TOS Review: See the Light

I’ve been able to review See the Light and their art DVD God’s Runaway with the kids last month as part of the Old Schoolhouse Review Crew. I received the DVD that contained the story of Jonah and three different lessons that had you drawing along with an instructor with step by step instructions. The story lasted 13 minutes, the “Obey!” art lesson using colored pencils was 18 minutes, “Released!” uses pastels and is 33 minutes, and Salvation is from the Lord is 29 minutes long and uses several different mediums. All four of my older children – ages 4, 5, 8, and 9 watched the video and drew along with the instructor for the first lesson, but just the older two for the second and third lessons. The recommended ages for this lesson is three and older for the story and six and up for the art lessons.

God’s Runaway features three art instructors. Heidi Shorts, Pat Kneply, and Jim Pence each present a lesson that all tie into the story of Jonah dramatized at the beginning of the DVD. From the website, bonus features also include:
– Revel in the original contemporary music performed by “Breathing Room” recording artists Jan Roper and Kevin Dukes while watching Gloria Kohlmann draw her remarkable art expression of this story.
– Watch and Hear The Plan of Salvation, clearly and creatively presented as you have never seen it. (7 minutes)
– Hear See The Light chalk artist Gloria Kohlmann’s commentary as you watch a story scene being created.
– Meet the See The Light team.
 

This is what my children looked like during the story portion. “Riveted” might be a good term. (I don’t know what’s with the apron on Sterling. I’m afraid to ask.)

And during the first art lesson… I had to pause it often to allow for time for the kids to catch up with the instructor, but in the end, the finished projects looked like this:

Yes, four children drew pictures. When I gathered them afterward to take a picture, I found three. My perfectionist son threw his away when it wasn’t, apparently, perfect. Ugh.

I heard all the way through the lesson that they couldn’t draw things correctly, whining and grumbling that they’ll never be able to make their pictures look like the instructors, but in the end, three out of four were happy with their work – and in all fairness, Sterling’s picture was pretty great. He heard about this one.

When you use the Crayola Extreme Colors, the colors glow under the black light. I doubt I need to mention just how cool my children think that is. Since we have a black light from my artistically-prone husband’s pre-me days (another thing I am afraid to ask about) the possibilities are endless now that we know. See the Light has the black light and colored pencils available if you need them.

The kids loved the story. Movies are a rarity around here, so that might have added to the intrigue, but they really loved it. The art lessons frustrated my two perfectionists – art is not their ‘thing’, they think. The first lesson they did willingly, but when I got it out for lessons two and three, they were less than thrilled. Their pictures, though, turned out great. The first art lesson was great for all four of mine – although Ruby (4) needed a bit of help along the way. The other two lessons got harder and just Liberty (9) and Eden (8) did them. All in all, if you’re looking for a simple art instruction – and one that’s Biblically based is a major bonus – I wholeheartedly recommend this one. If you, however, have children who think their talents with a writing utensil lie more with writing a story, then one that doesn’t show the finished product so much but focuses on techniques instead might make life a little easier.

God’s Runaway is $14.99 and available here. Also at that link is the list of needed supplies to complete the work and links to purchase a few you might not have.

To read more reviews from the Old Schoolhouse Review Crew, check out the Review Crew Blog.