Sensory activities have been so much fun, that Santino is now asking for them. He asked yesterday for the coffee grinds, although he also requested water, as he likes to pour it in those grinds. I noticed, that he'll do anything as long as there is water involved. (A few days ago he, actually, went to the bathroom after breakfast and asked for a bath. He played there for an hour.)
I did not forget art and kept lobbying it to Santino every day, but he just wasn't so much into painting or drawing. I offered him the aqua doodle and the magnetic board (even though they are stored at his level and are very accessible and visible), but he didn't budge.
I gave art another push yesterday. I set up a painting area in the kitchen, where there is no carpet and everything can be washed easily, and took out a store bought pack of finger paint.
Back in summer we played with the home made finger paint, but I wanted to give the commercial product a try, just to see how it works with the paper. The consistency is pretty much the same as the one I made, but the colors are more vibrant and they smooth over the paper better. Otherwise, I think, homemade paint is as good.
I used an empty egg carton to hold the paint. I would actually recommend this idea, it worked great! After we were done, I just washed off whatever paint was left and threw the carton in the recycling box. Another great use for this great product! Yay!
Santino first painted with his fingers, smudging the paint and enjoying mixing the colors together by dipping fingers in every paint holder one after another. Then he got bored and asked me to wash his hands, but continued painting with the triceratop, which he brought up from his downstairs playroom.
I also showed him the sponge shapes I cut out for this activity, the triangles, a rectangle, a circle, a diamond. He tried stamping with a triangle, but wasn't impressed much. Triceratop apparently was way better qualified for this job.
I gave him a little car to move through the paint on the paper and to see what kind of tracks it can make. Santino asked for water and washed his car first, then pushed it through the paint a few times, then washed it, then paint, then water again. He really likes his car clean, eh?
That was fun for a while. I cleaned up a little, and decided to use the leftover paint by making flour-water-paint solution and paint on a fabric. Just to see how it is going to work.
Actually, it worked great! I spread my old t-shirt in a bin and showed Santino how to pour the liquid paint on the fabric to make shapes. He sprayed the paint, then we played a little with the paint on the shirt, squishing it, shaping into rivers and mountains. Santino was pretty tired already so we wrapped up before we had a chance to create something great and picture-perfect, but I will definitely give this idea another try one of these days.
We finished our creative explorations with a healthy snack. I took a picture, as people don't believe me that a 2 year old can enjoy healthy snacks. Here he is! As happy as can be :) I usually serve the veggie sticks and some nuts and cranberries on a larger plate, as I dip in, too. Nonna will be happy to see this photo!
This turned out a rather long post, but I still want to add a bonus: one more little report on another creative project. It was impromptu and totally initiated by Santino.
Today we were playing with our beads and beans bin, to which I also added some pasta. (There were also pompoms of various sizes and colors in the bin, but Santino didn't like them; every time one of the soft little balls ended up in his reach, he would take it out and put it aside.) I took out a piece of playdough, hoping that Pipidinko would play with it more, stretching and squishing. Instead, he created this little installation. I was so impressed! Way to go, my baby!
