Charlie, from Tewkesbury, introduced her son to the art of zentangling. If you are new to zentangling (we were!), then this article is for you! Let’s take a look at it…
What did you do?
My 5 year old is a fun ball of energy who rarely stops going. I love his enthusiasm for life but the endless jumping around the sofa can be slightly tiresome when I’m trying to read to him. It turns out the Famous Five is so exciting he has to bounce around everywhere.
To try and calm him down and relax down before bed, I introduced him to the art of Zentangling. This is structured doodling, filling shapes with different patterns. He has a special book, a special pen and he loves it. We read for over an hour two days ago because he loved it so much and the bonus is that all this drawing will be helping his fine motor skills.
Since then Tommy has become really obsessed with his doodle book but explained that sometimes he couldn’t think of what patterns to do. Consequently, we came up with this idea – Doodle challenge cards. On a set of small cards I’ve drawn lots of different patterns that I found on the internet. Then, each night or two Tommy will choose a card and his challenge is to include it in his drawing. Then, all the doodles he’s included are put into a coin pocket holder so he can see them. When he does his drawing he does his final doodle on one side of the page and uses the other side to practise his new doodles.
Secondly, whilst you are meant to draw Zentangles within a square, Tommy is more of a freestyler and enjoys drawing his own shape. Sometimes, to help him and ensure he focuses on the doodling, I’ll draw him a shape to start with.
Do you have any other projects planned?
My youngest, Freddie, has global and extensive brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation at birth. Because of this, he needs lots of therapy. Unfortunately, this can be very expensive. Therefore, I run an Instagram account giving cheap therapy ideas (@crafty_cow_therapy) for parents. At the moment it has been combined with some lockdown ideas for my oldest.
Tell the Housebound With Kids community a bit about yourself…
My name is Charlie and I live with my family in Tewkesbury in the UK. I have two children – Tommy who’s 5 and Freddie who’s 3. I am a primary school teacher but gave up a year and a half ago to look after Freddie and help him reach his potential.
Tommy loves obstacle courses and treasure hunts so I have been taking his home learning activities and turning them into games to inspire him.
How are you finding being housebound so far?
Initially I found it tricky and incredibly tiring. However, now, while there are still tricky days, we have our routine and there’s part of me that selfishly doesn’t want Tommy to go back to school. It certainly helps that I’m currently not working. My husband is a secondary Maths teacher and he is currently working harder than ever!
Do you have any tips for other parents?
That it’s important to get a balance between schoolwork and fun as currently, mental health and wellbeing is much more important than any other time. This is a fantastic opportunity for spending time with family and learning about real life. There are so many positives to take from this time together.
