And Animals in Your Kitchen Cabinets!
Find them! Get them out of there. Get your kids to help! And you’ll discover a fun, cheap, visual training activity this summer. Inspiration is everywhere!
French artist Gilbert Legrand turned everyday household objects like a pump bottle (left), spigots, and shears, and into delightful people and animals – “rat spray”, “running water faucet”, and “scissor kissers” (titles, mine). Also here – funnel, hinge, brushes, pliers, ping pong paddle, skirt hanger.
Share these delightful pictures with 
the kids. Then take one of the objects you have gathered and ask the kids what it reminds them of. Slowly rotate the object or turn it upside-down (let the children do this, too) until the object suggests an animal or a person. Or the kids might simply trace the object on paper and rotate the paper until the outline suggests something real or fanciful to which they can then add details. 
This hidden animal and people activity helps young learners visualize animate objects in the inanimate. Elementary “How to Draw” books help kids recognize geometric shapes that form living things. Both approaches exercise mental flexibility and nurture creative thinking habits.
The educational take-away: everything is made up of pretty basic shapes. Wrap your head around this truth and you’ll possess one of the biggest secrets of effective seeing, drawing, and visual communication.
What creatures are lurking in your home?
