I was inspired to Carpe Nap today (Seize The Nap, or, Make The Most Of BabyGirl’s Napping Minutes) and pull out the paint again for JediBoy to use unhindered by a small toddler painting all the papers, the table top, her own face, his shoes, and everything else in creation.
We cut up two cheap kitchen sponges into a few stars and a few stripes, and I poured red and blue paint and set out white paper. I had the grand idea that JediBoy could create some random but festive pieces with the star and stripe stamps that could later be folded and sent to family as Fourth of July greetings.
He did not have the same idea!
First, he was inspired to create a general replica of the American flag. That was pretty neat, actually, and I graciously went with the flow.
Next, he demanded yellow paint. And a “dot” stamp. I cast a suspicious eye, but provided the paint and sponge as he demanded… and I was tickled to see that he was working on creating a Guatemalan flag to go with the American one. (He even worked out a method for making white stars without using white paint… he held the stamp in place and painted blue around the star stamp!)
After that, he stared at the blank piece of paper for a moment, and I optimistically started making the random-yet-artful stars and stripes stamps on my own paper, in the hopes that he would catch on and start churning out the holiday notepaper.
Nope. He turned the “waving” stripe into Ekans, and the small stamp into Starmie, and created a Pokemon battle right there on the paper!
When he finished the battle, I tried sliding a blank piece of paper in front of him again, but he told me he was done. I tentatively pulled six tiny terra cotta pots out from my bag next to the table and said, “Well, I guess you’d rather paint these later, then?” But he was interested in the idea of painting pots.
Ever diligent, I plowed on. “Would you like to see my idea for these pots? I thought we could paint red and white stripes around the bottom like this… and then paint the rim blue?” He paused for a beat, and I was sure the pot was about to become a PokeBall, or the Escape Pod from the Imperial Star Destroyer. Instead, he said, “Cool!” and proceeded to make pots in exactly the patriotic pattern I’d hoped for!
It just goes to show you never can tell with him. So often, freeform art goes over better (and I think it’s generally better to let him make the choices too) so I choose holiday colors or shapes and let him do some freeform art with a slight holiday theme. Today, that idea (stamping with stars and stripes) didn’t go over as planned (though he did have a ton of fun and made three great pictures), but the carefully scripted “make your craft like this” project was a hit. It’s why I’ll keep trying the biggest variety of things I possibly can… because what works one day is a bust the next, and what he’s never tried before he may be willing to try today.
