Growth Tools
Written by OMSHt: craft, Hopeful, Inspiring, OMSH, photos 17 Comments
I grew up the daughter of an office supplies salesman. I think it is quite possibly the best position, as far as being a daughter is concerned. My Daddy would bring home boxes upon boxes of map pencils, post-its, binders, markers, highlighters, scissors, staplers, paperclips, pens and anything else you can imagine filling a desk drawer.
My kids are growing up with a pyschologist for a Daddy, and he doesn’t bring home his work, nor are his freebies necessarily useful for kids. However, their momma has a car and there is an Office Depot in town, so we’re good to go.
When you are 5, 7 and 11 there are only a few tools to your trade…
I believe it is more than a little bit important to keep mine stocked. I imagine the CEO of Crayola himself will greet me one day and thank me personally for providing the income for 1.2 families.
IN OTHER WORDS, I BUY A LOT OF CRAYOLA PRODUCTS.
And not just for me and mine either. I give them as gifts. How much more perfect a gift can a child (or parent, for that matter) receive than a bin full of art and craft supplies?
Talk about FREEDOM. Imaginations loosed.
Transformers? Meh. I’ll show YOU more than meets the eye!
Star Wars? Nah. Darth Vader ain’t your father.
I want my kids to unpack their minds all on their own. Googly eyes, glue, markers and scissors can become anything – anything at all.
More than once we’ve used art supplies to work through issues with our kiddos. We ask them to draw how they feel…Draw me what scares you. Draw me what excites you.
As they get older the illustrations are punctuated with words, and then, a bit older, the illustrations are a sidebar to the dialogue. Map pencils replace markers and journals replace manilla paper.
And though I miss the squiggly one-eyed humans with their over-sized heads and uneven stick legs, a new dimension emerges and I’m so very grateful to watch the little person grow.
It all starts with the first pack of crayons – the first sheet of paper – the initial freedom to color, draw, write and make believe.
Positioned at Emelie’s desk, Kenny colors while Em talks with a friend that came home with us from school.
“What are you drawing right now Kenny?”
“Love”
“Love?”
“Yes. Mommy, this one is for you, because I love you.”
My heart implodes from the sweet pressure of his love picture.
I think I’ll probably remember drawings like this when I see his signature one day as a man – on a Mother’s Day card or maybe a birthday or other holiday.
And I’ll promptly go out and buy a few more packs of supplies for my grandkids.
February 27th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Man, when I was little we had reams and reams of paper that my parents got from somewhere… It already had stuff on the back, but we could use as much of it as we wanted to. It was heaven.
February 27th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
I responded over at Flickr, but I really want you to know how much my heart leapt at the photo of the art/craft supplies. Love that photo! I think you’re so right about the importance of turning kids loose with a box of crayons/markers/colored pencils and a stack of paper.
This post makes me happy.
February 27th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I love the way you think!
February 27th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
There is nothing more beautiful than the art of a child!! I should take photos of my bathroom mirror and post them for the world to enjoy. To some they may be nothing more than lines and marks that should not be there but to me they are art, especially considering they were put there by a 13 month old and they were created with Crayola Water Crayons!! While he doesn’t quiet understand the concept of putting marker/pen to paper, he sure does understand that taking that pretty color and dragging it across the mirror leaves a pretty mark that his Nana loves.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
One of my earliest memories is of playing “office” on our glassed-in back porch with leftover checks, check registers, and office supplies my mom gave me. I couldn’t have been more than about 3 years old. I’ve had a long love affair with office supplies and have to forcibly restrain myself to not buy yet MORE post-its, pens, etc. for myself. Yet I do not hesitate to buy my children color books, construction paper, glue sticks, fancy scissors and such. I wholeheartedly agree with your philosophy. Craft stuff is something that produces something different everytime a child opens the box versus some ol’ one-function toy that they tire of within 10 minutes.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
OMSH, we were truly separated at birth–and you got the cooler hair.
I adore office supplies, and so do the kids. Need a quick birthday gift? Nothing tops a new clipboard with the kid’s name Sharpied on in fancy writing, fresh white paper to draw on, a couple of mechanical pencils and spare leads, and a box of colored pencils-eraser-sharpener or a box of crayons. Or, a “car art kit” with the goodies in a zip pencil case, 3-hole punched paper, and one of those 3-ring binders with the insertable covers.
Three things I’ve discovered about crayons and humanity:
1: I need crayons. I don’t like to color with them, but owning a box of 96 crayons arranged in chromatic order, and taking them out to look at them now and then, makes me feel very calm, rich, and happy.
2: Toddlers snap crayons into little bits.
3: Why they do this is a mystery my mother recently explained. She admitted that the reason our childhood crayon tote was so afflicted with broken crayons is that when she was feeling really frustrated or cranky or overwhelmed, she’d sneak into our crayon tote and snap crayons til she felt better. “They make a really crisp SNAP sound, and it’s very calming. I figured it was a better idea than losing my mind.”
To the toy aisle, I say PLEH. Give us the art and office aisles, and we are happy.
