We try to make sure he gets interactions with other kids, both in the form of story time and in play dates. Arts and crafts are harder. I love crafts. The problem is that setting up an art activity for a toddler takes about 10 times as much time as they actually spend doing it. And in the past, Colin hasn't shown much interest in the things I have tried to do with him.
Still, with Alex's arrival, we thought we should step up Colin's planned activities throughout the day to help ward off his minor tantrums, so I went to google for help.
Colin had a meltdown last time daddy tried painting with him (he doesn't really like getting his hands dirty) so I found a painting activity that didn't involve messy hands!
Before Colin woke up I got everything ready and taped it to his table.
He seemed to like it! He pushed the paint around for about 5 minutes before insisting it was time to take it 'off'. I suggested we leave it, but my child is very determined and once he decided it was coming off, it was coming off. I quickly double taped the top down to (hopefully) avoid a mess. As he picked it up, I saw the light come through it and came up with another idea...
I taped it to the window!
This was a huge hit! It looked a lot cooler with sunlight behind it than the table and we practiced drawing letters and shapes. Colin even pulled a chair up and watched as I drew every letter in the alphabet! (The picture doesn't really catch it, but it did look really cool)
Moving it to the window earned me at least another 15 minutes of play. And after breakfast this morning, Colin wanted to play again with daddy!
I was prety proud of myself. A successful art project! I think the biggest secret to success is to be willing to be flexible (easier when the paint is contained in a bag). More art to come! (probably).
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