KID O by Lisa Mahar

A blog about play, learning and creativity by Lisa, Kid O's founder and CEO

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FAMILY RESEMBLANCE

Jill Greenberg’s amazing and hilarious simian portraits convey a startling range of emotions and personalities. In addition to making kids (and adults) laugh out loud, they serve as an important reminder that we share about 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees and vividly illustrate how closely linked we are to our animal brethren.

This gorgeously produced book is both thought-provoking and highly entertaining.

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THE ARTIST'S WAY

Over the years, our children produce an impressive body of original artwork and we can’t help but treasure every doodle. If you’d like a more permanent showcase than your refrigerator door, consider investing in one of Jan Eleni’s beautifully assembled compilations. After a careful review and editing of all the individual pieces, Jan (an innovator in children’s décor) can turn them into a modern grid collage of hand-cut miniature images or a high-quality print using pigmented ink. 

Both can be beautifully framed and all the original art is returned to you—just in case the artist demands them back later.

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CRYING WOLF

In 1936 Sergei Prokofiev was commissioned by the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow to write a new musical symphony for children that would help cultivate budding musical tastes. The happy result was “Peter and the Wolf,” a delightful introduction to musical instruments through the story of a young boy, his grandfather and the domesticated and wild animals they encounter. Since 2007, fashion and design impresario Isaac Mizrahi has narrated a holiday performance at the Guggenheim Museum. This year, a concert with art and storytelling is becoming a full theatrical production with a stage transformed into Central Park (through December 15th). The eclectic cast includes Mizrahi’s friend, illustrator Maira Kalman in tutu and flippers, as the duck. 

For those who can’t attend, look for the classic recording with Boris Karloff as narrator.

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BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

Now that the holidays are upon us, the issue of thank-you notes can’t be far behind. As a parent, I feel compelled to instill a sense of gratitude in my children—or at least some semblance of good manners—and this is one way to quantify that. So what’s the best way to get your kid to express heartfelt thanks, not only for the bike he wanted but for the hand-knit scarf he didn’t? No, really, I’m asking. Threats? Bribery? And how much supervision is required? Because we all know what can happen when they’re left to their own devices…

Still working on that handwriting? Kid O's Magnatabs are a big help in that department.

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IF YOU BUILD IT

The name Lego comes from the Danish phrase leg godt, meaning “to play well,” and these interlocking bricks have been engaging kids’ imaginations since 1949. They can be assembled and connected in countless ways, used to build everything from simple vehicles to working robots—which can then be taken apart and the pieces used for new projects. 

And then there’s Lego’s series of iconic landmarks, a fascinating way to explore the architecture, engineering and construction of famous structures like the Sydney Opera House or Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright classic. After putting them together, kids can rebuild their own unique masterworks using their new knowledge. (This should keep them busy during that endless Thanksgiving weekend!)

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WHAT'S THE BUZZ?

A wildlife stack, or “insect hotel,” is a gift that keeps on giving. Made of repurposed natural materials—logs, bark, bound reeds and bamboo, stones, garden clippings—the initial construction is a fun and learning-intensive project to undertake with kids of all ages. Built with multiple sections in a variety of sizes, the hotels attract a wide range of beneficial critters, from butterflies, ladybugs and spiders to small amphibians, all seeking shelter, especially during the colder months.

Drilled holes encourage insects to leave larvae to gestate. Fascinating for kids and an amazing way to observe the activities and lifecycles of local wildlife, these structures are also popular with gardeners because they encourage insect pollination.

For another introduction to North American wildlife, try this book from Kid O.

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EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

Photography is about the relationship between artist and subject, so it can be a great vehicle for connecting with your kids. Photographer Timothy Archibald works/plays in collaboration with his son Elijah, who has been diagnosed on the autistic spectrum. This shared interest gives them some common ground, a vehicle for expressing their feelings and a way to understand each other, both within and outside the context of everyday life.

The resulting images are sometimes whimsical, sometimes dark and always full of an intimacy that never feels forced.

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Just My Type

Though the art of penmanship may be waning, kids who are learning to read and write still need to grasp the difference between upper-case and lower-case letters. Tien-Min Liao, a New York-based illustrator and graphic designer, created an amazing typographic experiment that explores the transformation from one to the other. She inks shapes on both her hands and manipulates her gestures to create a full alphabet that cleverly morphs from upper- to lower-case. Mimicking alphabet letters with the hands is not new, but her take on it is truly inspired, and the animated illustrations and videos are very engaging.

Kid O's Magnatabs offer instruction to kids learning to write both upper-case and lower-case letters.

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TRICKS & TREATS

Costumes aren’t just for Halloween—kids love to dress up all year round. It’s the kind of play that encourages fantasy and artistic expression and, if the costumes are DIY, it can also engage more practical skills. With just heavy craft paper and paints or markers, kids can make their own versions of these colorful animal Playsacks, designed by Fredun Shapur, an illustrator and designer who created toys and graphics for Creative Playthings in the 60s and 70s. 

They’re striking enough to have been included in MoMA’s Century of the Child exhibit, but easy enough to reproduce at home, like the ones featured in an old issue of Sunset magazine:

Or introduce your kids to the quirky humor of Saul Steinberg and inspire them to create their own expressive (or goulish) masks.

