A Little Art Inspiration

When I was a preschool teacher I had learned this concept many times, but never actually tried it: using photos to inspire a child's art. It's so basic and obvious, I just never really did it. Older kids and adults are always using photos or still life to copy or at least inspire, but it works with preschoolers too! Freida loves using her imagination, and I'm always happy to let it run wild ("here's my picture mom!" "it's awesome! what is it?" "poopy on a shark!" lovely. :) But recently her art time has dwindled and she seems to get bored at the easel really quickly. So, I started with the photo-inspiration technique, and it's been working wonderfully! This rainbow was our first shot at it, and we've since done butterfly, mountains, and lady bugs! It really seems to help keep her focused and lends to feelings of accomplishment... Try it!

Garlic: the Fine Motor Bulb

I don't know why this is the first time this dawned on me, but peeling garlic bulbs and removing the cloves is one of the best fine motor skills exercises ever!! Not to mention kids seem to love doing it, and it definitely reduces some of moms work in the kitchen... We now made this a ritual whenever we are in the kitchen whipping up fresh pesto; Freida is queen of the garlic. Try it!

Bon Fire Season

Teaching Freida about Lag BaOmer this year got her in a campfire tizzy! (Evidently there is a Yo Gabba Gabba episode about camping that had her connecting the bon-fire holiday with tents, s'mores, sleeping-bags, and even hotdogs!) I recently came upon this adorable campfire play set, and thought this would a perfect addition to our dramatic-play toy collection - not just for Lag BaOmer, but for summertime in general. Freida would just freak from this handmade felt playset from Hopewell Creek!

Since we didn't exactly have this around for Lag BaOmer this year, a friend of mine (thanks Rachey!!) had a genius idea for the kids at Babyccino, and Freida loved it as well: sponge painting with marshmallows (on sticks!).

Afterward I let her and her neighbor spend the afternoon marshmallow-stick painting Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's Cave (i.e. a cardboard box). Kept them busy for hours!!

Baby Gym Beauties

No baby item has got itself as bad a rap as the "baby gym". (Well, maybe the exersaucer. But that's for another post.) Gnarly colors, awful illustrations, and cheap synthetics all amount to a pile of yuckiness for a price that isn't quite on the low-ball end of things anyways! Well, this morning I'd love to share a few baby gyms that are not at all an eyesore to your overall design aesthetics, and are even quite living room worthy (high and low):

Finn + Emma Wooden Play Gym - comes in chocolate and birch, $135

Natural Wood Baby Gym - handmade of VOC-free Baltic Birch $90

Ikea Leka Baby Gym - bentwood design on the cheap! $25

Mid-Century Modern Baby Gym DIY - craftiness + power tools + $25!!

(Shoutout of thanks to our Babyccino models Sara Leah and Chana!! :))

Sticky Sapling

(This post is over a week late in the coming, but the activity concept was so fun that I want to shoot it out there to you all either way - before I forget about it and it gets lost in a pile of neglected blog "drafts".)

In honor of Tu B'Shvat, I broke out a new form of art for Freida. It was quite the hit! While I personally feel she was too old to truly reap the benefits of such an activity, she seemed to enjoy the tactile observation either way. Ideally, this is the perfect art form for a 2 year old; mess-free, removable, and extensively creative.

The general concept is contact paper. Simply tape a nice big sheet of contact paper on the wall - sticky side forward. Give your toddler enough art materials to get insanely creative with (feathers, foam cutouts, scraps of colored paper, sequins etc.), and demonstrate the method! Watch their little hands discover the world of sticky goodness, and explore the properties of weight and layout. They'll learn so much from this activity, and you'll definitely get a nice chunk of time to yourself!

I gave Frieda a pile of brown paper squares, and a stack of colorful paper leaves. After some simple directions she went ahead to create her own tree! I was excited when I realized how capable she was! And the best part is when they come up with ideas on their own - she asked me if I could cut out some red apples for her to add to the mix! And after she finished her tree, she proceeded to request materials to make a "flower garden" (I stuck up some more contact paper, cut out some paper flowers, and cut up a few pipe cleaners to use as stems)! Nothing like schepping creative nachas! :)