Book Review: First Art by Mary Ann F. Kohl

Toddler Art Month is coming to a close and Monday will be the last day with a link round up of as many resources on the web as I can find! But today I bring you a review of First Art: Art experiences for Toddlers and Twos by MaryAnn F. Kohl.

This book is honestly the holy grail of toddler art books. You really need no other resource for inspiration on doing art with toddlers. I bought this as an e-book but I kind of wish I had it as a hard copy so I could get paint all over it. This book inspired me to do that first painting project with Sofia which in turn spawned the idea for this art month exploration.

The book is broken down into chapters by materials. Such as painting, clay/playdough, mixed media.  Kohl does an excellent job in explaining just how toddlers go about exploring art making with materials. Her main point is that for toddlers it's all about process not product. Once you realize this, it's so much easier to do art with toddlers. As the adult you can let go of the expectation that something will come out of it other then the experience.

This book has so many activities that I don't think you would ever get bored. I liked that with each activity she gives instructions on how to set it up and how much involvement as a parent/teacher you should have with your child. The activities range from not at all messy, to just go outside with a hose because you'll have to repaint your house if you do it inside. I am quite impressed by the list of materials she gives to use as materials for art making. Pretty much everything and the kitchen sink becomes either a tool or a material to be explored.

As a make it from scratch with natural materials kind of gal, I really like that the author has included so many recipes for making paints and play dough at home. Don't have finger paints, just get some flour water and food coloring. Mix together in a cup and you're all ready to go.

So far we have done five or six of the activities in this book and all have been a success. One of the more popular ones was aluminum foil as squishing material!

This book is worth the price and definitely a great addition to any crafty mama library!

Do you have this book? What do you think?