Only a year ago he happily sat wherever we plopped him.

 
Now, his little feet take him where his curiousity wills, which has been to the art & craft table.

 
Set up the invitation to play with block printing:

 
Toddlers innately want to explore the world around them. They’re figuring out cause and effect relationships. When doing arts and crafts with them, expose them to as many different materials and processes as possible.

 
Place a variety of small dishes with different coloured paints and blocks on the table.

 
Vary the paints each day. Use different colours. Use paints with or without glitter. Offer thick or thin paint.

 
Use different kinds of paper. You can use plain, coloured or textured paper. Don’t forget to use three dimensional mediums like boxes or rocks for variety.

 
Helpful things to remember when doing arts and crafts with toddlers:

 
It’s about the process, not the product.

 
Step back and let him do the whole project himself.

 
Repeat experiences are invaluable so resist the urge to pack things away.

 
What about block printing for older children?

 
To extend the activity for Big Brothers N and M, we explored the beginnings of patterns and algebra with block printing.

The post Art for Toddlers: Block Printing by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

Just last week, my boys were keen to make something; an uncommon event which caught me unprepared. My eyes scoured around for something to work with. Our huge family sized bag of uncoloured pasta presented itself. I needed something quick to make the pasta snazzy. So, instead of coating our pasta with food colouring, we dressed them up in tin foil.

Materials to source: Tin foil, penne pasta

Set the stage for play:  Cut up small pieces of tin foil just large enough to just wrap around the edges of the penne. Roll up individual pieces of penne. (My preschool sons enjoyed helping me roll up the penne in the foil. My toddler was determined, but his fingers didn’t seem to be on the same page as his determination). Press firmly around the edges and grooves of the penne for more definition. Place a combination of plain penne and tin foil penne in a large tray with some bowls and pipe cleaners.

We sorted, poured and threaded pasta. My toddler enjoyed threading the pasta immensely.

I extended the activity for my preschoolers to some simple sequencing of plain and tin foil pasta.

Tin foil pasta. A snazzy way to dress up pasta for play and crafts and here’s my favourite part: no drying time required.

N & M: 4 years
E: 1 year, 11 months
June 2012

The post Tin Foil Pasta by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.