Open-ended Art (Yellow & Prints)

Of all the different ways of making prints, I had to choose "shoes" for Sophie. My logic was simple - she loves putting them on and taking them off; plus it seems like a refreshing idea, not commonly used for printmaking. I even collected cardboard tubes to insert into the tiny shoes as handles. I had wanted to use black construction paper to simulate our local roads but I could not find one the same size (drawing paper) as our previous works. And I really want to compile Sophie's work into a book... So, I decided to stick to white drawing paper.

I also attempted to let Sophie do her work at the table WITHOUT her highchair. First of all, I thought she might need to stand up to do the prints better. And secondly, I wanted to test if she could do away with the highchair. But as a safety precaution, I surrounded her chair with the back of other chairs so that she would fall over. Of course I could always count on her to slide off from under the table...

We started off well, I guess. I did not let her apply yellow paint herself so she just went ahead with printing. But she was soon distracted by the velcro belt on her shoes... Perhaps feeling a little insecure standing on her chair, Sophie decided to do her prints sitting instead. That triggered off a host of new "problems". She could not really reach the paper, so she printed on the side of the table. She grew restless and wanted to get off the chair... WITH her shoes!

I had to coax her back, let her play (dance) a little with her shoes and sang her some self-composed songs before she was willing to start again. This time, I let her try getting paint onto her shoes on her own. Nope... she could not. She tried hard though.

To make it a little more interesting (or so I thought), I added some cookie crisp (crushed into bits) to the yellow paint for her last piece of work. I was hoping she would make some "muddy/dirty" prints. I love the effect, but Sophie was not too thrilled with the bits. I guess she really does not really like the feeling of sandy particles on her fingers.

Well, that all happened in half an hour (believe it or not!). And cleaning up took me more than one hour (including the mess on the cushions and shoes). I cannot say I am very happy about the whole process or even the end product. But it was a good experience for both of us... we would stick to singing and dancing with her shoes for now.

Go to Teaching My Little Bookworm to see what other mummies do with their little ones this week.