Pots and Paints Helps Families Flex Artistic Muscles

We are always looking for sneaky ways to help our kids learn and practice skills while having a blast together. During the summer, this need kicks into high gear as we are also seeking reasons to get out of the house and make the most of our time as a family.

Recently my kids and I participated in a couple of great activities that not only provided hours of fun, but also engaged them in expressing their artistic sides and honing their fine motor skills. Wielding paintbrushes at Glazed and Confused and joining in the kids’ classes at the Missouri Botanical Gardens gave me a great opportunity to bond with my kids over some new experiences.

Pottery Painting

We joined friends on a Thursday evening to paint pottery at Glazed and Confused, located on Telegraph Road in Oakville. The staff was extremely kid-friendly and helpful, showing us how to get the best color results once our pottery pieces were fired in the kiln.

Not only did we have fun choosing our pottery and our paint palettes, but Glazed and Confused allows guests to bring in food, so we also enjoyed pizza during the painting session. We all had a great time laughing over our artistic efforts and were surprised how quickly time went by as we painted and visited.

The painting was great fun, and the staff’s help was outstanding, but I was most impressed with Glazed and Confused when we came to pick up our pottery. We stopped by one week later to retrieve our masterpieces, and our creations were nowhere to be found. The person who was looking for our pottery apologized thoroughly and said they would call me when the pieces were located.

Feeling a little overwhelmed at a second trip over to Glazed and Confused with my kids in tow, I uncharacteristically ventured to ask if they would consider giving me a discount on our next visit for our trouble. I expected that they might, at most, offer me a 10 percent discount, but thought it was worth a try. I was blown over when the associate gave me not only some coupons for a $1.00 studio fee, but also threw in a gift card.

We enjoyed painting pottery and have fun talking the hours away, and Glazed and Confused has earned our repeat business with their excellent handling of what could have been a very frustrating experience.

Art at the Garden

We have been members at the Missouri Botanical Garden for several years, but for the first time this spring, we took advantage of discounts offered on the children’s classes offered at the garden. Testing the water, I took my 6-year-old to a class in April where together we made a plant journal using recycled materials.

Once the journal was bound with twine, the class headed out to the gardens to draw various plant species and record information about the plants observed in their new journals. My son, who is not generally enthusiastic about drawing, is a stickler for details and we worked together to record both the common and the scientific name for each plant we observed. At the end of the class, each child potted their own succulent to take home.

More than two months later, Spiney Trace, as my son named his plant, is still alive and happy on his windowsill. He bounded out of the class, excited to show his dad his journal and his new plant friend.

After seeing how thrilled my son was with the class, I hurried to sign both him and his sister up for a watercolor painting class in June. My daughter, at the age of 4, announces to everyone she meets that she is going to be an artist and paints at our kitchen table on a daily basis, so I felt sure the class would be a hit.

The children started by experimenting with various paintbrushes dipped in water and brushed onto colored construction paper. The children were able to test which paintbrushes made wide strokes and which drew fine lines.

Next, each child was given a sand bucket containing a set of watercolors and two paintbrushes and the group was led out to the gardens to paint. The instructor gave the children guidelines for painting before we exited the main building and informed the group that the adults were required to paint alongside the children.

I had expected to enjoy watching my kids paint as we enjoyed the beauty of the garden together, but trying watercolors myself for the first time in about 20 years was a surprising bonus for me. For one thing, it was much harder than I expected to make the painting at all resemble the original. I was also surprised at how much fun I had trying.

More Information

Glazed and Confused has both day and evening hours. Guests each pay a flat studio fee of $5.00, and then choose pottery to paint, ranging in price from $4.00 to $39.00. Visit their website for information about specials and a full schedule of studio hours.

To sign up for a class at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, visit www.mobot.org and click on the Education link. Classes for children vary in price, but most start at around $18.00 and are generally offered on Saturday mornings.