Hackney Street Art Trail - COMPETITION now on!

Hackney is a treasure trove of #streetart masterpieces. From Shoreditch to Hackney Wick, London Fields to Clapton, the borough is awash with #artskicking gems.

My kiddos love this one by French artist Zabou off Broadway Market

For the next 3 weeks, I'm offering you the chance to win your very own StreetArt Beginners Kit. It's got everything you need to beautifully graffiti an imaginary city, while sitting at your table! Includes 20 city wall images to decorate, 2 differently style lettering sheets, 4 felt pens, and instructions.

All you have to do is this...

1. Take the kids* on a #streetart treasure hunt
2. Find and photograph your favourite #streetart
3. Pop your best pics on social media (Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Pinterest) using the #KickUpTheArts hashtag  

*your own, or someone else's - their parents will love you for it!

Closing date: March 17 (St. Patrick's Day)

May the best pic win!

You'll find plenty of inspiration HERE to get you started. In the meantime, I'll leave you to ponder this quote by the mysterious mister Banksy...

Now get your coats on and go kick some #arts ;)

Swoosh!
The Arts Crusader ⚡️


As ever... I'd love to hear your stories and suggestions, feel free to comment, to follow the Arts Crusade on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest and to give yourself a #KickUpTheArts

The most #ArtsKicking list of free stuff to do this half term. Boom!

It's all about #halfterm this week Crusaders and I'm giving you a daily #KickUpTheArts. One simple suggestion each day for STAYing local to Hackney, GOing further afield and DOing #artyfarty stuff with the kids you love at home.

All the activities are FREE unless otherwise stated. Yes really!

For the DO suggestions, if you haven't got paints, pens and papers on hand, pop into your local Tiger Store (Islington & Westfield) or Poundshop (Kingsland Road, Narrowway, Hoxton Market...) to stock up on some supplies. A tenner will see you through for the whole week if you do some advance planning.

This list is not just for parents - I'm hoping my sisters find it useful when I hand over my kids for "aunty time"... Please pass it on, share on FaceBook / Twitter / WherEver and let your mates know that I'll be giving all my fans n followers a right good #KickUpTheArts this #halfterm.

Scroll on down for the longest blogpost ever or click the dates to jump to the relevant day. Happy half term y'all! ⚡️

Saturday, February 13
Sunday, February 14 - Valentine's Day
Monday, February 15
Tuesday, February 16
Wednesday, February 17
Thursday, February 18
Friday, February 19
Saturday, February 20
Sunday, February 21

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Saturday, Feb 13

STAY: It's BookSwap Day at the Geffrye Museum. Get the kids to do a clearout and head on down for some swappage. Also at the Discover Story Centre in Stratford, but I reckon that one's gonna be bizzzeeeeee...

Alternatively, engage in some imaginative fun at The Institute of Imagination's very first festival on all this weekend at Chat's Palace.

GO: It's Saturday, transport'll be a nightmare! There's SO much do do locally today, I recommend staying right here in #Hackney. Innit.

DO:Make windmills. Or do it with others at The Old Church in Stoke Newington from 2-4pm today.
 

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Sunday, February 14 - Valentine's Day!

STAY: Swing by Sutton House for a dose of local culture and there's a musical performance at 3pm. One does not need to be posh to participate.

GO: God's Own Junkyard. I cannot think of a better place to celebrate V Day. Read about our visit here.

DO: Loo Roll Heart Prints. Aw!

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Monday, February 15

STAY:Dalston's Eastern Curve Garden has free artist led activities in the greenhouse every afternoon this week. Drop in, donations optional.

GO:"Drawing on Childhood" at The Foundling Museum near Russell Square is truly lovely.This exhibition brings together the work of major illustrators from the eighteenth century to the present day, who have created powerful images of characters in fiction who are orphaned, adopted, fostered or found. It's also inspired in no small part by Hackney resident Lemn Sissay, poet, University Chancellor and champion of kids in care.

DO: Get out the paints and let the kids freestyle.

