10 Things We've Learned While Taking On Our 100 Days of Art Challenge

When I first started this 100 Days of Art Challenge I thought we would do art for 100 days; possibly doing more than one craft a day or two here and there and be all finished within 3 months.

I have no idea why I thought we'd have plenty of time to focus so much on art or why I thought my boys would be so gung- ho to do arts and crafts each day but like everything else I was able to adjust my expectations along the way.  I have resigned myself to the fact that our art challenge will probably last us a year and that's OK.  It was also just one of the many lessons we were all going to be learning about taking on an art challenge.



My whole reason for jumping on board with the 100 Day of Art Challenge was to make sure that I was being more purposeful about adding art back into our homeschooling week.  We used to do a project a few times a week and we had gotten to a point where I could not remember the last time we had worked together on any sort of art project.

I'm happy to say that we are doing much better about adding art into our schedule at least once a week and sometimes we managed two or even three projects!  That is such a huge leap for us.

However, I have to be careful not to push to much.  I have been met with some groans and sighs when I mention art and that is not OK.  I do not want to force my boys to do art but to foster a love of art so occasionally we take longer breaks between projects or I only complete a project with one or two of the boys who are willing and eager to tackle that day's project.




We've been at this Art Challenge for a few months now and have a good 50 projects under our belt. Here are 10 things we've learned about it along the way:

  • We've learned that, in our house art does not happen unless we make a definite plan to include it in our day or week.
  • We've learned that not every project is something we're going to want to share or be proud of; some day our art projects feel like failures.  Like the day we tried to make tie dyed bookmarks and the alcohol wasn't strong enough to make the sharpie ink bleed. 
  • No matter what we do our art projects are never going to look like anyone else's projects.  They rarely even end up looking like each other's projects.  Art is personal.  
  • Some days art is more about the process than the product.  When the boys aren't happy with how a particular project turned out we reflect on why that might be and then I always ask them if they at least had fun making it.  Art can be messy and fun and have a finished product that ends up in the trash or being reused for another project another day.  
  • 100 Days.... yeah, that is a A LOT!  I think from now on if we decide to challenge ourselves with any series we'll stick to 30 days.  
  • My boys can be fearless when it comes to trying out new products and new techniques!
  • I miss being creative and need to join in more myself!  I have a bad habit of only buying enough materials for three projects and often feel left out.  I have been trying to model the process and join in much more often. 
  • Not everyone will enjoy every project or even want to participate in them. That's OK!
  • We all do better if we can see how the final product is supposed to look before we start.  We don't always click through and read the how to's on any inspirational pictures or projects we find on Pinterest but find that we do better with some idea of how we want our final product to look. 
  • Like most other subjects my boys are finding that the more often they draw, paint and craft, the better at it they're getting.  In art, like in everything else, practice makes perfect!

Comments

  1. Wow! I'm so impressed with your 100 days of art! I love all of the things you learned from this experience.

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    1. Thanks. We've only made it to 50 so far but we're slowly getting there.

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  2. I think they will come to love it and want to do certain projects again. I love seeing what they have been doing.

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    1. They're starting to ask to use certain media or to draw/paint certain subjects on various days. I find that they are definitely gaining in confidence.

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  3. What a great challenge. My granddaughter would love the painting. Thank you so much for linking at #wonderfulwednesday! I look forward to seeing what you share every week. Please come back next week and allow us to promote your content!

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  4. You have a great perspective on adding art into your homeschool. Boys don't always want to participate, but when you do so many (and it's a challenge) it's better. The artwork they showed here is really nice :) Thanks for sharing at Together on Tuesdays!

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    1. Thank you. We have found quite a few that we enjoy and I do try to keep it a challenge.

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  5. I'm so glad you linked up with us at Hip Homeschool Moms! My youngest child (the only one left in our homeschool--the others have graduated) loves art, but I often neglect doing it with her. I think I may do a 30-days-of-art challenge with her. (I think you're right that 100 days is a lot to commit to!) She'll be so happy!

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    1. I am only pushing on with our 100 days because I'm stubborn like that! :) But I know the next month is usually FILLED with tons of crafting projects so hopefully we'll make a nice dent in it.

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