Never Too Young for Crafts

My 11 month old Jakob is starting to really enjoy painting.  What's not to love, really?  It's messy and squishy and you can make fun colors.  I've painted with him once before.  It was fun but the mess (and the messy child) was annoying to clean up.
 

 

Round 1 - super dooper messy

So I had an idea...why not paint in the bathtub?  It was perfect!  He could paint in his diaper and then when we were done, we'd just wash all the mess, including what was covering him, right down the drain.  I taped some paper down in a couple different places so he could just wander around the tub and paint when he felt like it.  It was a fun experiment and I'm excited about the finished products!

At first I just put one piece of paper on the floor of the tub and one on the side wall.  

Then I put one on the edge of the tub.  Jakob is pulling up on everything these days so that surface was getting painted regardless.  

He ended up using his foot to paint the one on the floor.  He thought it was funny that he was slipping all around. 

By the time we were about done, he was even painting the floor mat!

And now, here's about 20 super cute pictures of Jakob in the bath.  Who doesn't love a splashing baby?!

 

  

Fall Leaves Craft

I'm not the kind of person that decorates for holidays.  Christmas is one thing but for all of the others, our house pretty much looks the same (ie: toys everywhere, dishes in the sink, laundry in various stages of doneness, etc).  I do LOVE crafts though so when I saw this one, I knew I had to try it with Kaleb.  It was so easy and I'm thrilled with the results!

In the original post, it was labeled as a "no mess" finger painting craft.  However, that did not turn out to be the case with my wee one, as nothing can be mess free.  It wasn't too bad though.  The best thing about this craft is that pretty much any age can do it.  If they can bang on the table, they can do this.  If I didn't think Jakob would pick up the wax paper and eat it along with the paint that's on it, I might try it with him.  Give him another month and we'll revisit it.

Step 1 - Lay a piece of wax paper on the table and then put a piece of construction paper or cardstock on top.  

  I seriously can't believe he's smiling for the camera all on his own - no bribery!

 

Step 2 - Then drop some blobs of paint on the paper.

 I went a little heavy on the paint blobs but they still came out good.  

Also, Kaleb got excited with the rolling pin and started rolling 

prematurely, but you get the idea.

Step 3 - Place another piece of wax paper on top and start rolling!

 The original post said to use your hands to move the paint around but Kaleb 

quickly (as in, didn't want to do it at all) got bored of that.  But when I broke out my big rolling pin, he thought that was pretty cool and wanted to do many more.  It's like it's a power tool or something!

 

 This is Kaleb complaining about getting paint on his shirt. Seriously child?  Did you not see yourself after the shaving cream craft?

This is the result if you shmush the paint with your hands.  

And this is what it looks like if you use a rolling pin.  

Step 4 - Cut out some leaves and hang them wherever you need some festive fall-ness :)

Now I'm just trying to think of something else that would look good with this same color blending effect. 

Shaving Cream Marbled Paper

I LOVE to do crafts with my kids.  Right now, it’s mainly Kaleb (for obvious reasons) but soon enough Jakob will be joining in on the fun.  Any morning we are free, there is paint, glue, glitter and, in this case, shaving cream scattered all over our kitchen. 

This is one of my favorites we’ve done so far.  It’s a throwback to elementary school that's super easy with pretty cool results.  We did it in the kitchen but next time, I’m totally doing it outside so I can hose him off when we’re done. To say we made a HUGE mess is a HUGE understatement! 

Step 1 - Squirt shaving cream all over a cookie sheet.

Step 2 - Dot the shaving cream with food coloring.  I'm sure you could use however many colors you'd like, but we just did two.  

Step 3 - Swirl with a toothpick.  In my opinion, when it comes to the swirling, less is more because the colors are much more vivid.  You can see from some of the final product pictures which way you like it better.

 {And yes, the wee one likes to do crafts (and many other things) in just his undies.  Wouldn't you if you looked that cute?}

Step 4 - Place paper (cardstock works best since it’s a little thicker) on top of the shaving cream and press it in, making sure all the corners are covered.  

Step 5 - Take the paper out of the shaving cream and use a spatula to scrape the paper clean.  See how the color stays behind? 

Step 6 - After you have scraped most of the shaving cream off, use a paper towel or washcloth to wipe it completely clean.  Then set it aside to dry. 

They come out so pretty!  We used cardstock and also blank note cards so we could write letters and mail them to people we love. 

Here’s some of our finished products:

 

Step 7 - Carry your child directly from the kitchen to the tub!  Kaleb was a hot mess!