold imagery and graphics, simple eye-catching patterns

My classroom and homeschooler/parent art activities are designed to engage kids of all abilities, are low prep, include finished examples for inspiration, require limited workspace and basic art materials

You can view some of my resources here by or by clicking on the images below:

Download these FREE templates and start experimenting!

Phone
Soccer Ball
T Shirt

Download these 3 FREE handy printable templates to use with kids at home or in the classroom - cell phone, soccer ball, T shirt. Kids love to engage with current themes that reflect their 'tech geek' and sports interests.

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2 Comments

A roll of tape and a biro....

30/6/2018

23 Comments

My kids love it when I stop - stop tidying, stop 'doing stuff'.

Putting some music on and getting the coloring pens out is a great family activity - a rare moment when you can all be round the table, tv off, chatting, doodling - and all doing the same thing together.
My kids really remember these precious times - I see these times as little injections of self esteem - when they get our full attention, it helps them know how important they are - more important than the hoovering, the mobile phone......

Coloring books are so 'on trend' at the moment, and we all know the relaxing benefits of switching off for a while.
However, sometimes the simplest ideas are the best and we don't always need expensive art materials and coloring books to keep kids creatively occupied.

I grabbed a roll of tape and a biro and started playing........
I filled a couple of pages with circular patterns, using the tape as a stencil to draw round.
The doodles look great with oil pastels.....especially on coloured paper.

The process has been quite addictive - if you scroll down this blog post, you'll see some more examples, using lids, tiles - any simple-shaped household objects will do.
I've experimented on music paper, old stamp album paper, maps - all to be found in local charity shops - the older and more yellowing the better!

If you enjoy doodling and art making with your kids, have a look around my website, check out my free summer printables collection - from flipflops to lollipops, teepees to sneakers, blank postcards, journal covers, geckos and more.

If you like my ideas, have a browse around my ideas-packed Teachers Pay Teachers Store - lots of handy art packets for all year round fun in the classroom or at home
- hope to see you again!

Have a fun summer,
Diane

A couple of weeks on, I'm still experimenting with doodling and drawing around basic shapes that I'm finding around the house - it's really relaxing!

Here are a few more simple ideas .... I'm thinking this would be a great rainy day holiday activity as such few materials are needed.

circle doodles on an old stamp album page

Drawing around a butter lid

Another butter lid doodle

Using lined paper and a roll of tape.

27.7.15

Today I tore some pages out of my dad's old 70's yellowed, A-Z of London with the idea of doodling on maps.

Again, drawing round a roll of tape with a biro and then colouring in the circle.

They came out looking quite 'Mondrian'.

map doodles of London

map doodles of London

Roll of tape and biro on manuscript paper

7th August

My latest doodle has come from finding an old plastic lid - the shape reminded me of lemons and limes - I drew some overlapping shapes and experimented with pattern and colorblocking using felt tips, pastels and watercolours.

September's here and I'm thinking about Autumn / fall doodles, here's a manuscript maple leaf

Head over to my Autumn page for free printables and templates.

Maple leaf on manuscript paper

23 Comments

FREE WINTER SPORTS ART ACTIVITIES - make snowboard bookmarks

12/1/2018

free snowboard bookmark templates to decorate

Scroll down to download the free snowboard bookmark templates

Click on the images above to view my new 52 page Winter Sports, creative classroom art and decor resource pack

Are you looking for some Winter Snow Sports creative inspiration for the classroom to tie in with world sporting events?
I've designed these bold graphic snowboards which can be decorated and cut out to make eye catching bookmarks and wall displays - just print them onto heavy weight paper for durability.
You can download these FREE templates below, available in both full color and outline.
I hope you have fun with them! Just click on the jpeg files.

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Sport is a great topic for exploring art and design, especially in the classroom around the time of exciting world sporting events such as the Olympics.

