The Art Area

I finally got a corner of our basement cleared out and set up to be an art corner. Here are my before and after pics:

I owe a big thank you to my husband for assembling the little table and chairs while I was away at a conference. Ladybug is very excited about her art corner, and I'm very excited to have a relaxing art space that doesn't need to stay perfectly clean.

This morning we did another project from First Art, making homemade puffy paint and squeezing it from a squeeze bottle. I donated one of my icing flood bottles to this cause, chopping off the tip for easier paint flow.

Ladybug can still be very fussy and sensitive during her art time. I'm thinking that I've introduced a lot of new art projects (not to mention the new art corner), and it's time now for some repetition. For my sake, I'm going to list what we've done so far so that I can refer back to it and repeat projects:

• Paper Stain Painting (Supposed to paint with wet crepe paper and the ink will bleed. Didn't work for us.)
• Color Mixing (tempera, brushes, cotton balls)
• Stretchy Dough
• Foil Squeezing
• Easy Big Beads
• Making Marks
• The Need to Squeeze (that was this morning's puffy paint)
• Touch and Pour Explore
• Simply Stickers
• Early Scissors Experiences (Stage 2: Yarn Factory)
• Busy Printing (boy was she crabby about this one. I don't think the print pads were to her liking.)

 

Mixing Colors

The paint and brushes arrived last night, so today Ladybug finally got to paint. Wow, the smell of tempera paint takes me right back to my elementary school art room, and our kind art teacher, Mrs. Kerr.

I don't know why I didn't learn from my mistake yesterday, but after letting Bug play in the paint for a while, I couldn't resist putting brush to paper. Instantly, same effect as last night. "Ladybug need to paint! Need to paaaaaint!" Oh jeeze. I guess there won't be any side-by-side art. I was able to calm her after a while by throwing away the paper I had painted on (just squiggles this time, no "advanced" flowers), and by refilling her paint cups.

Looking at all this fun art stuff and not getting to do any myself makes me think I need to have my own art time during Bug's quiet time. Maybe I will paint something to decorate my empty walls.

After cleanup (which definitely involved the bathtub), we read The Color Kittens. That one has long been a favorite, but it's a must read on paint day!

Making Marks on Aluminum Foil

Tonight's art time was with markers and aluminum foil. This comes out pretty, and it was fun to watch. Then Ladybug started playing in the bucket of soapy water, and I idly doodled a flower on the foil. Well, that was a mistake! Bug flipped out because she wanted to draw a flower and she can only make scribbles. This was a source of intense frustration. She kept trying valiantly, then insisted that I hold her hand and guide her in drawing a flower. So I did, but the frustration was not over.

The art book I'm using did mention not to create samples for children to imitate. And to just sit back and watch their process. I was on board with all of this! Guess I will remember to stay out of her process!

Stretchy Dough

Ladybug has caught on to the fact that fun things happen when she brings me the art book. When I first bought it home from the library on Saturday, she zeroed in on the drawings of paintbrushes and very specifically requested paint. I told her I would buy her paint and brushes. Today she brought me the book again, looked at me and said, "Mama gonna get you a paintbrush." She was mostly satisfied when I told her I had ordered the paint and it would get here tomorrow. But she still wanted a project for today. And why not?

Saturday we did a "sticky" project with glue, and I want to rotate through the chapters in this book (paint, dough, drawing, gluing, printmaking). Ladybug saw a drawing of measuring cups on one of the dough projects and told me she likes to mix. So I found a playdough recipe that I had the ingredients for (note to self: buy cornstarch), and we were off. She helped me tape down freezer paper to the kitchen floor, and I grabbed the measuring cups and spoons that live in her play kitchen.

"Stretchy Dough" is a very oily dough, which is kinda great because there's no goop sticking to your hands. You have to deal with being a little oily though. Ladybug helped mix, and then when it was time to knead, squished both hands in. But she didn't use her hands for long. Very quickly she was enamored with walking in the stretchy dough, getting her feet all oily and sliding around in it. Awesome sensory play. She gave me her highest form of approval: "Ladybug likes it!"

Early Spring: Puddles, Chickens, & Baby Goats

Receding snow at our nearby park

My friend said it very well today: "It's cold, but it's spring cold." Not so bitter and bone-chilling. There's more light and longer days. The two feet of snow from our blizzard has almost melted away, and when I walk outside I can smell mud and new grass. Yes!

Getting in some serious puddle time.

Last week Ladybug was in no mood to participate in farm class, which was not her fault. We'd just had a pretty miserable slog through a lot of snow, trying to walk from the train station to the farm. What was normally a ten minute walk took an hour. Yuck. So when we did get to the farm, we warmed up in a side room, reading books about insects and sheep. Then Ladybug played in puddles, and we got to see two foxes! I was more excited about the foxes than she was. Her favorite was a rabbit burrowed in a little hole. 


I mentioned in this post that I went a little overboard on winter books. This week I returned most of the forty picture books I had borrowed from the library for Valentine's and winter. I checked out a much smaller number of springtime titles. One of them is Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker. It's basically the classic "One, two, buckle my shoe" rhyme, with a little added fun at the end when all the hen's friends show up and hatch their chicks. Ladybug has also learned "Los Pollitos Dicen," a traditional Spanish children's song about a mother hen and her baby chicks.

All this reading and singing is why I was very excited that farm school this week would feature chickens! And the great part is we made it to class, with Bug in a good mood, so she got to enjoy seeing them. We even got a special peek at the "Employees Only" room where all the baby chicks live in their incubators.

