The Artful Year: Celebrating the Seasons and Holidays with Crafts and Recipes--Over 175 Family- Friendly Activities

by Jean Van't Hul

Winner of the 2015 Parent's Choice Award

From the author of The Artful Parent --a year's worth of art projects, seasonal activities, and recipes for simple, family-friendly crafting through the seasons and holidays.

     Celebrating the seasons and holidays is a wonderful opportunity to embrace creativity together as a family. It's also a fun way to decorate, prepare for, and learn about the holidays we celebrate. In The Artful Year, you'll find art activites, crafts, recipes, and more to help make each season special. By doing so, your family will create memories and mementos, you'll develop creative growth in your children and yourself, and you'll have lots of fun! The book

   • Arts and crafts, using the materials, colors, and themes of the season
   • Decorations to make as a family
   • Favorite seasonal recipes that are fun for children to help make (and eat)
   • Ideas for celebrating the holidays together
   • Suggested reading lists of children's picture books about the seasons and holidays

The Artful Year is a fun and active resource for crafting and celebrating around the year!

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Art, Crafts, Cookbooks, Cooking, Childrens

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 3, 2015

About the author

Jean Van’t Hul is an author, entrepreneur, and coach with over two decades of experience in making and harnessing the power of vision boards to achieve goals and make desired life changes. Her dedication to understanding how to build the bridge between a dream and a tangible outcome has inspired her own life-long quest and work. 

Passionate about helping people manifest their dreams, Jean’s mission is to help individuals unlock their full potential and lead a fulfilling life with purpose, authenticity, and abundance. She shares her knowledge, ideas, and processes through workshops, coaching, and writing at LifeDreamery.com. 

In addition, Jean is the founder of The Artful Parent website and an award-winning author of several books on children's art and creativity, seasonal crafts, and family fun. 

Jean lives in Asheville, North Carolina with her partner and daughters.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS. Some nice ideas here. I would say focus is primarily kindergarten thru early elementary. Too many recipes for me, but maybe if I could eat more of them I would be more enthusiastic. I’m disappointed that not all of the crafts have accompanying photographs. I do enjoy the seasonal theme and adapting crafts to different seasons. It’s got some lovely ideas and I appreciate the recommendations for seasonal picture books and other recommended reading as well as the Resources suggestions in the back. Recommended if you can get it from the library. Otherwise, if you need some guidance for art for your kids, get her other book “The Artful Parent” instead.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot in here for those who work with younger kids - up through elementary school. However, there are a lot of ideas that start feeling repetitive, only tailored for different seasons. For areas that don't have such distinct seasons, or for areas where you can't just 'go for a walk in the woods' whenever you want, it's a little more challenging at some points. Honestly, there's probably more on Pinterest (including ideas from the author's own blog) which you can tailor for your own kids more easily. So check online - especially if you can't find a copy of this at your library. Otherwise, it's a pretty expensive book for what it contains.

[Syntha Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plenty of crafts that can be done in a library setting and the recipes included look divine.

[Sue Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book to have on the shelf and browse for ideas as the year goes by.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. It is very good book for parents who want to do some fun, crafty and foodie things with their young children (probably geared toward ages 2 to 10). Some of the crafts are very basic which are great for the younger crowd. The instructions are clear and the photographs give the reader a good idea as to what the craft should resemble. Most of the crafts can be done with items that are on hand or can easily be found in most stores. A few may need a trip to a craft store, but the items are very common and will be easy to find. None of the projects involve great expense. The book is divided into 5 sections. One section that is applicable to all seasons and then one section devoted to each of the four seasons. Besides the crafts, the book also has a few child friendly recipes and book recommendations for reading to/with children. All in all, this book is a great addition to a parent's bookshelf who wants to spend some quality time with their child. Many of the activities can be done with a minimal amount of time commitment - great for the smaller children with limited attention spans. In compliance with FTC guidelines, I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads program.

This book has five sections covering each season plus a section of year-round activities to do with children of all ages.

First of all, the book itself is beautiful with color illustrations and easy to read text. Next, the food looks delicious! I have already bookmarked a ton of recipes that made my mouth water. My 6 and 8 year old daughters already want to do many of the art projects in the book. The book has a lot of photographs, but I do wish there was a picture for every single one b/c they are such beautiful works of art.

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this author's first book, the Artful Parent, and I think this one I liked/enjoyed even more. For someone like me who WANTS to be creative, but isn't, this is a fantastic book of how to incorporate art in the seasons. Some of the ideas were reminiscent of her first book, but this book flowed so much better. Loved that there were recipes and fun activities for lots of the seasons my family loves. I am putting this book on my wish list and hardly any books get put there. Especially great for moms of kiddos under age 10-11 I would say.

[Bekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley.com and Roost Books for early access to this title.
This was kind of cute. I liked her basic premise of using crafts as a way to both foster creativity in children and as a way to bring a family closer together. There are some fun things here, particularly for those new to crafting. However, there wasn't a lot that was new or unique, and a lot of the crafts were repeated throughout the book in different ways (melted crayons, coffee filters, etc. - a new design for a new season, but the same basic craft). Cute, but not a must-read.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best way to sum up this book is "sensory pleasure."

It is a beautiful invitation to savor the sights, tastes and textures of the seasons. I see it as a great vehicle to build family traditions and to encourage creativity and curiosity in children.

I was given a digital copy by NetGallery in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Sarita · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book for anyone who has or works with children. The projects are seasonal, the author provides book lists, and the degree of difficulty varies.

There are many beautiful projects to do, and to teach children with in this book. I will definitely be using this to do projects in the library!

[Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good art project book for preschool and kindergarten age kids to do with parents. There are also recipes that look easy to do together. You could probably find all of this on pinterest. My only issue with the book was that there were a few duplications. I think this could have been better.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book and would be good for ideas for family together time and outings. The descriptions of the activities are clear and some of the ideas are creative. You can use this book to encourage children to learn more about food and the world around them.

[C · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is absolutely nothing novel in this book. It seems to be a collection of common Pinterest posts recreated and interspersed with pretty photography. I'm thankful I borrowed it from my local library and didn't plunk down cash for it. Save the money and hop on Pinterest instead.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas and directions for crafts to do with your kids. It is organized by season. We'll probably do a lot of the summer ones since that's when we have the leisure to get crafty together.

[Channon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some nice ideas for kids crafts.

[Christine Turner]

P.s. Jean Van't Hul's blog is excellent!

[Sue Mosher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish I'd had this when my kids were little. Great book.