This story is really appropriate for many catagories. Art, Child Development, Esteem Building, Health, etc. It is about connecting all the ways creative expression works for making our world better.

In a town near where I live is an amazing non profit. My trying to describe it might not do it justice so please go to the following link and enjoy!

http://artstart.us/about.html

Just got a call from my three year old grandson. He knows how to speed dial my number on his mom's cell phone. He said, "Ya-Ya, I want to play music for you".

He puts the phone down and proceeds to drum, sing and hum a beautiful improvised song. He's been a drummer since he knew his hands were his so it is not a surprise he drums. Just amazed at the incredible sense and display of rhythm.

Can't help but wonder how to encourage without pushing. How to follow his lead for knowing what pace to go towards lessons, etc. Yep, doing a lot of wodering when it comes to being a grandma.

Its is amazing how abstract and wondrous some of the things my son Albert aka “Bong Bong” discovers.

He has been pushing his stroller around with him on all of our walks. He has this invisible baby that he pushes in the stroller as well. He is quite gentle with this baby and never forgets that he or she is in the stroller. Carefully removing the baby before he loads up hi stroller with rocks or pine cones or what other treasures he finds as we walk.

Recently the this baby has made a transformation which is interesting. “My baby” has become, “ My baby ear” to Albert.

The Association of Children's Museums has a list of Children's Museums around the world as well as a list for the United States. There is also a lot of information for supporting, visiting, enjoying and creating children's museums. Check it out at:

http://www.childrensmuseums.org/visit/international.htm

Things I didn't know include:

• The largest children's museum is The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, which has a total of 433,000 square feet.

• The oldest children's museum is the Brooklyn Children's Museum, which opened in 1899; the children's museum field is 105 years young!

After months of development the new rainshadowart.com website has finally gone live.

The new site allows users who visit the Shop to upload their children's art and to add custom text to a variety of items, such as : tee shirts, mouse pads, tote bags, coffee mugs, ceramic tiles and more.

Also the new site is much more interactive and community based. Users who are interested in children's art and art in general may submit stories, forum posts or create their own personal blogs.

There may be some bugs while we finish a few things around the site so please bear with us or let us know if something seems out of whack.