Our favorite art space closed its doors this summer and left me wondering how I would be able to keep up with my kiddos need to paint, draw, color and do all things art while in our apartment and on bed rest for the last few months of my pregnancy. As I learned to navigate the world from home, I realized how much my kids loved receiving packages. The excitement of hearing the beep beep of the Amazon delivery guy at our door would send them running to help me open whatever was sent. Being on bed rest, I began looking into all the things I could get delivered to my home. That is when I realized how big the subscription box market is! We decided to try an art box from Outside the Box Creation.
Outside the Box Creation was intriguing to me because it came with a picture book that related to the art concepts to be learned that month. This made me super excited because the only thing my kids love more than art is when I read to them. The idea of building our reading library and having art memories connect with the reading definitely made the lesson more memorable. The art concepts introduced in each lesson also have more depth to them as the kids get to connect them to the story, see them in print, and create their own versions with the supplies provided. Outside the Box Creation worked for us because they are an approved Inspire vendor and have a family-sized box for families with multiple kiddos.
I was impressed with the first box we got because of the easy set up. They provided enough butcher paper to cover my coffee table. The kids were super excited to open the box, tape up the table and create. The whole process helped me get their attention without much effort or convincing. We divided up the supplies quickly and I was pleased to see that the instructions were pretty straightforward so there wasn’t much waiting around as I read the directions. I briefly reviewed the concept, read the story and off they went with their creations. Although I lost my coffee table for the rest of the day while they worked, I was excited to have an activity that they were interested in to work on for that long. By the time Dad got home, all of the paintings were dry and the butcher paper made it easy to pick up all the mess. More importantly, the kids LOVED the book. They read it over and over again and tried to replicate the illustrations. They had Dad convinced he needed to do art with them as well.
I never imagined I would be able to host a painting lesson in my living room with my kids, but this was more than possible. It was so easy that I extended my subscription for the next year. My family has since had two more boxes delivered. Each time we have completed the same set-up, create, and clean up routine which has made it even better than travelling outside the home to take the kids to classes with a new baby in tow.
-Laurie Gracia-Alikhan