I have long been tempted by the idea of homeschooling. My only restraint is that I know I’d spend hours on literature, art and crafts, and about half a minute on math and science. So I do what my husband calls “homeschooling after schooling.” It is nothing of the sort, of course—it’s just a set of loosely themed activities to stimulate Niccolo while we play together.

Watercolour background paper for my Leonardo project

Now, spurred by his newfound passion for Laurence Anholt’s Leonardo and the Flying Boy, I have started introducing him to the Italian Renaissance. On a weekend trip to Milan, we went to the local Science Museum, which has a model gallery showcasing Leonardo’s inventions—we are going to try and make his hydrometer at home with a straw and some nails.

But, more importantly, we have begun looking at Leonardo’s art—Mona Lisa, The Lady with the Ermine. And this prompted me to create a zine for Niccolo, a sort of visually rich minibook full of stories from the Renaissance days, paintings by Leonardo, historical characters…

Just now, I am playing with the colour palette, and those vermilions, golds and ochres are making my mouth water. I hope to put together a fanciful feast with folds, pull-outs and enough rich colours to keep him intrigued. And I fully intend to have plenty of fun while making the zine, of course!

Perhaps it’s because I am a crafts addict, but I like to get my son involved in painting, collageing, stamping and drawing.

Niccolo’s abstract painting

For me, little beats the time we sit side by side at the kitchen table, smearing temperas over a piece of paper, our fingers stained with paint.I like to let Niccolo free as much as possible. I reckon he already does plenty of directed work when he goes to nursery school—drwa yourself, paint a car, decorate a box—with the teachers finishing off the job to make sure each child brings home something cute or, at least, vaguely recognisable.

Niccolo’s art graces the wall in my study

But I am not really interested in whether the end result is any good—after all, I am not trying to raise a young Picasso. Instead, I want to stimulate his creativity, his thinking processes. So I provide as many materials as I can, from finger paint to crayons, scraps and stickers, and let him express himself. I love to see how what starts as a dinosaur changes into a cargo ship halfway through the painting—and usually ends up as an abstract blob of colour.

And of course, I love that art has become a way for us to be together. He is getting increasingly involved in my projects, or we start a new one together. When i began prepping the pages for an altered book with tempera paints, he joined in. OK, the pages won’t be prepped to perfection, but the shared moments, the fun we have and the pride he takes in ‘his’ altered book—not to mention the fact that, at three and a half, he knows what an altered book is—are priceless.

One of Niccolo’s altered book pages

And now we have started work on a Spring and Easter collage book full of pretty little pictures of birds, eggs, flowers and rabbits. We might not finish it in time for Easter—but it is the making it together that really matters.