February 27th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
You are right, a bin of markers, glitter glue, googly eyes, and other assorted art supplies is one of the best gifts to give a kid, boy or girl. 😉 I am quite impressed at Kenny’s drawing skills! He is really good for a 5-year-old. But since he’s had easy access to art supplies his whole life, that’s not surprising.
February 27th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
I love Crayola! One time Kaylie ate some silly putty (she was 5! What 5-year-old eats silly putty?) and I called them to see if it was toxic. They said it was not, and they felt so bad that they sent her a giant package of sweet, expensive Crayola products.
I loved them before, I love them even more now.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
We truly have been blessed with children who love and adore artwork…and they are so darn sweet and sincere with their creations (which are often award winning at school).
Regarding the love of office products…it’s in ALL their genes (thanks Poppa Ken!).
February 27th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
seven – I had a girlfriend whose father was in the computer business. He had those huge reams of printer paper – remember when they had the perforated sides and were dragged along by little balls (so there were holes along the perforated edges)? The front was light green and a vanilla color – alternated; we colored on the back though. I loved going over there to color on those loooooooooong sheets of paper.
Liz Holmes – Well, of course I had to send it to you. Any of my photos that makes a heart leap is such a compliment!
Maggie – Thanks. 🙂
Linda – I think that is excellent. We’ll have to do that one day – color the mirror for daddy for when he gets home!
Kater – ME TOO! I loved all that – and oh my goodness, when my parents would go up to the store for inventory…I would be in heaven. I sat at the front desk register and went crazy with pens and calculators and alligator clips (I LOVE ALLIGATOR CLIPS.)
Liz C. – In my garage, at this moment, are two large plastic pins of snapped crayons. TWO. We’re going to make shaped crayons with them when we collect enough more to actually make a good size batch – so we can give the away!
bethany actually – heh heh … Kenny has been drawing since very early. He attended our homeschool and tried to copy everything the girls did. I’ve always been amazed at his drawings. Those lefties! 🙂
Mrs. Wilson – OH WOW! That was very nice of them. I just love the way their crayons “feel” – and even though I think they are a tad waxier than they were when I was young (am I imagining that?), they are still the best, imo.
Mr. OMSH – I couldn’t agree with you more!
February 28th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Great post! I didn’t see any twistables in that stash. Dude twistables are a must! MommyKnows!
February 28th, 2008 at 3:11 am
I agree with mommyknows. Twistables are really great in the car. They’re like a mechanical pencil that’s a crayon. But they are not the best for superfine detail due to the thickness of them, otherwise they totally rock.
Every year when school starts and crayons are ten cents a box I buy as many as I can, whether I need them at the time or not, because we all know that sooner rather than later I WILL need those.
I have my own stash of crayons, a box of 96 and a box of crayons named after the states, they are mine and the girls are not allowed to touch them. I gave up my box of 120 and have never found another one since. *sigh* I miss it. I also have my own stack of coloring books. I know I’m greedy but in my defense I’ve had them since high school.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:45 am
The photo of the colored pencils is inspired.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:24 am
My Dad was a golf professional, brought home clubs and golf balls! My husband and I own a children’s art studio and teach the fundamentals of drawing & painting and also allow the kids to be creative and being expressive. A great place for supplies is Dick Blick. You can order on-line and they have great prices and a great selection, we buy all our supplies from them, including paper, and my husbands art supplies. Great projects for kids at home too. There is nothing greater than seeing a child create and use their imagination. Me and my husband and both left handed…just like Kenny!!!!! You can see our studio at http://www.artworksstudio.org. On another note – found your blog through citizen of the month and I just loved the post Neil did about fried squirrel.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Oh dear lady… We are kin at heart. My daddy wishes he had been in sales for an office supplies company because his little girl was always in need of more paper and more crayons or pens and markers and pencils. And if you pull out the drawers and open the cabinets and peek into the boxes under the beds around this house? You’ll see I’m still the same way.
And I passed that along to the daughter, too. Your beautiful children are learning the tools of life in their creations! What a lovely celebration!
February 29th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
I don’t allow myself to wander the stationery aisle like I used to. Pre-kids it once took me and hour in a Longs drug store to buy a pen. Can you believe the guy shopping with me married me? I’ve tried to reform, but it’s hard.
Your first photo reminded me of the first (and only) time I turned my attention to the baby and left the toddler alone with crayons. Oops. To his credit he decided that blue didn’t taste as good as it looked so he didn’t seem to swallow the giant bite he took.
Your second photo reminds me of a “mom” tattoo. Ya know, the kind a loving son would get. Hee hee! 😉
May 18th, 2010 at 10:16 am
[…] Yesterday, I talked about a healthy freedom of expression our kids can experience just by gifting them with art supplies. Paper, pencils, markers, crayons, scissors, glue and a toss-up of other crafting items crawl from lines and blobs to detailed drawings. One day you’re saying “Ooooh, I love this! Can you tell me about it?” and the next day you’re staring at their creation and marveling over how they’ve advanced so quickly. […]