Creating art is a great way to preserve vacation memories
Art fosters creativity, encourages expression, and creates lasting memories. It has the remarkable ability to bring families closer together and can be a profound bonding experience that allows members to connect on a deeper level. Exploring art as a family has lasting and joyful benefits.
Creating or enjoying art together, offers a unique opportunity to share a creative space. No matter what art medium is used, each family member can bring their own ideas to the table and contribute to a shared masterpiece all while encouraging open communication and teamwork, which helps to strengthen family ties.
Utilizing art for expression, for children, especially, can be a safe way to express feelings non-verbally, which can help parents gain insight into their child’s world. Sharing creative space together can facilitate open and honest communication all while strengthening the family bond.
Creating art as a family can be fun and memorable, as well as provide and fostering opportunities for learning and development. Children can enhance fine motor skills, problem-solving abilities, and cognitive development through art. Parents can also benefit, as creating art promotes mindfulness, reduces stress and stimulates the brain.
Starting a family art project can be as simple as gathering some basic supplies and dedicating a little time each week to create together or you can try some of the ideas mentioned in this article and in our previous articles about family “collaborative“ art (ex: painting on the same canvas together or connecting them to make one cohesive image together).
Whether it’s getting the kids excited about an upcoming trip, looking for ways to capture vacation memories, or turn a staycation into something bigger, these travel/Summer arts and craft ideas for kids/families will have you dreaming about family travel time, taking a solo trip or spending some time in nature this summer.
Creating art is a great way of preserving vacation memories and there are endless art activities your children and you as a family can do while traveling this summer. Here are several wonderful art activity ideas that are great for adults to do and are bound to keep your kids busy and engaged during the summer or while on a trip-even if it’s just for a day.
These are all great bonding activities to try to do together as a family, as well. It is a stress-reliever, relaxing, mindful self-care and so beneficial and fun for both children and parents to create traveling art and crafts. Plus, it’s much better, of course, than using electronic devices for hours.
My favorite summer traveling activity to suggest is creating and keeping a travel journal to utilize daily. The journal can be decorated on the outside, as well as on the inside pages. For example, you can collect stickers or postcards, pictures, etc. from your trip and create a scrap book-type journal of your daily adventures along with possible journal entries of notes/memorable or interesting things from your trip. Try adding acolorful drawings of things you see along the way or memories you’d like to depict and cherish always (in a creative way). This can also be used as a personal diary for the summer.
Creating your own travel tote/Beach bag/Art bag is a great activity, as well as a great thing to utilize this summer and beyond. The materials for this are a fabric tote bag, which can be obtained at most craft stores and fabric markers and fabric paint (optional). Sharpies can work, as well. These totes can hold your art journal and art supplies, as well as your vacation stuff.
Nature art is always a great thing to do while traveling and the possibilities are endless. Nature is the original paintbox and all the the colors we use can be found in the natural world and all paint pigments and inks were initially made from natural materials, such as flowers, plants, and stones.
Nature also provides the light that informs how we see the world. And, it is the primary source of artistic inspiration. Land/nature art combines playing and creating art in a natural environment using leaves, rocks, sticks, and other nature items as well as light and water.
Making a nature mandala with elements you gather from nature, such as flowers, sticks, seashells, etc. The seashells or other elements you find can also be incorporated later in a painting of possibly an ocean scene or a seashell mosaic (see images for example).
Flowers and leaves can be pressed in your art journal to make bookmarks or to be used in other art activities after the trip as a keepsake.
The seashells can also be painted while on the trip, or after with no-mess watercolors or washable markers and incorporated into a craft. The tote you make can also be used to gather these nature items.
Rock painting is great as you can possibly paint a rock from each place you visit and keep it in your own garden at home. All of these art activities and creations you make can serve as a reminder and keepsake of the memories you make this summer and cherish always.
Diana Shabtai, Psy.D., ATR-BC is a contributing writer to Kiddish Magazine.
