Arts & Creativity

Being an aunt to Gen Z kids is fun but challenging. I am a millennial and a 90s baby, meanwhile my niece and nephew are both under the age of 10 and yet they know more about social media, video games and technology than their parents, grandparents and even me! My niece is five years old and she can turn off a computer and work Microsoft teams better than me. My nephew tells me how to work a smart TV and he is nine. The two of them would either be focused on their video games, favorite Youtube channel(s) or wanting to take part in my Instagram account. I felt that it was hard to entertain them or find something that the three of us can do. That was until Covid hit 2020. My niece and nephew were bored so much that not even their video games or other technology/social media activities were able to keep them entertained. Within the first month of the pandemic, I had to find something to help keep them interested while babysitting them. It was a test, but I was able to help them have fun and bring out the creativity from within.

Chalk it Up!

Like I said, I needed to keep two children who grew up with technology. I wanted to make sure that while we were going through this difficult time, that they can still see beauty in the world but at the same time give them more of a variety. So I looked up activities for them. I saw Crayola Color Chalk. It was pretty, creative and something fun for them. I was not sure if they would like it, but I gave it a go. When I showed my niece and nephew the chalk, they were interested but at the same time confused. I showed them how to use it. We went outside into the backyard and they began to draw with the chalk on the ground. They made beautiful drawings. From the Golden Gate Bridge to princess castles and even Planet Earth. Their drawings were beautiful, colorful and unique. They would make new drawings everyday and intuitive ideas. We even made games using chalk. I drew hopscotch on the cement, my nephew made a long squiggly line where we would have to balance on it and my niece drew circles for the game “Lava”. Even though chalk can erase, the fun and the memories are forever.

Warning: Construction Paper ahead!

Back when I was a kid, I used to love drawing. However, I sucked at it. I figured, if I liked to draw when I was a kid, then maybe my niece and nephew would too. So, I bought construction paper. A lot of it. I also bought a big box of crayons and markers. Believe it or not, it kept them entertained. They drew and made a lot of pictures and during the summer break, I would give them an “assignment” and draw whatever they wanted. I drew flowers and butterflies. My nephew and niece drew a variety of things. The saddest was when my niece drew Earth smiling because it was “all better”. My nephew would draw Spongebob and Mario. It was one of the very few things that they did where they could spend literally hours doing and could stay quiet. Their creativity took over and made them focused. It is fun seeing their drawings and what they are thinking about. They began to draw so much that we bought them big notepads.

Paint the Town Red...or green, blue, etc.

While drawing is still my niece and nephew’s favorite thing to do, it can only go so far. Besides Amazon, Michael’s was a place that I became dependent on. The next thing that I found to entertain my niece and nephew was painting. We made a lot of paintings and one of the best things that we did, was paint the rocks in the yard. We made paintings of the sun, earth or ourselves on the rocks. Now the rocks in the yard are colorful, wacky and pretty.

Home Cooking

Cooking is sort of like art; you are creating something from your own making and showing it to others. I decided to do something creative and make desserts that had to do with the holidays. We made cookies that were shaped like Easter bunnies, 4th of July cupcakes, Halloween themed cake, etc. You name it, we made every dessert that had to do with a holiday.

Flower Power!

During the quarantine, something that made me appreciate nature more was flowers and gardens. We made and painted our own flower pots to grow things in. We were gardening fruits and vegetables and mae signs for the garden as well. It was fun indeed. We even picked flowers, grass and dandelions and glued them on paper and made designs out of them. It was unique. A planet Earth that was made of grass on blue construction paper or a butterfly with petals from flowers, this was something that made and brought beauty in a natural way,

Conclusion

Over the year, I spent the entire year trying to figure out how to entertain and spend time making memories with my niece and nephew. So many new and creative activities were done and are still playing a huge part in their recreational time. In a world of technology, we showed our artistic side and had fun doing it.