10 January 2011

Toddler with Scissors



A couple of weeks ago, I got to stop in at the art supply store, where I bought Peanut's first pair of scissors. Whether providing a two-and-a-bit-year-old with scissors was wise or just nuts was unclear at the time. Luckily, it was not an ill-fated decision. Last week, we got out scissors, some old magazine pages, and the glue and had a grand old time.

Teaching him how to cut was easier than I expected. We put fingers and thumb in place, put paper into the other hand and did one cut together. He needs two hands to open the scissors again and tends to cut holding them upside down, but he had no problem working it out on his own. He spent about half an hour quietly and seriously cutting into the edges of paper. I gave him some thin strips to cut into pieces, but that was less interesting. It looked like cutting at all was plenty of fun to start with.



Glue was the second part of our adventure. I provided some Elmer's glue mixed with water in a shallow dish as well as glue stick. It turns out that Peanut does not like getting his fingers sticky, so liquid glue was not as much of a hit as the glue stick. Also, the concept of glue to stick something on paper didn't quite take either. Maybe next time we will try something more interesting for gluing on.

Inspired by all the kiddy craftiness I see at Soulamama and The Artful Parent, I'm trying to do an art morning once a week now. This was our second go. The first week, we painted, which is always fun. Next week, we'll go to the Art Institute to take advantage of free weekdays in January. We'll pack along colored pencils and a notebook and do some drawing there, too. I'm thinking about picking up Mary Ann Kohl's First Art for more ideas. Do you have any suggestions for more art mornings or resources?

2 comments:

  1. ..we are saving our empty toilet roles and anything else that we can use for art fun. we did our x-mas decorations..see pics on facebook. Currently we are working on kalle's birthday party decorations. His b-day is at the end of this month.

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  2. Art with a purpose is a great idea. Is he going to be 2 already?! Time sure flies!

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