It was rainy today, again. I decided to sketch the babies. Of course they were having none of it. M kept trying to grab the book and pencils and put her drooly rubber frog on my drawing. E was less interested, but she was moving around so much I could barely get an outline with the two-seconds between her moving and M grabbing the paper. I couldn’t produce anything worth sharing.
On a whim I decided to trace M’s hand, which she kept putting on the page anyway. Of course as soon as I seemed interested in her keeping her hand there she grabbed it away. She acted pretty much how she does when I try to clean her hands after eating–extremely resistant, to put it lightly.
So I tried the hand-tracing with E instead. I got some colored pencils and put the sketchbook on the ground. Each time she put her hand on the page I did my best to trace its outline. A few times I got the whole hand, most times just a finger or a line before she grabbed it away. But she kept coming back. And the paper kept getting more and more colorful. I added a couple outlines of my hand in there, too, and afterward I filled it in with some solid color.
So it was our first art collaboration. Hopefully there will be more in the future. I was reminded of this artist I saw online awhile ago, who created pretty amazing paintings with her four-year-old daughter. You should definitely check those out, here, for something inspiring. But I’m happy with our first collaboration.
Space Monkey Twins 
Very impressive!
Thanks!
Adorable! ❤
We’re cute like that.
Super cool!!
Thank you!
I love this!! I used to do that with some of my little ones too!! It was great fun!
Cool! Hands are so fun.
Great idea! Great memory making.
I recommend it. Pretty fun.
love it!
Thanks! And thanks for commenting!
I think you should frame it. Great teamwork! x
Ha. Yes it was pretty fun to produce something together. Maybe we will try some real prints next 🙂
Mushing around, exploring with all sorts of materials and media is very important for kids. Starts development: of critical thinking skills, cause and effect, spacial relationships, hand eye control, decision making, and much more.
Much applause for your efforts. Practice makes perfect. Please continue and get ready for a messy great time.
Look for info/articles/books on processed based art for young children for ideas of project/productive age appropriate learning and play. It’s the process of creation that is important at this time (2-6 yrs) – not the pretty final product to brag to friends about.(Process art vs product oriented art projects) You are setting the child up for success and becoming a creative thinker – and there is a tie in to reading,but that another time.
Great job mom
Thanks! I’ve always thought art was essential for healthy brain development 🙂 My brain, anyway. We will keep at it as long as they’re interested.
Love it! There are so many fun things to do with little kids. Have you tried (colored) yogurt on a tray/table? It’s a mess, but can be so much fun for them. Easier to clean if they are in a diaper only and then you put them directly in the shower after.
I’ve not tried this one, Will have to do it this weekend. 🙂
No I haven’t. I bet they would love that. New textures are so exciting. Sounds almost like early finger painting. Actually, they like to do finger painting with the avocado on their high chair trays sometimes 🙂
Wow this is fantastic. I’m going to try this Eva. She loves drawing (as do I). Thanks for introducing me to a great new blog too. Love blogs that are unusual and interesting like this.
Glad you checked it out! I thought those drawings were so awesome.
Very cool and such a great idea!!
Thanks! 🙂
I love this idea! Tried with it with C+M and they were into it…eating the pencils that is.
Ha! Yes, pencil eating is particularly fun 😛