In a bid to steer the girls away from so much TV I cracked out the freezer paper and fabric paints. I haven't done any since Isaac's last two shirts (lion, tortoise) and felt it was time for another one; and what better way to spend a Saturday morning? Here are the results.
This was the first time either of them had done this and it was the first time I'd supervised anything like it. For future projects I think I need to be more instructive, i.e.: "draw me a strawberry" or "draw me a teddy bear." Roisin got a bit carried away with her drawing and included sky & background so I explained that we could only really use the girl for the stencil, but she could paint other stuff on after which she was happy with. Might need to be more clear when explaining, but then too much explanation and they lose interest. Catch 22!
I know they had fun & it was a valuable lesson for me in letting go of some of my perfectionist neuroses. The kids are used to dunking their brushes in cheap poster paint tubs and slapping the paint on rather than delicately dabbing at the excess paint inside the lids of quite-expensive-for-the-amount-you-get fabric paints and then stretching the paint out on the fabric. I just kept reminding myself "only 6 & 4" and it went really well. I could really tell that Aoife's now starting to think about things more rather than charging ahead and being upset when it doesn't look how she expected it to. It's lovely to see Roisin drawing actual people and things, since she started school her drawing has come on leaps & bounds.
Goodness knows how (in-fact I do know how - they're kids) they got paint all over their fingers/elbows etc, some of which ended up on the shirts. An additional whale on Aoife's shirt and a cunningly placed balloon on Roisin's meant the worst was disguised. They are only 6 & 4 after all so I think they did extremely well!
Just for good measure - Roising & Isaac playing after the shirts were done.
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| L-R: Aoife's, mine & Roisin's |
The girls had a great time doing the drawing & painting. I think the most difficult bit for them was waiting for it to be dry. This wasn't so bad as we'd booked to take them to a children's play at the local theatre studio so the paint was dry by the time they got home.
Evaluation
This was the first time either of them had done this and it was the first time I'd supervised anything like it. For future projects I think I need to be more instructive, i.e.: "draw me a strawberry" or "draw me a teddy bear." Roisin got a bit carried away with her drawing and included sky & background so I explained that we could only really use the girl for the stencil, but she could paint other stuff on after which she was happy with. Might need to be more clear when explaining, but then too much explanation and they lose interest. Catch 22!I know they had fun & it was a valuable lesson for me in letting go of some of my perfectionist neuroses. The kids are used to dunking their brushes in cheap poster paint tubs and slapping the paint on rather than delicately dabbing at the excess paint inside the lids of quite-expensive-for-the-amount-you-get fabric paints and then stretching the paint out on the fabric. I just kept reminding myself "only 6 & 4" and it went really well. I could really tell that Aoife's now starting to think about things more rather than charging ahead and being upset when it doesn't look how she expected it to. It's lovely to see Roisin drawing actual people and things, since she started school her drawing has come on leaps & bounds.
Goodness knows how (in-fact I do know how - they're kids) they got paint all over their fingers/elbows etc, some of which ended up on the shirts. An additional whale on Aoife's shirt and a cunningly placed balloon on Roisin's meant the worst was disguised. They are only 6 & 4 after all so I think they did extremely well!
Just for good measure - Roising & Isaac playing after the shirts were done.
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| He's not quite sure what to make of Rosh sometimes! |
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