I enjoy sharing free creative seasonal resources, please take a look around my website
Chinese New Year
Valentines Day
Spring

I also enjoy building more detailed lesson plans and creative packs, ideal for using in the classroom or for homeschooling.
If you like the style of these bookmarks, you might like to view my brand new 52 page resource:
Winter Sports Coloring Pages, Fun Art Activities and Decor
This is available to download from my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for $6.50

Activities are easy to print and use, and are designed to encourage children, grades 3-7, to explore color, shape, pattern, sportswear and logo design. I have created examples using bold colors, and geometric patterns with a fun, retro 80's feel (when I was a kid!)
You'll need only basic materials such as marker pens, paints, oil pastels, scissors, glue - and a good supply of paper - and hopefully a bunch of enthusiastic children :-)

Here are some images and photographs from the pack:

2 Comments

Back to School: A Creative Approach and The Importance of Art

20/6/2017

3 Comments

In this blog post, I’d like to explore why I feel including a good dose of art and creativity is a good idea during the first week back to school.
Do kids feel more comfortable or free to express themselves in a deeper way via art and image making?
Art can be a fantastic vehicle for learning, communicating feelings and exploring outside of the box thinking.
I’m a great believer in the positive power of art on our mental wellbeing.
I’ve listed 10 Ways I think Art Can Help Us - at home, in the classroom, for both adults and children of all ages - pin it to keep it handy!

why is creativity important for both children and grown ups?

Imagine: It’s the first week back at school....
The class meets up again after the long summer break.
Children get to reflect over their holiday memories, catch up with friends, and begin to learn more about their new teacher.
They explore their learning preferences, where they excel, the challenges they face, they set new goals for the coming year.
And the new teacher starts to build a picture of each child - what a lot is going on!!

This is where we can introduce icebreaker games, ‘all about me’ activities, student surveys and teacher questionnaires.

There seems to be a ‘format’ for these activities – typical questions feature along the lines of:
Student’s name, age, birthday, family members, favourite food, book, movie, sport, weekend hobby etc. Whilst I think these questions are great, it also got me thinking about what could be missing? Or can we dig a bit deeper to find out what really makes our student’s tick and build a relationship and environment based on trust, open communication, empathy and support?

How are the children really feeling on their first day back to school?
And how do teachers feel?
A mixture of excitement and apprehension?
We are all unique and can feel happy, sad, scared, anxious and excited all at the same time.
Excited to see friends again.
Sad, or maybe glad that the summer holidays are over.
Anxious about meeting the new teacher
Scared that maths might be too challenging this year......

I've researched and designed a FREE '50 First Week Back Questions' teacher resource.
The questions can be used in full in the classroom, working individually, in pairs or small groups, or as a reflective homework activity with parents.
Or you may wish to select just the questions that feel right for you.
The activity includes general 'All About Me' questions such as age, birthday, favourite food etc, and also 'digs a bit deeper' with questions such as,
'How do you feel this week?'
'What challenges you?'
'What support do you need?'
Along with some open ended sentences to complete, such as , 'I imagine, I aim to, I wonder....
Click on the image below to download it:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-All-About-Me-Back-to-School-50-questions-printable-for-students-2678351

Researching ‘Back to School’ activities on the web (mainly pinterest because I love it), I found such an abundance of printable pages and activities, teacher surveys and questionnaires.

Most of them involve answering questions with words.

Being a visual creative type who sees the world in pictures and colour format, this information gave me the inspiration to fill what I see, as a gap – to design some fun, imaginative back to school activities that involve illustrating our answers, exploring colour and imagery, alongside the written aspect.

If you are looking for ideas and inspiration from around the globe, you can visit my
Back To School Pinterest Creative Ideas Board

If you would like to view my Teachers Pay Teachers Back to School activities and classroom decor packs, suitable for kids age 6-10 please click on the images below:

Have a great first week back to school!

Engage children creatively with this Instagram style, 'tech' mobile phone/tablet 'All About Me' first week back, art and writing activity. $3.25

Engage children creatively with this Instagram style, 'tech' mobile phone/tablet 'My Summer Memories' first week back, art and writing activity. $3.25

Create 'A Ball About Me', a fun, first week back to school creative activity.
This soccer/football template encourages children to illustrate their answers in a personal, imaginative way using doodles, mark making, graffiti style lettering and imagery. $3.25

These vintage feel fairground-inspired A-Z uppercase alphabet letters and posters make a great visual impact on classrooms for all age groups.
Ideal decoration for the first week back to school, and all year round too. $3.50

Bring some fun and visual arts into the first day back at school with this creative activity and bulletin board decor pack, inspired by 'the artist's paint palette and the colors of the rainbow'. $3.00

This pack contains 90 questions and prompts for End of Year, Back to School and All about Me group discussion & reflection activities in the classroom.
The cards have been designed using a modern mobile phone-style template to appeal to this age group and give the activity a sense of fun and curiosity. $3.50

3 Comments

Rocking the Rooster 2017!

