Art Projects

We needed some pumpkins in our house because tis the season but don't really have money at the moment to be buying pumpkins and so I came home with paper plates and the thought that maybe Padon and I could make our own pumpkins while Walter had friends over for a game night.

For Padon's first birthday he received finger paints and until now he had been way to oral, and impulsive to consider passing off paint to, no matter how washable they were. I set up his table, laid paper underneath, got paper towels ready, laid out the plates with the pumpkin sketch, put his smock on, and opened the paints. It was fun. He was interested in the paint but was concerned that it was "yucky" and that maybe he wasn't supposed to stick his hands in it. So I went first and the project was on. I wasn't fast enough to keep the two table spoons of orange finger paint from making it in his mouth and down into his stomach (which you could tell didn't taste good) and did have to remind him probably another 8 times to keep his hands out of his mouth (I think each color inflicted a need to taste it again and again) but it was fun. He went hog wild on the plate and I made a mad dash to his room to grab the canvas that had come with the paints on his birthday so he could keep going. Once he started drawing in the paint with his fingers I wished he would keep going but the fact I had kept him focused for about 10 or 15 minutes in one thing was already a great achievement and I lost his interest in showing how he could now draw pictures in his colors. I got a couple good scratches in the paint on the canvas out of him and then it was a dash into the kitchen to wash off the paint before he touched anything or anyone as he said "all done!" and tried to run away.
I think it is a lovely piece of artwork and a fantastic gift idea. I scratched Padon's name and the year on the canvas in the lower right hand corner and set it up to dry. I look forward to asking him tonight where he thinks we should hang it. I'm really tempted to turn a portion of the right hand side of our hallway wall into the family artwork section.