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Tuesday, Feb 16

STAY: Take a stroll around your neighbourhood and try to find as many #streetart works as you can. It's like a #streeart museum round here! Post a pic with the hashtag #KickUpTheArts and be in with a chance to win your very own beginners #streetart kit. Inspiration and more details here.

GO: One of Hackney finest streetartist's, Zabou, has spent this week painting a mural at the Saatchi Gallery. It's now on display in the gift shop and there are limited edition signed prints on sale. Champagne Life is a brilliant exhibition for kids too. And there are "Create Your Own Creature" workshops today aswell. AND it's all FREEEEEE!

DO: Make oil pastel drawings. With oil pastels, oil and cottonbuds. They're lovely.

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Wednesday, February 17

STAY: Older kids (14+) can try filmmaking at Hoxton Hall, or book in for the 2 day circus workshop for ages 7+, starting tomorrow.

GO:Go try something at the Southbank Centre. There is LOADS of stuff going on as part of their annual Imagine Children's Festival. While you're there, you might like to do this costume making workshop at The National Theatre (£5 for adults, £3 per child)

DO: Get a packet of blow pens for £3 from your nearest Tiger Store and prepare to be blown away by the craic you will have making art. Brillexcellent.

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Thursday, February 18

STAY:It's play-doh fun all week (for all ages) at The V & A Museum of Childhood. Sessions from 10.15. BOOK IN ADVANCE! £5 per child for the workshops, museum entry is free.

GO: There's half term fun (on Wednesday too) and ace under 5s play area at the Ragged School Museum from 11-5pm. You could even walk along the canal (towards Mile End Park) if the weather's nice.

DO: Make your own playdoh. We did. It was ace.

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Friday, February 19

STAY:If you're not already at the Circus Workshop, there's Wildlife Arts and Crafts at Victoria Park today. Drop in, no need to book.

GO: Do you dare to venture west to Da Vinci at The Science Museum? It's £10 for adults / £8 concessions but there's also SO much to do in the museum itself, which is FREE. I am reliably informed that if you're bringing under 5s you should also bring a change of clothes...

Or cross the river to Greenwich to catch the end of Rainbow Week at the National Maritime Museum. #LGBT family activities and lots about Samuel Pepys here at the moment too, great for Year 1/2 kids to get a head start on their Great Fire of London learning. Pushy, me?? ;)

DO: Crayon Marker Resist Anyone remember this? Easy peasy magic fun.

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Saturday, February 20

STAY: Head to the St. Joseph's Hospice giant Jumble Sale (10 - 1pm) and pick up stuff to get all creative with. If you have not been to one of these, you have not really lived. It's bargain central and some real Hackney characters abound!

GO: Get dressed up for an Alice In Wonderland adventure at the British Museum. The exhibition itself is wonderful and it's free too.

DO: Give the kids a go on the computer / your phone (if they're anything like mine they will LOVE you for this) and let them watch this American Dad, Rob, and his kids who have some ace videos or set them loose at Tate Kids Create, another brilliexcellent site where kids can learn about artists, techniques and other fun stuff.

There's a brilliant list of youtube channels here that is worth saving if your kids love the internet (includes online safety tips ;) )

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Sunday, February 21

Even God did nothing on this day ;)

Well done to you if you manage to give the kids you love a #KickUpTheArts this holiday. It's bloomin' tough. But it is so important that their creativity is nurtured.

Have a good one.

Swoosh!
The Arts Crusader⚡️

P.S. I'd love to hear your stories and suggestions, feel free to comment, to follow the Arts Crusade on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest and to give yourself a #KickUpTheArts

P.P.S. I love this quote, so I'm just leaving it here. (image via The Artful Parent)

The wonderful wonders of Walthamstow...

This week's #KickUpTheArts was inspired by my new friend Lady Chingford, who rules her domain in Jimmy Choos. This brilliexcellent blogger led us to Walthamstow and the wonderful worlds of Bob & Roberta Smith, William Morris and Chris Bracey - #ArtsCrusaders extraordinaire.

