ZooAnimalsEBook_pinYou’ve been celebrating and entertaining now it’s time for some peace! Sit back and relax while your kids spend time learning to draw these 7 cartoon animal characters, a quiet activity the kids will actually enjoy doing!
This how to draw video series is the result of teaching children how to draw in Young Rembrandts for over twenty years! 
Although this drawing lesson was written with kids in mind, it’s fun for adults, too.
Is your child at risk for the dreaded Summer Slide?
Here are some great ways you can help your kid avoid the summer slide without feeling like school never ended.
Are you creative? Can you draw? Paint a picture? Do you hold a patent for a new invention that will change the way we live?
Creativity is often defined in relation to artistic ability but creative thought reaches far beyond the arts and has profound implications in all parts of our lives. Creativity is about thinking outside the box, bringing fresh insight to established patterns of thought, rules and relationships. Creativity is a process of personal expression and playful pursuit, but creativity is also a highly sought after commodity, in business as well as the arts. Creative ideas may produce a work of art or music, it can lead to breakthroughs in science and engineering, increased personal satisfaction and career success, even solutions to highly complex social issues.
We are all capable of creative thought, but like other skills, it requires development. Countries all around the world have made the development of creativity a priority. However, while the United States has been a world leader of innovation in the past, increased emphasis on standardization, testing and cuts in arts programs, means we are no longer developing creativity and innovation in our students. Yong Zhao, author of
Summer is a great time of year — the sun shines, days get longer and our schedules loosen. This is a list of our favorite activities for kids and 
families to do this summer.
Rain or shine, keep your family busy with these 10 activities:
It was a rainy Saturday morning and four year old Brayden was looking for something to get busy with. He got out his crayons and drawing paper and came to find grandma. He thinks that because I can draw – I am his personal illustrator and coloring book. But instead of me doing all the drawing – we drew and colored together.
First I drew the rocket ship he wanted. Together we drew lots of circles that made the planets and far away stars in space. Then Brayden colored the rocket ship and all the planets – leaving me the dark, dark sky. He knew he left me the ‘big’ job, and was very complimentary about how well I colored. Good to know I can still impress a four year old!
As parents, we can look forward to summer as a time with lighter schedules, less structure and no homework. Let’s face it — we all need a break, 
and these warm, carefree days give us the perfect opportunity. However, too many lazy days can result in the well-worn phrase “I’m bored.” Today’s kids have so much technology at their fingertips — TV, movies, video games, the internet — that it can take some special effort to get them engaged in a wider variety of activities, activities that are important to keeping them “mentally fit”.
If you’re looking for ideas to keep your kids busy this summer check out www.YoungRembrandts.com for information on our current workshops and camps!
It’s Saturday morning—time to take my grandson, Brayden, to the library for a new set of picture books. Oh, how he loves books! First, we go around the house gathering all the books we need to return. As we review them, Brayden has a bit of emotion about letting some of his favorites go, but is encouraged about finding new books—new “friends”. We jump in the car, drive over and enjoy the return process before heading in to select new friends to check out and take home.
Cooking with our kids is a great way to spend time together while involved in purposeful activity. But there’s much more that happens when we invite our kids into the kitchen. Cooking is an engaging, visual, spatial, tactile, hands-on activity that can reinforce classroom learning while developing fundamental cognitive skills.