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ART FOR ART'S SAKE

Artistic collaborations between parents and children can take many forms, as seen in this image of artist Dennis Oppenheim and his son drawing on each other. Whether you’re carving Jack-o’-lanterns, learning to crochet or making music together, a chance to share creative expression is a good opportunity for both generations. Don’t underestimate this as a way to learn about one another and expand the dimensions of your relationship—not to mention have fun…

Not sure where to start? Kid O’s arts & crafts selection offers lots of great ideas. 

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SCREEN TIME

Find a way to maximize the time your kids spend online and help them learn to think creatively, reason systematically and work collaboratively. With Scratch, a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, kids can program their own interactive stories, games and animations, then share their creations with an online community. It’s just one aspect of MIT’s self-described “antidisciplinary” research lab, which has also given rise to ground-breaking robotics and new outposts around the country where kids can learn everything from urban farming to bike repair to how to build a computer.

Next thing you know, there will be some extra hands around the house! 

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TINKER BELL

Tinkering School was founded by Gever Tulley to explore the notion that kids can build anything using real tools and materials, and learn anything while doing it. Through day camp, workshop-based experiences and sleepover camp, kids have already built a rollercoaster, 30' tall treehouse, a rope bridge made from plastic shopping bags and many functional vehicles and boats. It’s real-world knowledge that is empowering for kids, giving them rare early insight into engineering, architecture and hands-on construction.

If your child is still too young for this sort of thing, offer Kid O’s set of colored cubes as a window into the world of building. 

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SOMETHING FROM NOTHING

My favorite short film, The Way Things Go, is actually an art project by the Swiss artist team of Peter Fischli and David Weiss. They create a truly amazing domino-effect sculpture by combining random discarded everyday objects (tires, trash bags, ladders, soap, oil drums, old shoes). It’s a wonderful illustration of how pure creativity and resourcefulness in materials can generate something very clever and funny. Aside from the fire and pyrotechnics that were used as chemical triggers, it can serve as an inspiration to kids who like to engineer and build. It’s also a great model for new ways to recycle and upcycle.

Watch the 30-minute film, here.

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Growth Spurt

Nothing underscores the passage of time quite like witnessing your child’s metamorphosis. As parents, there is a kind of desperation we feel as we try to commit to memory every new phase. Frans Hofmeester, a professional filmmaker from the Netherlands, found a poetic and practical way to document childhood by filming his daughter every single day. He edited the footage into a mesmerizing montage that shows her progress from birth to age twelve in just under 3 minutes. “People are touched by it because it conveys a feeling of the soul,” he says. “It carries a message about living your life, and enjoying every moment of having your children with you.” It’s a great reminder to take advantage of all the digital technology around us to keep a record of this precious and fleeting time.

Too much pressure? Try using your smartphone’s voice recorder to capture the soundtrack of childhood…

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Size Matters

Remember when Alice drank the potion from the bottle and suddenly outgrew everything around her? The reality is that most kids’ rooms are scaled to adult proportions, with beds, bureaus and fixtures at frustratingly inaccessible heights. So when my kids first began crawling, I made sure to place everything within reach (well, not everything). According to Maria Montessori, the Italian educator whose method bears her name, “We must give the child an environment that he can utilize by himself: a little washstand of his own, a bureau with drawers he can open, objects of common use that he can operate, a small bed in which he can sleep at night…” It’s not hard to see how this grants kids a very gratifying sense of autonomy from an early age and lets them feel truly at home in the rooms they inhabit. 

A few helpful suggestions: For a low bed, consider a futon or a mattress without the frame. Try these light switch extenders. Hang a bulletin board, wall clock and art work at your child’s eye level. 

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Go Play Outside

The natural landscape offers endless opportunities for creative play and it comes fully stocked with a wealth of intriguing materials that vary from season to season. Leaves, stones, twigs, mud and seedpods make it the ultimate free source of art supplies! From the architectural challenge that is a kid’s first sand castle to the intricate sculptures of environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy, creations can be ephemeral or enduring enough to be taken home and treasured. Kids can also start their own collections by amassing feathers, sea glass, fool’s gold—whatever catches their fancy—and, with a little luck, it may even lead to an interest in biology, botany, geology…

Inspire your budding artist with a visit to the Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx (opening November 16th), where more than 140 scaled iconic structures—Yankee Stadium, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Brooklyn Bridge—are replicated using bark, branches, fruits and pine cones. 

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What's Cooking?

I don’t think it’s ever too early to share the glories of food with your kids. No one understands this better than Alice Waters, the brains and heart behind Chez Panisse. Her Edible Schoolyard project has shown that when children grow their own food, they're more likely to eat it—and to become stewards of the earth. In 1997, she published this book about food and cooking as seen through the eyes of her young daughter Fanny. It’s great for teaching kids where food really comes from, with lessons that include eating with your hands, enjoying garlic and composting and recycling. It also showcases basic ingredients and simple techniques in easy and inexpensive recipes for things like banana milkshakes, cherry tomato pasta and french fries. 

Too young to hold a knife? Try Kid O’s Cutting Fruit Set.