Accountability

I am the mother of two lovely little girls. As I make decisions about how to raise my children, one of the things I feel is important to pass on to them is the gift of creativity. My own mother nurtured this in me, and now I wish to pay it forward. My resolution for 2010 is to plan an art experience for my children every week. Life gets busy, especially with two young children to look after, but this blog is how I intend to hold myself accountable.

Before I get started, let me first introduce the subjects of my coming posts.

Rebecca, 3, is already proving to be quite the orderly kid. Recent fingerpainting fun demonstrates her personality quite clearly: not only did she give each of the colors its own private space on the paper (much like she does with the food on her plate), she insisted on cleaning her fingers after each dip into the paint.

Her younger sister, Elliot, who just turned 1 year, also got in on the fun,

though perhaps I will have to figure out a better way to present art materials to her than by placing them on her high chair tray. The finger paint was in her mouth almost immediately. By the disappointed looks that followed, I think she understood the paint to be food. I went ahead and demonstrated how fun it can be to make colored fingerprints all over the paper, but she seemed content to simply tear and crumple the paper instead.

For now I'm off to plan next week's art adventure. With any luck I might be able to throw in a lesson or two, such as what happens when blue and yellow are mixed together. Stay tuned to see what's in store for these two kids at art!