Why I like them (simple, easy, accessible).
Where I get them (library).
I’ve had so much pleasure playing with the techniques in the books below.
Picture This: Activities and Adventures in Impressionism
You have to be willing to spend time making things for no known reason. Lynda Barry
Paint It: The Art of Acrylics, Oils, Pastels, and Watercolors
Play – the kind that flows spontaneously from our core – is not so much an activity to engage as it is an expression to allow. Gina Greenlee
My First Art Activity Book: 35 Fun and Easy Art Projects for Children Aged 7 years +
Never limit your playtime, even if your brain is telling you otherwise. All of your best stuff comes from it if you allow yourself to remain open to the unknown. Keri Smith
13 Art Techniques Children Should Know
Playing and fun are not the same thing, though when we grow up, we may forget that and find ourselves mixing up playing with happiness. There can be a kind of amnesia about the seriousness of playing, especially when we played by ourselves. Lynda Barry
Paper and Paint: Hands-On Crafts for Everyday Fun
When we think about the word [play] as adults, we get it confused with having fun. My feeling is that there is something we are born with — a deep creative concentration — that is at use when we are at play. And as kids we do it innately and naturally, until we are shamed out of it as adults. The thing that we call art is really alive when we are a kid. That's why people go into the arts, for that feeling of aliveness. Lynda Barry
Kids’ Art Works! Creating with Color, Design, Texture and More
In the adult world, play carries a stigma. It is considered immature and unproductive in our highly industrialized, achievement-oriented society unless there is some goal at the end of it. So, we approve only of our children playing for the pure fun of it. But at its most pleasurable, play is process, not product, a present moment transformation of our armor and burdens into lightness and joy. Gina Greenlee