Every Thanksgiving, we like to focus on gratitude and Native Americans. We remind ourselves of the sacrifices made by Native Americans so that we can now live safely, freely, and comfortably in this country. We learn from Native Americans how to respect the earth and live in harmony with it. I also see Thanksgiving as an opportunity to share the truth and reality of the suffering of Native Americans in the past and present - I'm aware that it's an out of sight out of mind situation for most of us who live nowhere near reservations and have no contact with Native Americans. But the reality is Native Americans are at a much higher risk of living in poverty and having health problems than the average American. So in addition to our story today, I'm including some links at the bottom which can help you understand some of their biggest struggles and provide ways for you to help.

Who: Cardboard Mom Kids Crew (children 3-18yo)

What: Virtual Art Show

When: Artwork must be submitted by Saturday, 12/11; show will be Tuesday, 12/21 at 6pm EST

Where: www.cardboardmom.com, fb.me/CardboardMom, Cardboard Mom's Youtube Channel

Why: to raise money for Team Seas, a campaign led by YouTube personalities Mark Rober and Mr. Beast - for each $1 donated, 1 lb of trash will be removed from the ocean by The Ocean Cleanup and Ocean Conservancy (donations will be split evenly between the two organizations). Team Seas has a goal of raising $30 million by January 1, 2022. They've made it to $16 million and we want to help them go the distance!

How: A video slideshow of all artwork will be up on YouTube and a post with photos of artwork and artist bios will be posted here.

Lil C has always loved the ocean and has wanted to do something to help since she found out it's in trouble because of pollution and climate change. So when she learned about the Team Seas campaign, I knew it was a wonderful opportunity for her to make a difference. After a lot of brainstorming, we decided on hosting a virtual art show as a way to raise money and spread the word. If your child would like to participate in our art show, read on for all the details.

1. This art show is open to all children ages 3-18.

2. Create a new, original piece of artwork in any format (drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, digital art...) based on the theme "We Love the Ocean."

    - Artwork must adhere to the theme and be inspired by the ocean - can be realistic or fantasy (like mermaids or underwater citites)

    - Art must be completely the work of the artist (younger children may have minimal grownup assistance)

I came across an activity for drawing Harvest Skies in the style of Vincent Van Gogh on Crayola's website and I decided it would be the perfect inspiration for a little artist study. 

First we watched some videos to learn a little bit about Van Gogh.

"Katie and the Starry Night" by James Mayhew is an adorable story about a little girl who explores the paintings on Van Gogh really up close! It's a great introduction to several of Van Gogh's paintings.

To learn a little more about the artist himself, we enjoyed the short animated video, "Art with Mati and Dada: Van Gogh." 

Before we get into it, I have a little disclaimer that I'm sure I'll repeat with all our art lessons. When we learn about artists, we like to look at several of their pieces and learn about their methods, styles, and favorite themes. After that, I present the kids with an art activity that builds on those things. I give a few parameters to the project, but the important thing is that the kids get to create their own original piece of artwork inspired by what they have seen and learned. Replication is not the goal and there's no right or wrong way to make art. Also, I highly encourage you to get in on the art action with your kids!

Here were the parameters of our Van Gogh inspired landscapes:

1. Create a landscape - choose any outdoor setting you like

2. Use pencil to draw your large shapes (ex. horizon line, hills, mountains, trees...) then use oil pastels to color it in

3. (optional, depending on age) We noticed in the paintings that Van Gogh liked to use a lot of short strokes that came together to create a shape rather than carefully drawing the outline and filling it in. Color in your landscape using lots of short strokes and use various shades of color together.

I absolutely love how we all started with the same inspiration pieces and yet all of our landscapes ended up looking completely different!

Sunset on a Beach by Lil C, 9

Ocean Beachy by Squidgy, 5

Afternoon in the Yard by Cardboard Mom

This week's story is inspired by the Team Seas movement started by YouTube personalities Mark Rober and Mr. Beast. The massive fundraiser was launched on October 29th with the goal of raising $30 million to remove 30 million pounds of trash from the ocean by January 1, 2022. The duo teamed up with many other YouTubers to spread the message and it certainly worked - in a little over a week, they have already raised $13 million! 

Lil C and Squidgy learned about the movement while watching Aphmau's video promoting #TeamSeas and Lil C was immediately excited and wanted to help (she LOVES all things ocean, especially dolphins). In addition to donating $10 to #TeamSeas along with Squidgy, Lil C created a poster to help me spread the message!