Chasing Cheerios

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Making Art and then Bubbles

I recently purchased Young at Art by Susan Striker, and it has inspired me to encourage O to make more art :) Lately, she'll draw for a couple of seconds, and then she wants me to draw for her :( I think there's been too much drawing for her by her daddy and grandparents which seems to have inhibited her creativity. This wouldn't have occured to me before reading the book, but I've definitely noticed that after someone draws "for O," she's VERY unlikely to draw for herself. So... I just kept telling her that it was O's art, and if I drew for her then it would be mama's art. I've also noticed that she's much more interested in creating when I offer her many different options... In these pictures, she's using crayons, markers, and dot painters. She also used our homemade watercolor paint, but I didn't get any pictures of that.



After art time, she had a great time making bubbles with this super cool bubble blower :)

9 comments:

  1. Don't you love the book by Susan Striker? My sister-in-law is an art teacher (teaches as young as 2) and she highly recommended this book to me a couple of years ago. I need to get it again from the library for a little refresher!!

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  2. i so love that book its one of the best books ever i love toddler art too@

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  3. forgot to add i love first art by mary ann kohl and really any of her art books are good!

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  4. I just finished this book too. It's a good one!

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  5. I'm just wondering? Do you leave O's art supplies out so that she can get them out at any time? I have noticed ebi-kun paints/draws for much longer and with more creativity if he decided to get the art things out. What used to be the practical life shelf is now our art shelf and he has a draw full of card and paper to go at!

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  6. Jo- I've thought about leaving O's art supplies out, but I think she's too young. She's never intentionally drawn on the furniture or walls, but it wouldn't surprise me if she did :) So...I have her art materials within her sight, but out of her reach :) However, she almost never initiates art time :(

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  7. i second that ealving them out i left the out allthe time since my LO was a baby cuz of her older sister and since they were always available w/ paper there too she has only used them for the intended purpose! maybe try it one day and see?!

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  8. hi mellisa
    nice work and yess i agree to leaving art material in the kids reach my lil one has them near hand almost all the time but never attempted to draw on wall (though once she tried to draw on TV but that might be because of babyTV's drawing programs)

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  9. I LOVE all of Susan Striker's books! I read them many years ago while in college and they have influenced my work with children a good deal since then. My kids have always had lots of paper and art supplies within reach and they create many, many projects a day based totally on their own thoughts. I do have to say, though, that after MANY attempts at leaving bottles of paints and watercolors out, just for the sake of having all the art stuff in one spot, I just can't handle it anymore. My girls have MANY times poured it in the carpet, painted on the sliding glass door, etc. I have always suspected they are "messier" and more into "experiments" than other kids, so maybe other families can get away with this. I have logged a few too many hours with the steam vac to warrant doing it anymore! Paints are on the fridge until further notice!

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