Today I happened upon the Presidiacreative.com website where I found a number graphic design images that would appeal to children. (Click on the image sources to see larger versions of the artwork.)

The website itself is a great source for information about art and graphic design.

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Recently I happened upon three websites dedicated to toys for children made out of paper. What a windfall! One is a website dedicated to providing templates for paper toys of various shapes and sizes. The second site is dedicated to flatpack toys for printing and construction. …and finally one cannot forget about origami. Here is a website that provides unexpected topics for origami folding.

Wherever I am in the world, I am a keen pursuer of traditional toys. These websites provide the type of accessible and charming resources that warm my heart!

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There seems to be so much to say about the hedgehog. As a child living in Ireland, I was aware of hedgehogs and moles. They often appeared in children’s literature – in tales about animals living in quaint cottages. According to my young neighbours, a mole was rumoured to be living in their backyard. I recall that I marveled at the possibility.

I once came across a hedgehog sculpture in New Zealand and fell in love with it. If I ever decide to collect an animal figure, it will be a heated race between the owl and the hedgehog.

When I came across the Russian animated short film “The Hedgehog in the Fog”, I was positively charmed. As one writer said, it is hard to describe the beauty and magical feeling of this little film. Whether you’re a child or a child at heart, find a high speed connection, pop open the film to full screen and sit back for 9 minutes of pure delight!

In 2003 “Hedgehog in the Fog” won the “№1 Animated film of all the time” at the Laputa Animation Festival in Japan.

As you watch this 1975 film by Yuri Norstein, you start to wonder “what other Russian animated films are out there?” Following this line of thinking, I stumbled across other Slavic animators as well. I will follow up on more of these leads in another post.

Spring Melodies (1946 animated Russian film by Soyuzmultfilm)

Image: Hedgehog in the Fog – 1988 USSR stamp.

When a 1 1/2 year old child I know hears music being played, she goes close to the source and dances while twirling happily – oblivious to the world around her.

Another four year I know asked to see the Yo Yo Ma and the Mark Morris Dancer’s CD over and over again.

While working with students in a Montessori classroom, I enjoyed watching the children dance and twirl to world music with carefree abandon, using diaphanous scarves.

If you want to appreciate the beautiful and sensorial aspects of dance, bring a child to an evening performance and enable opportunities for dance.  The person who will learn the most in this situation will be the adult.

I was fortunate enough to see “Amelia” a few years ago in Vancouver. La La La Human Steps came to town recently to present their show Amjad.

For more videos, You Tube has a good collection of clips. This dance troupe’s multi-media presentations, along with their raw and sometimes explosive energy, and the slow building of tension towards the ending, is not to be missed. I have seen this troupe four times in Japan and Canada ,and each time the ending comes suddenly and too soon.

David Bowie and La La La Human Steps