24/1/2017

Chinese New Year 2017 welcomes the Year of The Rooster and people will be celebrating this wonderful festival all over the world.

The official holiday is January 27th - February 22nd.

What a great opportunity to explore culture, history and get creative!

Here's a handy free printable for school or home with 15 interesting facts about Chinese New Year. Click 'download file' below.

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Explore my Chinese New Year FREE printable colouring activities:

Rooster 2017 FREE card template and colouring pack:

This resource has been downloaded over 7500 times as of January 25th 2017, I'm delighted!
Download it here

Do you need more inspiration?
Are you looking for a bumper CNY resource for school, homeschool or groups?

Please check out my growing collection of creative art resources at my
Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Happy Chinese New Year everyone.
Please leave feedback in the comments box, I love to hear from you.
Subscribe to my newsletter if you would like to receive my ideas every six weeks or so.
(See the sidebar or fill in the form at the bottom of the page)

Link up with me here!
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instagram
pinterest

See you soon, all the best, Diane

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Sizzling Sunsets over Rio de Janeiro Fun Collage Activity

19/7/2016

I've always loved the art of collage. It's like drawing or painting, just using paper instead.

Kids will enjoy the art of 'collecting' the colours with you - from rummaging through old National Geographic magazines to recycling envelopes and packaging, it's amazing what a great selection of materials can be found for next to nothing.

The 'doing' of it is great too - quite physical - to tear up or to cut with scissors? (a bit of both works well, I think)

And then, there's the art of 'placing' and 'rearrranging' before we glue each piece down in it's final position. This can be quite contemplative, a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle :-)

So this is the process I used for the art activity below, a stunning, warm glowing sunset over Rio de Janeiro, featuring the world famous statue of Christ the Redeemer.

Kids of all ages can work from their imagination or from a photograph.
When your collage is finished, cut out the free silhouette (available to download below) and place it, preferably in the foreground on a 'rock' (dark torn paper)

Have fun, I'd love your feedback, Diane

collaged sunset over Rio with free template

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Are you looking for more Rio 2016 Olympics Inspiration?

Here's my popular bumper 41 page Kids Olympic Art Activity Pack, you can download it here for $6.00. Ideal for keeping kids creatively occupied at school, home, travels and parties.

Visit my Olympics page for more free fun printables and activities

0 Comments

Tropical Summer Art

19/5/2016

Download free templates here

We're celebrating sunny school holidays here with some fun tropical fruit art!
The diamond shapes on these pineapples are great for little hands to explore colour using all sorts of art materials - we used watercolours and oil pastels.
You can download a free pineapple template on my summer downloads page - you'll also find pears, lemons, watermelons.... Have fun!

Are you looking for more creative project ideas for Summer?
You might like to visit these pages below or subscribe to my seasonal newsletter?
Thanks for dropping by, have a wonderful arty summer!
Diane :-)

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Wax resist and watercolour Easter Eggs

23/3/2016

I love the textured, batik style effects that can be easily achieved by drawing with a white oil pastel or wax crayon and then washing over with watery watercolours.
And it's suitable for all age groups too, toddlers to 110!
I used my simple egg template download and began doodling, starting off with an Orla Kiely inspired simple leaf shape, here are a few images from my playtime!
Nip over to my Easter page to download a simple egg shape to print off and view lots of other creative templates and ideas
Have a Happy Creative Easter!
And there's still time to take part in our Easter colouring competition to win one of 5 PacaPod toddler mini rucksacks - closes midnight, Easter Sunday, 27th March 2016.

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Easter Colouring Competition - Win a PacaPod Toy Changer Pod!

21/3/2016

I've teamed up with PacaPod, creators of the 3-in1 luxury baby changing bags.
A brand close to my heart - director and founder, Jacqueline and I met way back in the early 90's as designers at Reebok and have been best friends ever since. She has always been incredibly organised!
Get creative with your kids this Easter - I've created 4 Easter Egg templates for you to download, colour and decorate - they are designed to fit into the front pocket of the Toy Changer Pod pictured above.
Great for toddlers to fill with their important stuff (leaves, half eaten rice cakes, a few random pieces of lego....!) and PacaPod have 5 to give away - so get those felt tips, pencils, pastels or watercolours out now!
Feel free to add a bit of Easter sparkle - make it stand out from the rest with pattern, doodles, collage, sequins, ribbon......let your imagination take over and good luck!