The William Morris Gallery is a real gem - a proper child-friendly gallery without impinging on grown-ups' enjoyment of the works on display. A fifteen-minute hilly walk (or 5 minute bus ride) from Walthamstow Central station, it's been hosting Bob & Roberta Smith's exhibition, "Art is Your Human Right" and I'm so glad we caught it before it closed last weekend.

Enraged by the Government’s downgrading of art in schools, the artist Patrick Brill (aka Bob & Roberta Smith) decided to fight back. This exhibition follows his campaigns; from his furious painting, Letter to Michael Gove, to the launch of the Art Party and his attempt to be elected to parliament in 2015.

The exhibition was great for the Girlchild, she got to send a postcard to London's future Mayor, stand on a soapbox, hold a picket and let off some steam.

For me, I loved seeing the realisation dawn for her that yes, art IS important and YES, she and her friends should be doing more of it in school. It's not just her #dementedmum banging on about it, real people do it too!

It simply couldn't have been a more apt exhibition for us to visit as part of this #ArtsCrusade.

We also discovered that William Morris was "amazeballs" - designer, printer, bookmaker, philanthropist, conservationist, socialist, artsncraftcrusader, was there anything he couldn't turn his hand to?

The gallery is really hands on for kids, there was a queue in the corner where you get to lay out paper against 2 mirrors set at 90 degree angles to create a repeating pattern using stencils. Sounds complicated, but we're gonna fangle our own and do it as one of our after school craft activities. She did some weaving and stained glass making and we shared a most delicious pie.

We loved the whole experience and left feeling 'bobtimistic'.

Arts Crusader Rating ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

Up one hill and over another, we came upon a mini Stratford Upon Avon - tudor houses, a church and a cemetery perched looking down on the village, who knew such olde worlde wonders existed in Walthamstow? Worth a trip for this alone!

Next up and the highlight of our #ArtsCrusade so far, was the glorious, glittering God's Own Junkyard - "where neon never dies" - an absolute feast for the senses.

Before he passed away in November 2014, artist Chris Bracey resurrected and repaired neon and bulb lights, from movie sets, fairgrounds and far flung places. He created pieces for artists including Martin Creed and brands looking for something quirky and beautiful. He obviously loved his work because it SINGS!

We were gobsmacked. The Girlchild's chin hit the floor. She and her friend spent an hour taking photos and the staff were firm but brilliantly good humoured about having the grownups keep an eye out in case of accidents.

There's a cafe-bar on site serving delicious homemade cakes and a fine selection of beverages. With a gin-palace on one side and a brewery on the other, adults (with or without kids in tow) really have all bases covered, so GET YOURSELF DOWN HERE QUICKSMART. Thank you Chris Bracey for this inspirational place.

Arts Crusader Rating ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️+ ⚡️

Lesson learned from this week's #KickUpTheArts? My kids are the lights of my life (did I really say that???). I want them to grow up confident, happy, open to new experiences and free to express themselves. Exposure to arts and culture from the earliest stages will help make this happen. We need more art in schools. Art makes people powerful.

Art. Makes ya smart.

Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone and go all the way to Walthamstow to remind yourself of that ;)

Swoosh!
The Arts Crusader ⚡️

P.S. I'd love to hear your stories and suggestions, feel free to comment, to follow the Arts Crusade on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest and to give yourself a #KickUpTheArts 

The Jackson's Pollocks. After school activities to give you a #KickUpTheArts.

With this wonderful quote in mind, this week I'm giving hoping to give you a #KickUpTheArts with some easy peasy, cheap, artyfarty activities to do at home. At Arts Crusade HQ, we've been doing one thing a week and it's been brilliexcellent. Here are some of our highlights, there's loads more fun activities and inspiration on pinterest.
 

Melty Crayons - "The Jackson's Pollocks"

It was Mr. Pollock's birthday this week, so we did this one in his honour.

