My daughter and I did our first project today. It didn't exactly turn out the way I planned. See, I thought we were going to have pretty much the whole morning at our leisure, and we could hang out and make cotton ball collages. Instead, we had to make a quick trip to the grocery store because we were out of milk. Then, I realized it was almost 10:00, and that it was Friday, and that Preschool Storytime at the library (three blocks away) was about to start. Normally, that's no big deal, because we usually go to Baby Storytime (Caitlyn is seriously not ready to actually sit through a book with the preschoolers), but Baby Storytime has been canceled since Thanksgiving, and won't start up again till February, and we hadn't been in the library since mid-November. So I gave Caitlyn the choice - library or art project - and she enthusiastically picked the library. Mainly because she loves the library and has made friends with all the staff (I swear she thinks she owns the place), and because she had NO idea what an art project is!
So I figured, no problem, we'd just do the project tomorrow. After all, it's a whole weekend with no plans, so we'll have lots of time. But as soon as we got home, Caitlyn started asking about the project. "Project Mommy, Project! Do project!" I looked at my watch. 11:00. Hour till lunch time. No problem. Except...I still had to make dinner (I make dinner in the mornings and my husband puts it in the oven while I'm at work). So, here we go again, together time that isn't "together". Ah, well, best laid plans, right?
I set her up next to me at the kitchen counter, with a paper bowl of glue, some cotton balls, and some paper. I showed her how to dip the cotton in the glue and she took it from there - a natural.
(Note to the concerned - don't freak out - she can't reach those knives. I'm not sure what I'll do when she can, but we're all safe for the time being!)
I was making tuna casserole for dinner, so I had to open the cupboard in front of her to get the noodles out. I have lots of jars of noodles up there, all different shapes and colors. She started reaching for the macaroni, so I got it down and let her have some of that, too. Voila - mixed media!
She ended up just basically laying the macaroni out without any glue, so I glued it all down for her when she was done. I wasn't sure how much she enjoyed it, but when I got home from work, she grabbed the cotton balls and begged me to do another one with her. We had a little time before dinner, so I obliged. She wanted me to do this one, though, so I dipped everything in the glue and let her show me where to put it. Finally, the "together" time I intended!
When we were done, we took this morning's creation into her room, and I let her pick out a place of honor on her wall. She wanted to put it right under her bookshelves, where she can see it from wherever she is in the room. I think it's the perfect place.
2 comments:
Adorable. If she's anything like Adi, there'll be many more projects and many, many more messes!
I tried to imagine myself as a toddler. (It gets easier every day, believe me.) I would be thinking:
1. Wouldn't it just be easier to glue the noodles and cotton balls directly to my bedroom wall?
2. Noodles are edible, therefore, cotton balls are edible.
I was a strange child. :)
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