Painting with Austin

A "toddler school" entry

It's Autumn again!!!  Time for pumpkins!

Painting with Austin is so much fun!  Messy?  YES!  But lots of fun too!

You have to understand:  painting with an almost toddler is going to be messy.  It's going to be everywhere.  In their hair, in their mouth, all over everything in a 5 foot radius.  But, if you know that before you begin, you are good to go.

Materials needed: 
1.  washable non-toxic paint (I recommend Lakeshore brand)
2.  paper (old paper from your printer is good and a great way to recycle -- you  know... all those pages that print only two lines that you don't really need)
3. old wet dishcloth or kitchen towel, sink or bathtub ready for a bath and everything you need for that bath afterwards
4. place to paint (we use our high chair with the food tray removed)
5. place to dry your paintings (I use the wire shelves in our laundry room with clothespins)
6.  Apron for yourself if you want to stay clean.  I've been doing this for years and can usually avoid the paint... but it is washable paint.  It comes out.  Trust me.

When painting with a toddler...  don't expect any pictures or real drawings.  This was a lesson in mixing.  We used red and yellow paint to make orange for pumpkins.  Every time I squirted paint onto the tray, I told him, "This is yellow."  "This is red."  "When you mix them, they make orange."  Does he KNOW now what yellow is or what red is???  Not really... but if you keep talking to your toddlers, they will get it.  Repitition is the key with teaching toddlers.  They will NOT get something on the first try.  Maybe on the 5th, maybe on the 10th, maybe on the 37th.  :)  Patience.

Here are some pics of what we did.

Just starting

What's on my hands?

Mixing

How's it taste?  (remember... it's non-toxic... the worst is that he'll have red/yellow/orange poop later on)

After I pulled a print (Place paper, good side down, on paint and just rub lightly... pull paper up with print on it.)

Notice how messy he is now?  Paint is everywhere:  on the shirt, mouth, in hair, all over tray including edges and hanging toys, on face, all the way up past the elbows... hence the bath afterwards!  (I usually paint with Austin with no shirt, but I forgot to take the shirt off first.  It's okay though since it's WASHABLE!)  After the shirt came off, I used that wet dishtowel to get as much off as I could first.  It's much easier to do this when they are still in the chair!

All done and ready for a bath!

Finished products coming tomorrow after they are dry, cut, stapled, stuffed, and hung up!