paint cut paste

novi received her first digital camera from her aunt kim and uncle john for christmas this year. photography is one of my favorite art forms, and lately novi has been following suit by miming a camera when she wants to take a picture of something. thus, her christmas gift.

novi's vtech kidizoom camera

while the resolution isn’t the greatest on these toddler-proof cameras, they make for amazing works of art! i love the abstract ethereal quality of some of novi’s very first images, taken over the holidays.

composites of abstracts like this would make great cards or wall art

i also love to see through her lens… the choices she makes as to what is important to her in her environment.

the black bear rug at my mom's house fascinates her

her first game - candyland

no doubt, we’ll be incorporating novi’s photography into many of our future creative endeavors. say cheese!

i’ve always been a digital art girl. being both a computer geek and an artist has really led me down a path where pixels may as well be paint, and i think my little one agrees. to pass the time on a four hour doctor’s office visit this morning (allergist takes forever!), i whipped out my trusty iphone.

not only does the iphone pass the time for me, but there are great free applications that entertain kids. my little lady loves to pop bubbles and bubble wrap on the iphone. (oh wait, i’m the one who likes to pop bubble wrap.) but most often novi asks, “can i draw?” while holding up her “magic finger” out of which different colors pour onto the screen. with the scribble application, novi drew a couple of gems:

digital rose

scribble nest

then we opened the colour tilt application so that my daughter could hold the phone in her left hand and tilt it around while drawing with her right pointer finger. she loves to watch the colors change.

color tilt hues

while it may seem like it’s not art if they’re not messy, digital art will be a bigger part of the lives of this generation than it has ever been. plus, parents, it does provide creative fun and artistic engagement for a toddler while in a doctor’s waiting room or other places where you can bring your little artist, but you can’t bring their big messes.

one of my closest friends has a daughter who is turning two this weekend… but she lives states and time zones away from us. so, unfortunately we can’t attend her fabulous birthday party. the toddler’s momma told me that the party theme, per her kiddo’s request, is ORANGE! orange EVERYTHING! they’re going to have orange decorations, the guests all have to wear orange, and they’ll dine on orange sherbet & vanilla ice cream cake, mac & cheese, and other orange goodies. they’ll be bobbing for oranges and throwing orange and white water balloons. what an awesome birthday theme idea, right?!

novi and i decided that if we couldn’t attend the party, we’d get into the orange spirit from afar… so i initiated a scavenger hunt whereby novi had to find (and mommy could photograph) everything orange she could spy. we looked all over the house: in cabinets, pantries, drawers, toy bins, etc. we walked around our yard and our neighborhood. we walked to a local farmer’s produce stand and went to our grocery store. i snapped away with my nikon d40. (older kids can perhaps do the photography part themselves.)

after my little color-hunter was sound asleep and (undoubtedly) dreaming orange dreams, i photoshopped the images together into a zesty grid with a dorky little message on top for the birthday girl. here are the citrus fruits of our labor:

this grid will go to the birthday girl, but if you’re just doing this for fun, you could create a grid to print and frame for your child’s bedroom, playroom, or bathroom. you could print the photos to make a collage or photo book. you could just keep them in your computer and let the photos cycle as your screensaver that your child will see and remember each time they’re sitting on your lap at your desk. there are so many creative things you can do with the finished product. i should mention that it gave my daughter a huuuge smile to see the grid when it was complete, so that sense of accomplishment and things coming full circle can be important for a little one to witness.

for those of you with toddlers, i should remark that this kept me and my 2.5-year-old daughter busy for about two or three hours (including our walk and trip to the grocery store) and she remained focused and into it. sweet! you don’t have to hunt for colors, as anything goes in a scavenger hunt, but colors are a fun and eye-catching i-spy sort of thing to do with a very young child. go forth, hunt it, and shoot it! (but only with your camera!)