You provide the most important ingredient
We let you supply the glue – Elmer's is good – because of freezing in the winter.
We provide a base, 2 clamps, lots of assorted colorful wood pieces, and basic suggestions.
Not for children under 3 due to small parts
Remember all those stories about kids playing longer with the box than with the toy?
Remember making stuff from things you found around the house?
Remember things without batteries?
We got so fascinated with the parts left over at the end of the day here at Louise's Daughter and Uncle Don's Mechanicals that we came up with our best toy ever.... and that's a long time ... coming up on 30 years in business ... almost 1/3 century! We got to thinking about what all those wonderfully shaped scraps might be doing after we went home at night. All the "good" parts get assembled and packed up in boxes for the UPS folks to take to stores and galleries around the world! All the odd parts, the misfits, the centers left over after we cut holes, the parts that got painted a bit funny, the parts that used to go into the scrap heap..... what were they doing at night? A bit of investigation revealed that they were making themselves into wonderful creations. Like clouds making themselves into castles, dragons, butterflies, trees, bugs, cars, houses, rainbows, dogs, cats, dancers, space people..... the list is endless, and you can help. Art Start is the ultimate creativity kit. We don't limit you by giving you pictures of what to make .... actually we couldn't - every kit is a bit different anyway! We do give you a few hints about how to glue things. We give you a couple of colorful plastic clothspins to hold things together while the glue dries. We give you one larger piece to act as a solid base upon which to build that fanciful tower. You get over 400 great colorful whimsical shapes to create your own wonderful creation!
Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the Art Start suggestion sheet that comes with Art Start..... Feel free to copy it for classroom use, etc - just leave our name and ordering information on the sheet please!
You can cheat a little bit and look at some things we made and some submissions of others below the ordering information.
All for only
$25.00 each
Shipping will vary with number ordered, and where we are shipping to.
If shipping within New York State add sales tax please.
include what you want, address to ship it to, and credit card info including
account number and expiration date
or call 1-585-734-0876 or 1-585-734-0652
We accept Visa, Master Card, as well as checks.
Send order, check for total, and your address to
Louise's Daughter
1237 E. Main St.,
Rochester, NY 14609
or call us with your credit card info including account number and expiration date.
We will not sell your address or other information
Art Start Suggestions:
If working with younger children, you may want to just let them arrange the parts on a flat surface, like on construction paper, or just on a table, or the floor - without glue. This method is sort of like doodling, but you can always mix them up and try again. The next step might be to glue parts onto paper or cardboard in a flat arrangement... especially if you come up with a particularly pleasing arrangement..
If you want to make a vertical sculpture, you need to proceed slowly, letting the glue dry a bit before proceeding to far, or your construction may collapse. You may want to lean your creation on something like a box, while it drys so the fresh glue does not have to support as much weight. A broader base will give your vertical sculpture more stability ---- lay out several pieces on a flat surface, and create bridges between them to create a sturdy base, and then start building up from there. Your Art Start comes with one larger flat piece to use for a base, but don't let that limit you! On a vertical construction, it can be very helpful to create extra supports off the back, or sides, to tie everything together.
If you want to glue narrow edges of parts together, it is helpful to glue a small piece onto the back side to help hold your pieces together, as the narrow edge does not give much surface for the glue to grip.... if you don't want to use up any of the wooden pieces for this purpose, try cutting small pieces of heavy paper or cardboard to use instead. Working on a sheet of plastic, you can glue something flat together, and then when it is dry, peel off the plastic and stand your creation up!
Don't use too much glue - it takes longer to dry, and is a lot messier! - Work on newspaper for easy clean-up. Elmer's glue is water based, and will wash out of clothes and off hands easily.
You can create abstract shapes - Don't be afraid to experiment. The unique and colorful assortment of parts in your Art Start will create a very interesting result with almost any combination of pieces . Think about how you might create a more specific shape. How can I make a flower from these parts?.... how can I create a house or other building?..... how can I create an animal or a person? Think about which piece might make an interesting head? Does a particular piece seem to already have a nose, or an eye, or an ear? Find a piece that would make an interesting body ---- How many legs do I want? 2? 4? 10? 3? Which pieces look a bit like legs already? Should it have arms? Remember that your creation probably won't look like a "real" animal, or person, or flower, but will take shape as you progress. Get some magnets, and make some small creations with magnets on the back for the refrigerator. If you make something you particularly like - frame it - and hang it on the wall proudly.
Above all, just have fun. This isn't a test, and there is no wrong answer! You wil create unique - one of a kind - sculptures. If you give this to a kid, they probably won't read these instructions anyway ---- they'll just start gluing, and they will be very proud of the results! That's the whole point of the Art Start anyway - to be creative, and have fun. We often think that only special artistic people can be creative, but we are wrong if we approach life that way. Sure one person's work will look like a "real" horse, or flower, and another's will look like something out of Dr. Suess, but -------- you fill in the blank, and HAVE FUN!!!!
If you insist, there are a few pictures on our web site, but remember that your Art Start has different pieces than the one used to make the sculptures in the pictures on the web ---- http://www.uncledonsmechanicals.com/artstart.htm
Cheryl and Don Olney
Louise's Daughter and Uncle Don's Mechanicals
1237 E. Main St.
Rochester, NY 14609
585-734-0876 or 585-734-0652
www.louisesdaughter.com or www.uncledonsmechanicals.com
last modified -9/21/2007