    

After the visit to the poultry house, we saw three baby goats who were just days old. Ladybug explained, "The baby goats are asleep next to their mother!" Yep.

The little pile of three sleeping baby goats.

I'm so glad spring is finally here.

First Art

Today we started doing art. Not that I haven't given Ladybug fingerpaints, playdough, crayons, and markers before today. But today I finally got my hands on an art curriculum for toddlers that I have wanted to check out. After reading and implementing it, I'm very happy with it and thinking of buying my own copy. This is First Art for Toddlers and Twos, by MaryAnn F. Kohl.

There are certain classes or parenting philosophies that make me feel relaxed, and help me to observe my daughter while she learns in her own way. Following the lessons in this book brings on that kind of relaxation. All the emphasis is on process, not product, and the lessons are about creating an environment for the child to explore. There's instruction about how to provide the child with a comfortable space. After reading, I actually got online ASAP and ordered a $30 play table and chairs from Ikea. I realized that in our home we didn't have a low table where she could comfortably sit or stand to do her art. I've been putting her at the dining room table, where battles ensue over standing up on the bench. Also, I just put up beige curtains in the dining room. Tempera paint splatter is not the "look" I'm going for!

I am grateful for one simple piece of advice that I've been able to implement immediately. When setting up an art project for a toddler, provide them with a small bucket of soapy water and some cloths for their hands. I am so used to doing hand washing and cleaning up after the project, so I never thought of this. But my kid is exactly the type who needs it. I tried to introduce finger paints when she was about a year old, and she stuck the tip of one finger in the paint, then looked at me like, "Why would anyone do that to their hands?" Now that she's a little older, she wants to squish paint between her fingers for the sensory experience. But then she looks at what she's done to her hands and flips out. Being able to immediately clean her hands is going to make such a difference in her ability to enjoy playing with art. Tonight I set her up with some q-tips, cotton balls, and glue. She played with the glue a little bit, and told me she really liked it. But she spent the majority of her time exploring the tub of warm soapy water. Fine by me! The sooner she learns that it will always be part of her art time, the better.

The book is divided into five sections:
1) Primarily Paint
2) Hands on Dough
3) Making Marks (drawing)
4) Sticky Business (glue, contact paper)
5) Great Impressions (printmaking)

I like the idea of rotating through the chapters, so that we're playing with a variety of media on a regular basis. The author reminds the reader to be sure to repeat projects, because children thrive on repetition. We'll see how it shakes out for us, but I'm committed to setting up a regular art environment for her.

The best part of this evening's art time? Me, sitting back and relaxing, observing her play. Unasked, she repeatedly said to me, "Ladybug really likes it!"

Before Winter Ends

It's March 1, and in my little worldview I like to think of March, April, and May as the spring months. There are signs of spring everywhere, like melting snow and warmer days. Well, slightly warmer days. This is New England, after all. 40 degrees feels like heaven right now.

But before Winter is totally over, I want to record the massive number of winter books we've been enjoying since the beginning of the year. I really went overboard with books this season. I think it was a little overwhelming for Ladybug, and caused us to spend a little less time in repeated readings of the best ones. I will try to exercise more restraint this spring. But it was fun to check out so many of them!

I have already written about a few of our winter picture books in my posts Winter Planning and Winter Books. The three I mention in the Winter Books post are still some of my favorites. And we have hung on to Cat and Mouse in the Snow all season. When we go to the farm, Ladybug talks about playing in the green meadow, just like in Cat and Mouse.

I listed No Two Alike among my Valentine's choices, and I do think it makes a sweet Valentine. The bright red birds in white snow are festive. But there's nothing meant to be particularly romantic about the book, so it makes the winter list too. There's not too much text, and the detail on the snowflakes is really excellent. With its theme of uniqueness, it makes a nice book for twins, but I think it makes a good read for anyone.


Snow made my list of Caldecott winning board books, but I didn't check it out 'till this season. It's about a boy anticipating a snowfall, when all the grownups around him are sure it won't snow. The excitement builds as flakes begin to fall. First there's just one tiny white speck that eventually becomes a blizzard.




No question, the best part of Here Comes Jack Frost is the illustrations. The story is very simple: Jack Frost comes to play with a boy, and they enjoy all the fun parts of winter, like ice skating and snowball fights. Cute, but I'm glad we just borrowed it from the library. I'm equally glad we own Ghosts in the House!, the author's other book, which has a much more adorable and clever story.


Under the Snow illustrates how many animals hibernate in winter, buried in the mud, hidden between stones, or swimming slowly under ice. I like it as a late winter book because it ends with the weather warming and the thought that soon the animals will prepare for spring.




Lois Ehlert's Snowballs is a simple book about building snowmen, with pictures of all the creative stuff you can use to decorate a whole snow family. There are tons of vegetables, nuts and seeds decorating the snow people and some birds enjoying the feast. Makes a good companion for Stranger in the Woods.



I'm a little conflicted about this picture book version of Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening. Robert Frost was the first poet I enjoyed reading, and this poem is a great one. But isn't the theme potentially a little dark for a children's picture book? I suppose it doesn't have to be interpreted that way; I didn't see any darkness or contemplation of death when I first read it as a teen. Anyway, the illustrations are filled with snowy white animals hidden in the branches of trees, and it makes Frost accessible to a two year old.

I'm pretty indifferent to Biscuit's Snowy Day. It's the kind of thing I usually pass up, but it was Bug's pick at the library. It's about a girl and her dog playing outside on a snowy day. If you enjoy barking on every page, check this one out. Ruff ruff!