Sam's Road

I LOVE this! Such a neat idea and so easy. Yesterday at art, Sam's art teacher had a road drawn for the boys to paint on...the road and "Sam's Road" were pre-drawn by her. Then she had Hot Wheels and plates of paint for the boys to paint with. Sam LOVED it...he actually spent 10+ minutes playing and painting with the cars...2 minutes is his usual attention span.
I'm not a huge fan and "helping" Sam with his art or even putting anything on his paper...not even his name and the date (I always put that on the back)...I just want his work to be all his and I don't want to alter his masterpieces (because that's what they are) with anything I think should be on the paper. I have Susan Striker to thank for that. But, this was different because it was pre-drawn and he got the be creative with the road to make it what he wanted. It reminds me of some coloring books I've seen that I can't wait for Sam to get old enough for...they have a small something drawn on the page, and then the child uses their imagination and creates the complete picture. Susan Striker has some called the Anti-Coloring Books, but I've seen other similar ones too.
I loved this piece so much that I am going to frame it and hang it in Sam's playroom near his road/train table. I've read about the importance of framing kids art to communicate the value of it to them, but I haven't done any yet. Thanks to a suggestion from The Artful Parent, I used Frames by Mail to order a custom 1 inch black wooden frame (15x22) with plexiglass cover and backing for a little over $30. Not bad for a custom frame! It comes with all the hardware and instructions for assembly... I have to put it together, but I'm willing to do that to save a little money! I just knew there would be no way I could find a 15x22 frame without having one made at a custom frame shop for over $100. Frames By Mail will cut your frame to the 1/16 of an inch, you can add plexiglass or not, choose your backing, add a mat or not, and they have hundreds of metal and wooden frame options to choose from. They just don't do glass fronts because of the issues with shipping it.