The giveaway is open to UK residents only. Competition open until 27th March 2016 at 11:59pm GMT.

See below for templates and entry details.

Competition colouring templates

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Here's how to enter

Follow PacaPod and The ImaginationBox on Pinterest
Pin Images from our Easter Fun and Printables Board.
Get creative and decorate your favourite egg template.
Share the images with us on Pinterest.
All of this can be completed via the Giveaway Widget below.
If you are selected as one of our five winners, you’ll be able to display your child’s art in the egg shaped window of the pod!

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Simple hearts

6/2/2016

Wax resist is such a fun, immediate technique.

On good quality paper, make quick heart shapes with a white wax crayon or oil pastel.

Use quite watery watercolours to brush over them with a wide brush.

Kids love seeing the shapes magically appear.

We made a page of them and cut them into squares - great for making a quick Valentines Day card!

Visit my Valentine's Day page for lots more ideas, colouring sheets and free printables

http://www.theimaginationbox.com/valentines-day.html

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All the Fun of the Fair - School Christmas Crafts

2/12/2015

Christmas Free Printables

christmas craft ideas for our kids school fair

I always look forward to the hustle and bustle of our lively school fair - especially all the festive and glittery activities in the craft room.
I thought it would be fun to share the activities that we ran with the kids this year, all chosen to be suitable for little ones with the help of their grown ups and for the older ones to tackle on their own.
Parents enjoyed doing their own too when they got a spare minute!

Please read on if you are planning some group activities, school fairs or just want to get creative at home, I hope you find the ideas fun and useful.

Card Making

use music paper for collaged christmas cards

My 8 year old created these examples. We used old yellowed music paper bought from a charity shop to cut bauble shapes on the left, which were then outlined with felt tips.
We tore strips and added glitter to make the tree card on the right.

These cards were made using maps from an old road atlas, cutting and tearing shapes.

These simple cards were made by cutting up paint chip cards into simple tree shapes and adding glitter

Beaded snowflakes

This was a really popular activity. Use 3 pipecleaners to make a 6 pointed snowflake and thread with beads. Bend the pipecleaners over at the ends as they can be sharp.
Add string to hang

Bottle top and clay tree decorations

Make a hole in the bottle top - we prepared a batch in advance by holding a small metal screw driver over the gas flame and pushing it through the plastic lids - strictly grown ups only! Open up a paper clip and push it through the hole to hang some string or ribbon from.
Push in some air drying clay. Add beads and sequins. We are making some name ones for family friends using plastic letter beads.
I found the idea here
http://artful-kids.com/blog/2010/12/14/artful-discoveries/

Reindeer lollipop nose decorations

Cut out the template using card, add googly eyes and glitter. Fix the lollipop at the back with tape - ta dah!
Download your template here from Brisbane Kids

For more festive free downloads and creative ideas, visit my Christmas page

Visit my online store and use the code IMBOX1 for a 15% discount on funky kids wall art and festive supplies

For Christmas ideas from creatives around the world, have a browse of my Christmas Pinterest Board (beware, it's highly addictive!)

Happy Christmas all!
Di
x

1 Comment

Upcycling doodles

28/11/2015

I work with an adult who loves to colour in abstract patterns. It seems such a shame to just put them in a box, so I've been pondering on how to 'use' them.
We cut some of them into circles and semi circles and arranged them onto painted canvases - she is going to give them as gifts to friends :-)
I think we'll make some into bunting and cards at our next session.

They would be great for decorating presents too.

If you would like some festive ideas and templates, visit my Christmas page
For unique affordable gifts and wall art, visit my online store

Oh Christmas Tree!

20/11/2015

Here's a little blog post just about Christmas Trees. I'll add ideas as I go along and see how many creative ways I can find to make a Christmas Tree. Hopefully the ideas will be suitable for creative fingers of all ages :-)

The cards in the image above were made by upcycling old doodles - we cut them into tree shapes and added glitter and mini pom poms!

Strips torn from an atlas, with a bit of sparkle and a washi tape pot

This triangular tree was made by folding the map in half, vertically, and cutting the branches out. Plus sequins

Doodle colourful abstract trees on music paper. You can download a free template here

Torn washi tape. So easy. I'm way behind with this trend!

