Below are some favorite Pottery Barn Kids essentials that will have all the kids scrambling to come over for some after-school and weekend fun!

Blank Canvas – Arts and crafts time doesn’t have to end when the school bell rings. Create a mini art studio and help your child find their inner Picasso with Pottery Barn Kids Carolina Craft Table Paper Roll, Jumbo Wall Mounted Paper Roll, Art Jar and Art Pad. When they’re done having fun and have finished creating the next masterpiece painting, display the works on Pottery Barn Kids Star Art Cable, Art Clip Rack or Magnetic Multiplication Artwork – it will be the hippest art studio on the block.

Land of Make Believe – Create a magical fantasy land for your little princesses. Let girls have fun decorating with the Westport Doll House – by far the most stylish dollhouse on the street – with the Dollhouse Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen and Bathroom Sets. Or watch them play house with Pottery Barn Kids Cottage Playhouse. Adorned with detailed appliques of flowers and gardens, and with a real mail slot for letters, the Cottage Playhouse will keep young girls entertained all day long.

After a busy day playing, it’s time for tea. Pottery Barn Kids Finely Play Table and Chairs is the perfect set-up for tea and cupcakes with friends. Set the table with the Silver Tea Set, serve cakes using the petite Tea Cart and enjoy tasty treats like the delectable Cupcake Set – yum!

Boys Toys –Pottery Barn Kids has everything boys need to slam dunk and have fun with friends! From the Personalizable Basketball Hoop, Soccer Rug, and Wilson Sports Balls for outside fun, to inside games where they can master prehistoric times with Remote Control Dinosaurs, explore the universe with the Solar System Floor Puzzle, and save the neighborhood using their Super- Hero Kit – there’s so much to do! Your little one’s games room will become the cool spot for all the little juniors on the block.

Available at www.potterybarnkids.com

The post Be the Coolest Kid on the Block with Pottery Barn Kids appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

Like many kids, ours began their art careers when they were old enough to sit at the table and brandish small weapons,
sometimes referred to as crayons. I refer to these years as their Tableist period, and it incorporated a variety of techniques including decoupage, woodcuts, and monotypes washed in emulsions of crayon wax and milk. Their artwork is permanently preserved in our house, primarily because we still need a place to eat. It is my theory that much of the primitive cave art in existence today was created by children: I believe that most parents aren’t inclined to carve stick figures of horses on the walls of their homes. The problem is, my kids are too prolific. I can put a large sheet of paper on an easel and another under their feet, and in two minutes I will have a Picasso and a Pollock ready to hang, as well as a T-shirt suitable for a Grateful Dead concert. Since I have three children, over the course of a school year I accumulate approximately 900 pieces of art, all of which competes for gallery space in our galley. These pieces are in the form of sketches, paintings, and an assortment of sculptures made of cotton balls, felt, paper plates, misplaced cell phones, and other loose objects that accept Elmer’s glue.

Before I became a ruthless philistine, the likes of Joseph Stalin or Simon Cowell, our kitchen was continually plastered in manila poster paper boasting blobs of paint, smeared handprints, and random scribbles. It got so bad that I started spotting flyers for lost kittens and local garage sales. And then one day I cleared the kitchen completely. I was surprised to learn we had wallpaper. My wife was incredulous. “How could you do that?” she asked in the same tone of voice she used the day I threw out the wad of expired coupons she had filed in our junk drawer.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure twenty years from now when I look at a yellowed painting of an extraterrestrial hanging on my refrigerator I will think back and say, “Which of the children made this and why is it here?” Call me sentimental. And so my resolve to remove clutter remains firm. Bracing for a major collection triggered by the start of the school year, I again purged our kitchen. The kids were upset. “Hey, where did my picture of the horsie go?” my daughter asked tearfully. “I am replacing it with your newest master work,” I told her, quickly grabbing a crinkled watercolor from atop a large heap of her summer projects and holding it out in front of her. “The more painterly representation of a watermelon floating in air is reminiscent of Renoir or Dali in their early years. Notice the cross hatching and the artist’s use of pointillism to depict seeds. The brush work is brilliant.” “Really Daddy?” she said with shining eyes. “Really, sweetheart. It is worthy of the Louvre.” She seemed puzzled, but smiled proudly. “I louvre you too daddy,” she said wrapping her arms around my legs. You can see this exciting new work on our refrigerator. The World’s Harshest Art Critic has sentimentally placed it on permanent display.

John Christmann is a freelance writer and all around good guy. He lives in Summit, NJ with his very tolerant wife and three children. His favorite color is plaid and he is afraid of machines and small dogs. You can check out his unique take on parenting at www.dadinthebox.com or fill up his inbox at john.christmann@dadinthebox.com.

The post Dad and Art – The World’s Harshest Critic appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.