It's a truism (and also true) that toddlers are more concerned with the
process of
creating than any product that might result. Somewhere around the
3.5-year mark, they'll start to make drawings of actual things, often
people: large circles with a crude face and stick limbs. No body to be
seen. Just a head with arms and legs. Pretty standard!
Oops. That's all a tangent.
Last
week we made valentine cards, as you know. I filled a cookie sheet with
shaving foam, drizzled on some paint, marbled it a wee bit with the end
of a spoon. They we layed the paper on the foam, tapped it gently all
over, and peeled it off, then let it sit on a counter long enough for
the colour to permeate the paper. With a piece of light cardboard,
scrape the foam off, let it dry, and ta-dah! Paper from which I could
cut hearts to be mounted on dollar-store paper doilies.
Fun.
At no point did they have to be too interested in what they were
making. The whole process was fun. (Stinky, mind you. Phew! Who needs
that much scent in their shaving foam? Of course, who in their right
mind uses a gallon of shaving foam at one go?)
After the prints were made, we had
a whole entire sheet
of paint-drizzled shaving foam. Whee! I would have to have a teeny
Grinch-sized heart to take it away and just wash it all down the drain.
So we rolled up our sleeves and got right into it. "We" being the four
older ones. Ada is still too likely to taste and rub it into her eyes.
She and I just watched the others.
I love this one. Foam as meditation.
In
fact, they were quite quiet and, yes, even meditative, as they swooshed
and swirled in the foam. I think they found the texture soothing.
It
was a lovely, quiet, stinky activity. I had a headache at the end
(strong scents do that to me), but we'll do it again -- outside, in the
summer, probably in the wading pool...