I cut these simple tree shapes from patterned colouring in pages, the kids coloured them in with oil pastels

These modern abstract tree shapes were cut out using coloured papers, a nod to Matisse. It was fun arranging them and glued down they make great modern art Christmas cards

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Christmas 'hidden modern art' colouring activity for kids

16/11/2015

These 3 free printable 'modern art' activities are a fun activity for all ages.
Make them into festive pictures or cards. Encourage kids to explore colour palettes to make the tree, star or angel 'stand out' or 'recede'. Experiment with pens, pencils, paints, collage, oil pastels. Have fun!

Download here

Shop creative this Christmas - 15% discount at my online store

When you download these free printable templates, you will also receive a code, giving you a !5% discount on kids wall art and creative downloads in my new shop.

Simple Christmas Doodles

9/11/2015

My recent blog post, 'a roll of tape and a biro' attracted so many visitors, I thought I'd develop some festive doodles based a round the same theme, of manuscript papers, simple shapes and repeat patterns.
Here are my first festive doodles, I'll add more as my ideas develop.

1. Festive trees on manuscript:
I regularly buy lovely yellowed music sheets from charity shops, they are great for doodles and collage.

I made a simple tree template from scrap cardboard. Make a series of tree shapes on your page and start colouring!
You could cut them out to make beautiful gift tags.

2. Manuscript bauble doodles

You can download these free templates by clicking on the images below

Browse my new online store for unique, affordable art prints, kids gifts and activities - available as postal deliveries to you, or instant downloads for immediate use.

Visit my Christmas page for lots more free festive family friendly templates, colouring sheets and activities.

Join my popular mailing list to receive all my latest ideas, direct to your inbox - typically once a month, a little more often around key times of year such as Christmas, Chinese New Year etc.

See you soon :-)

2 Comments

BOO! Are you ready for a Spooktacular Halloween?

14/10/2015

Hello,
We're well into October now, so I guess it's time to put our witches hats on, and cook up some creative Halloween Activities before everything Christmas swallows us up!

I'm looking forward to sharing with you, a spooktacular Halloween free printable activity pack, designed for home and school use - from bats to bunting, pumpkins to ghosts - great for doodling, or creating a ghoulish space for your kids to hang out in.

Click here or on the images below to take you directly to my Halloween Page on The ImaginationBox website.

Happy Halloween everyone and keep an eye out for November's blog posts - they will be brimming with All Things Festive. I'll be getting my 'Christmas Ideas Hat' on after i've taken my witch's hat off!

These doodleweb pages are great for concentration, and exploring colour, texture and pattern.

ANNOUNCEMENT! My online store is open :-)
I've been busy creating an online shop, 'The ImaginationBoxStore' with an aim to offer unique, fun and affordable wall art and creative activity packs, in both printed and downloadable formats - to make your home a stimulating and colourful place to live and to encourage families to bring more creativity into their children's lives.

Use the special code HALLO2 for a 15% discount until October 31st.
Here are a few examples of what's available, from Halloween fun to beautiful nursery and bedroom wall art for babies and kids of all ages - they can be personalised too as a special gift.
I'd love you to take a look round!
Best wishes
Diane

0 Comments

Squares and Circles

30/9/2015

I love the simplicity of working with squares and circles, repeating the same shape over and over again to produce a pattern.

Tissue paper squares on acrylic painted canvas

Repeat tree pattern (see my Christmas page for the template)

'Elmer' style tissue paper squares, sealed with pva glue for a flat finish

Oil pastel doodle squares, hand drawn

Pastel squares, embellished with stickers

Digital spiderwebs, changing the background colour (see my Halloween page)

Felt squares, amazing colours

Doodling on stickers, arranging them randomly

Tissue paper circles, sealed with pva for a flat finish

Felt tip doodle circles over tissue paper circles, playing with layers and transparency

more tissue paper circle experiments

Circles and stickers on felt, mixing circles and squares

Felt tip doodles on card circles

Spirograph circles, I spent hours doing this as a kid in the 70's :-)

Printing with pen lids

I hope you find these simple ideas inspiring!

Best wishes

Diane

1 Comment

Kids! Let's get inspired by 'The World goes Pop' this Fall/Autumn

7/9/2015

Yippee!
We've just booked our first family day trip to London with our 6 and 8 year olds to visit 'The World Goes Pop' exhibition at the amazing Tate Modern.
I''ve always been attracted to the fun, bold shapes and bright colourful imagery of Pop Art, a movement which began back in the 1950's.

