Weekend Camping: Quetico Provincial Park

photo c/o my instagram

This past weekend, we decided to ditch town and explore North Western Ontario.  Well known for it's abundance of lakes, wildlife, jack pines and canoe enthusiasts, this part of Northern Ontario seems to attract solitude loving tourists from the Mid-Western US (I say this because I saw license plates from Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and of course Minnesota) as well as more local fans from neighbouring provinces (Manitoba and Alberta).  

Rainy Days and Museums = Made for Each Other

(all photos from my instagram)

While today is dry so far, yesterday there was so much rain in Toronto that the subway flooded.


I for one enjoy the odd rainy day, as it gives us all a chance to chill out, relax, and do something inside.  Like going to the museum.  


We headed to the Royal Ontario Museum the other day and checked out the sites.  I was really impressed with how engaged our 3.5 year old was.  She didn't get bored once.  She did however want to get the heck out of the bat cave as soon as possible. 


Personally, I was really into all the jewelry from ancient Rome.  And can we talk about that gift shop?  I had to  put my blinders on just to get out of there with my wallet intact.

(can you imagine having this dressing mirror in your house?)

(Reading teepee...complete with fake buffalo skin pillows.  

Shouldn't we all have a reading teepee?)

When I was a kid we had a framed German poster in our house about museums being fun.  I thought it said museums can be space machines (since I don't understand any German).   Those Germans are right.  Museums are fun.  Especially when you get to experience them with kids.

Our museum adventure was followed by a delicious lunch at C5, the restaurant in the newly added section of the museum.  What a space, and a fantastic, laid back menu.

Art for Kids: Hirst & Matisse

Over our holidays, I happened to catch an interview with Damien Hirst on Charlie Rose.  Hirst was promoting his series of Spot Painting installations happening at Gagosian galleries in 11 major cities across the globe.

While Mr. Hirst is a controversial artist, I think his spot paintings are a perfect way to introduce young children to contemporary art.

DAMIEN  HIRST
Cupric Nitrate, 2007
Household gloss on canvas

And while my 3 year old may not ensure all spots are equilateral in distance, she knows how to draw a circle, and how to colour within the lines, so spending some of our (many hours a day of) art time working on something like this could be incredibly fun, and perhaps we'll have a gallery showing of our own (...in the playroom...it's super exclusive!)

Or you can make like Jordan and develop some grown-up spot paintings to adorn your walls,  for, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars less than buying a new Hirst.

(photo by: Oh Happy Day! )

Of course, if Mr. Hirst is not your thing, there are still other great artists whose works translate well with children.  What about Monsieur Henri Matisse?  Any toddler can pay homage to Monsieur Matisse with some kiddie scissors, coloured cardboard and a glue stick (and then eat brie avec baguette for lunch, with une petite tasse de grape juice).

I remember seeing a Matisse exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery when I was just a tyke.  At the end they had an excellent art area where you could attempt to make your own Matisse-inspired creation. What fun!  I love kid-friendly museums and galleries!




Henri Matisse
The Snail, 1953
gouache on paper

(I mean, look at that!  Totally kid do-able!)

Are there other artists, classical or contemporary, that you think translate well into kid art?