Call me lazy, but I often shy away from fancy crafts with my kiddos. Remember the easiest Valentine project ever? It’s not that I don’t appreciate exploring different media and investing time in a well thought out project, it’s just not always realistic for our every day. And there is something magical (and scary) about a plain sheet of paper. I can still be intimidated by starting from scratch myself. But I also know that the more you do it, the easier it gets.Jill-Smith-letter-writing-01So this summer I have found myself offering up thick white paper and markers to the kiddos more often than anything else. One day last week, I threw some easy snacks in bowls and threw out a blanket so we could draw. We seem to have a lot of friends with summer birthdays, so I asked my kiddos to draw some cards. It was good because it gave them a goal or at least a starting point for what to draw. And a nice stack of pre-drawn cards around here will cut down on me saying, “We have to leave in 5 minutes to get to the birthday party. Put on your shoes, brush your teeth, go potty, oh and draw a really meaningful card for your friend…you have exactly 43 seconds to do it!”

Simple summer drawing for the win!Jill-Smith-letter-writing-02Jill-Smith-letter-writing-03Supplies needed: Paper and any type of crayon or marker. We used some color-changing ones, very similar to these.
Photography by Rebecca Sanabria who makes a great pen pal.