I've been developing ideas for Autumn/Fall free printable worksheets with a 'Pop Art twist'.
They are designed to encourage kids to explore design, shape, colour and graphic design.
You can download these free printable worksheets on my Autumn page

There's a link below to the World Goes Pop UK Exhibtion -

Tate Modern: The World Goes Pop
17 September 2015 – 24 January 2016

You might also like my 'hidden modern art' free printables, colourful challenging colouring activities for kids - and adults too!

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From small acorns.....

1/9/2015

I love this time of year, the change in light, the smell in the air, moisture on the windows, blackberry picking, waiting for the apples on our little tree to ripen....

Pattern making and doodling can be fun and relaxing whatever age we are.

I'm continuing to use my charity shop stamp album squared paper, I love it's yellowed appearance and the way it soaks up the felt tips.

Here are a few acorn and oak leaf doodles that we created today.

I'll be working on a collection of free Autumn/ Fall free printables next week once my little ones are back at school so I hope you come back and visit soon!

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Interpretations of an Oak Leaf - exploring collage and mixed media

1/9/2015

I love working creatively with groups - where each participant gets to create a unique piece of work, based on a specific theme which contributes to a larger collective finished artwork.

I've worked this way with kids and adults of all ages, in schools, hospitals, and community settings over the years. The outcome is always visually stimulating and appealing and often more rewarding for the group than if they had been working alone.

With the onset of Autumn, I thought I'd share this 'Oak Leaf' group project, produced as a commission several years ago at Arts for Recovery in the Community (I'll provide a link to this wonderful mental health organisation at the bottom of this post, well worth a visit)

Above, we used the idea of exploring a simple oak leaf, using all manner of materials, in a cd sized square - as you can see, the final piece of work was composed of 24 individual artworks.

Let's have a look at some in detail and the types of materials we used......

simple leaf printing - paint the freshly picked leaf - acrylic works well - turn over and press down firmly on cartridge paper

we used a photocopied leaf print, cut out oak leaves from black and white paper, stitched the leaves onto handmade paper and added beads

This collage uses corrugated cardboard as the base, with photocopied and stitched leaves and string to create several layers of imagery

oak leaf collage, stitching with copper wire

Torn paper leaves on brown parcel paper. The leaves are stitched with copper wire and finished with beads and outlined with wool

we cut an oak leaf stencil and worked over a page torn from an opulent interiors magazine

this collage comprises metalic papers, embroidered chain stitch, copper wire, paper cut outs in an oak leaf shape

oak leaf collage with imagery and stitch

using a sepia ballerina image cut into an oak leaf shape, embellished with string and copper wire stitching on a black background

a beautiful oak leaf embroidery exploring the colours of Autumn / Fall

Matisse inspired cut outs of oak leaves and acorns using textured papers

oak leaf collage with magazine image and stitch

a face, partially covered with silver metallic paper and stitch detail makes this piece quite delicate

Arc, Arts for Recovery in the Community commissioned me to facilitate this project.
I've been involved with them for over 10 years now. Take a look at their wonderful work.
Arc is Stockport’s specialist arts and health charitable organisation, harnessing the power of creativity with people to rebuild their self-confidence and fulfil their potential as healthy and resilient citizens.

I've been working on some new Autumn free printable worksheets, just click here to have a look.

If you like my ideas, why not sign up for my monthly newsletter for regular seasonal activities to your inbox?

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Download doodles

31/7/2015

Doodling can be such fun for all age groups, from preschoolers, to teens, parents and grandparents.

I found a really useful website today, where you can print for free, all sorts of patterns and shapes to doodle in - manuscripts, graphs, hexagons, squares, circles, dots.

www.printablepaper.net

Why not print a pack of these free patterns, grab the felt tips and you have an easy travel pack for those much needed quiet moments or when they shout, 'I'm bored mum!'

Here are some ideas that I came up with, I'll be sharing them with kids later!

Join the dots and get geometric

Filling one inch squares with marks and squiggles

Filling squares with pattern

If you like these quick ideas, have a read of another doodletastic blog post,
adventures with a roll of tape and a biro!

If you are a homeschooler or teacher looking for more detailed lesson plans and art lessons, why not visit my Teachers Pay Teachers Store?
It's packed with fun, affordable, low prep art activities.

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10 Creative Summer Boredom Busters for Kids

31/7/2015