 Materials:
⚡️Box of crayons (£1, Poundland)
⚡️Heavy paper or card - it needs to be heavier than average to absorb the oil (£1 or recycle old stuff)
⚡️Hairdryer - borrow someone else's if you don't have one of these...
⚡️Cotton buds - optional

Method:
1. Peel the crayons
2. Stick some crayons to a piece of paper. Stick the paper on the wall / chair / box. BLOW!
3. Watch the crayons melt and drop their gorgeous colours creating magnificent, warm, artwork...
4. Squish the melty crayon nubs onto paper to create Jackson Pollack style art. You can also achieve Jackson Pollock style by not using a nozzle on your dryer and using the highest wind setting...
5. Hang art on wall and see the kids feel well proud.

Total distraction time: 90 minutes 

What the kids learned: "Is this what artists do all day??? I'm definitely being an artist then." Nuff said.

What I learned: Hairdryer without nozzle creates wax splashes in the weirdest places. And a #KickUpTheArts is very good therapy for adults prone to OCD (that would be me...)

#KickUpTheArts rating: ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

DIY giftwrap - "Wrapping with my homies"

With birthdays happening every weekend this month, we decided to stock up on our own wrapping paper.

Materials:
⚡️Roll of brown paper (£1 in the poundshop, or just recycle anything you have left around)
⚡️Markers, crayons, colouring pencils (found in most houses were smallies reside)
⚡️Tape and scissors (as above)

iPhone camera at the ready and here's what happened...

Total distraction time: 40 minutes
What the kids learned: It's fun to make n do
What I learned: I will never buy wrapping paper or birthday cards again. Instead, I will spend that money on shoes. Or chocolate. Or both.

#KickUpTheArts rating: ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

Airy Fairy Play Dough

Materials:
⚡️Bottle of hair conditioner - strawberry scented (£1 in Poundland)
⚡️Box of Cornflour (£1.79, corner shop)
⚡️Food Colouring (dregs of what's left in the cupboard) & Glitter (if you have it)
⚡️Bowl, spoon, rolling pin (a bottle or mug will do), dough cutters, forks, eggcups, the possibilities are endless....

Method:
1. Squeeze all the conditioner into the bowl - FUN!
2. Add the Cornflour - POOF!
3. Mix - WHEEEEE!
4. Drop in some food colouring (glitter would also be most excellent) - OOOOH!
5. Mix again - AAAAHHH...
6. Knead, knead, knead - OH YEAH
7. Play - YAY!

Total distraction time: 90 minutes (plus extra - you keep the dough in the fridge and they can play again)

What the kids learned: Play dough is squishy. Cornflour feels like "an angel's bum". It's good to get messy.
What I learned: As above, plus... Messy play is bad for the kitchen but very good for the mind.

#KickUpTheArts rating: ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️


Yes, I know they ALL get a 5 flash rating, but it's just because it's so much fun, good for the soul and good for the kids to do this stuff. If we encourage their creativity now, hopefully they'll maintain it as they go through life.

I'd love to hear your stories and suggestions, feel free to comment, to follow the Arts Crusade on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest and to give yourself a #KickUpTheArts.

Swoosh!
The Arts Crusader ⚡️

"Off to Neverland!" - our right royal adventure...

My sister - the Actress - got my daughter - the Girlchild - a most delightful Christmas present. A ticket to "Wendy & Peter Pan" at the RSC in Stratford. My sister - the Actress - having spent lots of money on said ticket, couldn't afford to actually get there... So I stumped up for 2 more tickets, grabbed the elder Boychild, and off we drove last Saturday to the RSC in Stratford upon Avon. Dahling.

Us lot (raggle taggle gypsies). To the Royal Shakespeare Company. I had so many preconceptions, including that it would be:

1. Rrrrroyal
2. Posh
3. Stuffy
4. Expensive 
5. Serious
6. Intimidating. VERY.  
7. Not the kind of place for me
8. Definitely not the place for kids

I was wrong.

But not on all counts, so let's get this out of the way first - it's expensive. It really is. And it's expensive to get to Stratford Upon Avon too (consider car pooling or booking a streetcar - trains from London are ridiculous). Ticketwise, based on advice from the Actress, ALWAYS CALL THE BOX OFFICE to find the best deals. Box office staff are often actors themselves, who know how to find the best deals, they'll be able to tell you what's available, the best seats for the lowest price, offers available etc. 

And so to the theatah. Oh, the theatah dahlings!

