Let's face it, as moms we have a hard time getting our kids excited about looking at other people's creative genius. Kids need to experience art at their own hand. On my quest to expand my children's interest in the arts, I stumble upon My Art Workshop in Littleton. We walked in to find a two story, brightly colored, kid friendly arts and crafts Mecca for kids.

My kids literally started dancing around at the possibilities of all they could choose from to create. They have pottery to paint, wood to paint and decorate, tie dye, fabric design, sand art, spin paint, jewelry design, mosaics and on and on. My seven year old daughter quickly chose a wooden sword and a wooden treasure box to paint. She thinks she's Captain Jack Sparrow! My nine year old daughter was a bit slower on the decision making. "Maybe I'll paint a dog bowl for Allie, or a stepping stone for the garden, or a bracelet, or decorate flip flops...." You should see how long it takes her to choose an ice cream flavor! Finally, she decided to make a fuzzy fabric tie pillow and tie dye a pillow case for her room.

Now I'm not the craftiest person, so I was pretty apprehensive about her projects. I've never tie dyed and making a fabric tie pillow seemed like a good project for the Home and Garden Channel, but not for a nine year old. Alas, my worries were dashed when a staff member took both of my children, set them up with all of the supplies they would need and began explaining the "how to's". My daughter painted her sword pink and silver on one side and red and silver on the other, her favorite colors! She painted her treasure chest gold and was able to stencil (with some help) a skull and cross bones on the top which she painted black with pink polka dots! After her creations dried she was given a HUGE tray of decorating items and GLITTER! (I banned glitter in my house after a child tornado swept through and sprinkled glitter on every piece of furniture in its path!) My nine year old daughter twisted her pillow case into a swirled design and rubber banded it (with staff help). Then she squirted purple and green dye on her creation and after washing it at home, it looks like a designer made it! Her fabric tie pillow turned out great as well, donned with embellishment jewels, fringe and a very colorfully painted butterfly.

Their artzy journey at My Art Workshop was extraordinary. They were able to experience the arts through their own eyes by coming up with their own designs and watching them come to life. We can all benefit from watching children grow through such an experience. While they might have thought they were just having fun, I could see their minds concentrating on designing, their hands purposeful on their art work and their self esteem skyrocketing at their finished products! As a mom, the best part of the afternoon was being able to talk, laugh and play with my children for two uninterrupted hours (and the staff encouraged me to leave the whole mess for them to clean up!) After seeing their fabulous art projects, my twelve year old daughter's interest in arts and crafts reemerged, so now we're planning another girls' afternoon out. Who knows, maybe we'll broaden our horizons now and visit an art gallery!