Tuesday Tips

Three tips to help bring out your child's inner artist.

Really, these tips come from Mallary. She’s the budding artist. She loves crayons, and her new favorite thing is coloring – all day. Mind you, she takes quite a few breaks to “experiment” on other canvases.

TIP #1: Experiment with different surfaces.

Coloring books can get really boring...

I guess Mallary wanted to change her view out of our kitchen door.

Mallary has added her own illustrations to this book before, but literally as I was doing this post I checked on the kids and she was adding more of her illustrations. Do you see her crawling away from the scene of the crime???

TIP #2: Take advantage of the kitchen floor. The possibilities are endless...

This "artwork" is for the fridge, but it spends most of it's time on our kitchen floor.

I had let Trevan paint during Mallary's nap time, and before I bought her downstairs I told him to put all of his pictures on the kitchen table so she couldn't reach them (we have one of those high tables). A little while later, I walk into the kitchen to this. Low and behold, Mallary could now reach things on the table, and one of Trevan's paintings was still very, very wet. This was a pain to clean up because I cleaned her up and then she kept stepping in it as I was cleaning. It was so fun.

TIP #3: Utilize the resources around you.

You know how you tear paper "artfully" when doing scrapbooking or cards? Well, Mallary must have seen that somewhere and thought it was really cool... She has torn up so many books and magazines, it is crazy.

I can't give Mallary the credit on this one. Although she loves adorning the lamps and the trash can with stickers, this table was all Trevan. Even the "distressing" on the edge...


You know those artists that make art out of trash, well I think Mallary will be headed in that direction. She loves to take stuff out of the trash can. LOVES it. We have put the trash can in the pantry and in the laundry room, but it eventually gets on my nerves having to walk around it and I put it back in the kitchen. It is also usually turned around in the corner, making it harder to get to. Well, last week, we were getting ready to go to the park, and I was finishing up making some hair bows when I heard some rustling in the kitchen, poke my head around the corner, and may have got a little upset. That morning I had thrown away the frosted mini wheat cereal bag with A LOT of crumbs in the bottom, and Mallary had pulled it out, dumped them out, and was spreading them out on the floor. The thing is I didn't hear her pull it out and dump it or maybe it could have been prevented, the rustling I heard was Trevan putting the bag back in the trash can.

It was a mess to clean up because Trevan had tried to help clean up and spread more crumbs all over the kitchen from the bottom of his feet, same as Mallary. Then I wasn't so bright and got the vacuum out, which spread the crumbs too. Needless to say we were late to the park.

My house is literally their canvas.
Maybe someday they'll be famous artists.

Keep an eye out for Mallary's trash art gallery in about twenty years...

(I told my friend last week I really wouldn't mind running out of material for these posts...)