With cell phones, instant text messaging and email, the art of calligraphy is now normally only reserved for artistic activities. However, give your kids a chance to learn how to write with pen and ink, and you never know, they MIGHT even be inspired to write a letter... Calligraphy is good for kids for a whole range of reasons. But for me I like it because it is an activity that requires patience and focus and is fun. All you need are some nibs, a nib holder, inks, watercolor paper, and a font guide.
The ink is going to stain so put old clothes on and have paper towels handy. Expect a mess and you won't be disappointed with your kids! The font guide can be an alphabet printed from a word processing package using one of the fonts which you like best from the selection.
Sometimes I do this for the words I want to write in calligraphy - print them out in the font I want so I can just copy them out as I go rather than having to refer back to the alphabet for each particular letter. Shown here is a fancy calligraphy pen as well - kids love these feather pens, nibs are interchangable.
Want to reinforce something in particular? Then get the kids to copy it out with the calligraphy pens.
“Love your neighbor as yourself” is much more eye catching with flowers and love hearts in the margins. As the kids sit there and patiently copy this out, they will absorb the message as they go. This is written in Lucinda Calligraphy font (my favorite font for calligraphy in MS Word)
The key to good technique is to move your arm to get the curves rather than the pen. Hold the nib at a 45 degree angle to the paper. The thicker the nib the more dramatic difference there will be between the fat and thin parts of the letter. If you are just starting, practice shapes first, such as circles and triangles. It takes practice and repitition to understand exactly how much ink to keep on your nib, and exactly when to dip the nib back into the ink.
Watercolor paper will soak up the ink really well, giving the finished product a better look. Also, you can use watercolors to decorate the margins to give the work a real professional look. If you can find some illumination, it can be photocopied and cut out and stuck onto one side of the calligraphy as a quicker way to a great looking finished product.
Old English font from Word:
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
You can buy a Speedball nib holder and 6 brass nibs for about $12, the nibs are interchangable. A bottle of really good black or colored ink (big enough for many pages of writing) will set you back $4-$6. Add some watercolor paper for $5 or so, and you are ready to go.
Aussie Kim
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