Spray Art

This week, our theme is Apples.

I'm always trying to come up with art projects my little ones can work do, because as fun as fingerpainting is, it gets boring if that's all you do.

This week, I decided we'd try some spray art, and it went really well.
 
I put some Colorations Liquid Watercolor in red, green, yellow, and pink (some apples are kind of pink -- like my favorite, Pink Lady apples -- and I have four Monday kids, and I wanted them to be able to each have a different color to encourage sharing) that I diluted with a little water (but just a little!) to make it go farther.

I put a paper towel on a tray for each child, and let them share colors to create multicolored works of art.  They did have a little trouble figuring out how to use the trigger at first, but they caught on pretty quickly).  The plan is to cut them out in apple shapes for a display.  The colors blend together in a fun way, and they really did end up looking like some of the pinker apples!

All in all, I highly recommend this type of art for toddlers.  Not only is it fun, but they get a sense of accomplishment when they spray by themselves (not to mention it's an EXCELLENT fine motor exercise!).  They didn't want to stop for our outside time!

So Here's What Happened on the First Day of Preschool

Today was the first day of class at my school.  Overall, it went pretty well, but there were definitely some things that could have been better.

Today I had three children: a little girl, G, and two little boys, D and J, neither of whom understand much English. 

G was great today.  Her mom had mentioned that she has sharing issues (her older brothers spoil her rotten), and I saw a little bit of that today when she tried to take the green chalk from J; that was the only problem she really had today.  She and J played very nicely throughout a lot of the day; the colored on the chalk easel together and played in the playhouse together when G was done swinging.  She was very helpful; she picked up things the boys dropped and followed directions very well.

J had a pretty good day.  He cried at first, but calmed down before his mom left.  He and G played very nicely throughout the day (as I mentioned in the previous paragraph).  He fell when we were getting ready to go outside, so I ended up carrying him to the playground (he would sit down in a fit of tears if I tried to get him to walk).  He also wouldn't walk back in after we were done playing, but that was because he was having too much fun playing and didn't want to go in!  He was very attentive when I read a book during snack, but he really did NOT want his diaper changed.  At all.  We have one of those wall changing tables like they have in stores, and I had to strap him in because he was flailing so much.  So much, in fact, that he wiggled out at one point and I had to tighten the straps once I got him back in.  Other than that, he had a really good day.

Today was D's first time away from his parents or grandparents ever, so considering that (and the fact that we speak different languages), he did fairly well.  He jumped right into playing as soon as he got there, but about twenty minutes later, I guess he realized his family was gone, because he started WAILING.  He didn't stop until we went outside (almost an hour later).  He kept trying to get me to open the door so he could leave.  I felt terrible that I couldn't comfort him better than I did, but I did the best I could.  He was great on the playground though; he really enjoyed the swings, then went down the slide a few times.  He did a super job walking back inside too.  He didn't want to eat or drink anything during snack time, but he did sit there quietly while I read a couple of books (Oh, David! and Oops!, both by David Shannon).  He also didn't want his diaper changed, though he didn't fight me.  He ended up eating his snack when his family came, which was fine, and he told me goodbye when he left, which I'm taking as a good sign for tomorrow :)

On a much more embarrassing note, my skirt fell down today when D's family was waiting on the director.  It was a bit too big, so I had tucked it into my leggings to help keep it up (I had a long shirt on, so nobody noticed).  When I was cleaning up the sippy cups, it just fell.  Awkward, right?  Thankfully, I don't think they noticed; D's grandma was reading a book with him, and his dad and grandpa were talking.  Luckily I was right by the bathroom, so I just popped in and fixed it, but it was definitely embarrassing.

I'm hoping for a great day tomorrow!