From the moment we walked in, we were swept up in the buzz. It's obvious that everyone's made a right royal effort to be there, it's a special day out, people don their Sunday best and the atmosphere is electric. The staff certainly seem to love their work, all smiles and twinkly eyed. Everyone - from the girl who gave us booster seats for the kids, to the man in the gift shop who complimented my 5 year old on his sword skills - was ace. They're proud to be there. Admittedly they were rather posh, but most definitely NOT stuffy ;) There's also a dressy up corner of the kids, a lovely cafe, a wishing fountain and a fabulous interactive exhibition space: FUN FUN FUN!
As we took our seats in the theatre itself, we were already entranced. It's basically a new take on Shakespeare's original Globe theatre, with seats up the walls and a round space for the stage. The sets are like what I would imagine Disney movie sets to be - obviously no expense is spared, everything is the best of the best and the detail is astonishing. (We spotted a tiny baby with it's head out of the upstairs window of the doll's house and a the Darling childrens' measurements drawn on the wall.)

It felt like we were IN the nursery with Wendy, Michael, John and their little brother Tom (a new addition to the cast of Darlings in this brilliant revision of JM Barrie's original Peter Pan, by playwright Ella Hickson). Myself, the Actress and the Boychild were in tears 5 minutes in and our "faces were raining" for the rest of the 2 and a half hour performance - with tears and laughter and every emotion in between. (Girlchild held it together surprisingly well, but she did squeeze my hand quite a lot and stood up to clap to bring Tink back to life...)

The story itself is really true to, but (in my opinion) better than, the original, totally in tune with modern audiences and just the kind of message I want my kids to be receiving. Smee's dappy for Hook, Wendy discovers she's a brave and capable leader, Mrs Darling is a sufragette(!), Tinkerbell's all 'uggable 'oxton in a tutu, Hook is off the hook - but the kids really couldn't pick a single favourite. This is top quality entertainment, the best of the best in everything from performance, to design, to music and production.

After the show, we hit the jackpot and got to meet Wendy, (Mariah Gale, friend of the Actress) and then go backstage with Smee (Paul Kemp, friend of the Actress). There are no words - the pictures speak for themselves....

Boychild has been playing "Wendy" ever since - the dough hook from my mixer commandeered along with a rather fetching leather coat of mine that I may never retrieve... Girlchild has been keeping tightlipped but says she has started writing her first play. Watch this space...

So, here's another list for you, based on direct experience this time. Taking kids to the theatre:

1. Sparks their imagination
2. Fills them with new ideas
3. Broadens their horizons

Of all of this I have no doubt. I hope our #artscrusade might inspire you to do something #artyfarty with the kids you love. (Don't forget you can find inspiration for your own crusade on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter) With all the pressures on our teachers and the ever increasing focus on "core subjects" in our curriculum, these kind of opportunities to engage with the arts are getting fewer and fewer for kids. It's up to us to make sure they get their dose of culture and #artyfarty goodness. It's life enhancing.

Our day at the RSC will be etched in my memory - and in my childrens' - forever. It was worth every penny and the Actress, the Girlchild, the Boychild and I are going to make it an annual outing.

Swoosh!

The Arts Crusader

#culturematters #artmakesyasmart

Museum Trip - "nobody puts baby in the corner!"

My littlest sidekick has just turned 1 and he really doesn't get a look in when it comes to family activities, days out, or anything much in fact :(.  But this week, I took camp counsellor Johnny Castle's message to heart, released baby from his corner and set off to Tate Modern.

I had no plan, the mission was simple: get out of the house and do something #artyfarty.

Bubs was whingy, moany and windy. Things did not bode well. But on arrival he was mesmerised by the turbine hall, staring at the roof from his buggy, taking in the vastness of the space. It's such an amazing building, the entrance experience alone is worth the trip. Check out the stairs: in the week that's in it, when the world bade farewell to it's "Starman" David Bowie, I wondered if his stairway to heaven looked anything like this...

