Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Keep the Spark Alive


At the park recently I found art by young children on the fence.
Oh yes, it is art from the heart and tells the story true.

Relyn, my blogging friend from Come Sit by My Fire, recently asked me
how did I find time to be creative when my children were young and I worked full time?
What a good question.  I have always had a creative heart and a burning
passion to create; so how did I do it?

For a young mom with a busy schedule maybe something on this list
will help you find a way to fulfill your creative spark.

1. Set aside a couple hours either one evening or on the weekend just for you and making something.
Keep it simple, so you can see results quickly.

2. Have art supplies and make time for creative projects with your children.  I also did art projects
with neighbor children and on Wednesday evenings with the children at church.
Most often I avoided paper because those got destroyed before they got home.
It could be something with clay (I found someplace to have things fired), painted rocks, yarn ropes,
a little paper such as paper bag puppets, and built simple bird houses.

3. Planned and had creative birthday parties for my children. 

4. From time to time I would take a creative class just to have a set time and learn something I didn't know.  One time I signed up for a class and didn't even know what it was, I just knew it was something creative and I needed a time out place to go and play.  One time my family camped in a sheep pasture for a week, so I could take a week long course on learning to spin and make natural dyes.  Now this was when I had a new baby, so I hadn't gone back to work yet.   Having a supportive husband helped with this excursion into creativity.

It is so important for a creative soul to keep the spark alive.
I know many of my readers don't have young children and work, but may be able to add to the list.

What have you done to find creative pursuits while raising young children and working full time?