We came across the Bloomberg interactive art wall in the Clore Learning Centre in the basement (after the first trip to the nappy change...). It's this beautiful, tactile, glowing, radiant rectangle of screens, with a timeline of art and artists from 1900 to the present. You touch a name, it expands to give pictures and info on the artists. We were spellbound. Take a look (and if the quality is crap, take a look over on Instagram):

 

"I've. Had. The time of my liiiiiife.... ;)"

 

There was another little guy there, must've been 4, the giggles were infectious and he ended up actually wetting himself he was having so much fun :). He was asking his dad questions, "why is Jackson Pollock an artist? Its only scribbles." It just goes to show, you are NEVER to young to appreciate art ⚡️.

So, top marks to Tate for this amazing, utterly mesmerising and brilliexcellent resource. We will be back with the bigger kids as soon as we can.

After an hour at the wall, bubs went for a snooze and we got to check out The World Goes Pop exhibition on the third floor. Thankfully I now have a student card, so I got concession tickets - it ain't cheap £16 a pop! (forgive ;))

Colourful and thought provoking, it gives a really comprehensive snapshot of what was happening in the world in the 60s and early 70s as the pop movement was born and then exploded.

The exhibition (on till Jan 24) made me feel that art really does connect us all in ways we don't often have the chance to contemplate. It's so important that we nurture our kids' creativity, because it will give them the skills they need to make sense of their world and to express themselves within it.

This has been a good week for the arts crusade, I now have over 140 followers on twitter and over 100 on Facebook. Instagram is coming along nicely too, so I hope that in another few weeks we'll have people actually posting their #artyfarty pics. Baby steps 'n' all, and every single one of your likes, shares, follows and real life telling people is really important and MUCH APPRECIATED.

Tomorrow it's back to the theatre and this time we're going dead posh - the brilliexcellent Aunty Niecey's taking us to Wendy and Peter Pan at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Dahling!  I'll keep you posted.

Swoosh! 
The Arts Crusader ⚡️

This year, I'm getting all #artfarty with the kids

So, it's 2016 and the Arts Crusade is on. 

Our first family cultural outing of the year was to the panto at the Hackney Empire. What a blast. Colourful, funny, clever, spectacular at times and the kiddos loved it too.

Next up was something more challenging - The Nutcracker, by the English National Ballet at London's Coliseum. I booked our tickets a couple of weeks before Christmas, when I got wind of the FREE child places from a friend. For two days of each year, kids go free to the ballet - brilliexcellent! (I'll keep you posted on facebook and twitter, please let me know if you hear of any deals I can pass on.)

Our kids are 7, 5 and 1 and the older ones are up for the IDEA of going to theatres and museums, but in reality, they can get bored really quickly and then it all kicks off.

So it was with some trepidation that we set off to the ballet - making it out of the house with clean clothes, faces and hands was a major achievement let me tell you. Don't know what I was more nervous about - the three kids having a meltdown or the fact that it was hubby's first time at the ballet too...

En route, I summarised the story of The Nutcracker and explained that there would be no singing or speaking, just music and dancing. By the way, I think this was crucial preparation - my 5 year old would've cracked up (not in a funny way) if he hadn't been forewarned...

The staff at the Colliseum couldn't have been nicer, they were so well prepared for the onslaught of boisterous children and stressed out grownups. When babies got antsy, they had no problem with them having a supervised crawl, allowing everyone to stay in the theatre or come and go quietly throughout the whole performance.

The theatre itself was magical, the costumes were stunning, the story was (kind of) followable, the dancing was spellbinding and the music, oh, the music! 

 Afterwards, we asked the kids which they preferred - panto or ballet? They both said panto. But as soon as we walked through the front door, it was on with the tights, ballet pumps and Classic FM (LOUD) and they danced through dinner, till bedtime. Edie wants to go to the Royal Ballet School and Oisin is coming home from school this evening to build a stage curtain in the living room. It was so blinking inspirational. (Watch the video on the facebook page)

I guess that's it. When children see and hear beautiful, classical, gorgeous things, it makes them aspire to be free, to learn, to be even more special than they already are.

Next up, a museum trip. I'll keep you posted.
Swoosh!
The Arts Crusader