Colorful Creations

I went back to the Pinterest board I mentioned yesterday to try and get some more ideas for indoor toddler activities. The first two things I saw were "freely play with flour" and "body paint with yogurt".  If I have to spend more time cleaning than the kids spend creating, I'm not going to be happy. Clearly the flour and yogurt weren't going to happen. 

I broke out the PlayDoh for the first time. Since I didn't want the trio running all over the place with PlayDoh, I confined them to their high chairs. I try to avoid any kind of crafts at the table because I worry the kids will associate the table and highchairs with food and try to eat it. Surprisingly, no one tried to eat the PlayDoh. They didn't really know what to do with it. I gave them various utensils to try and they mostly just stabbed it. James and Amelia were curious; Maddie was mildly interested at best.

Since PlayDoh wasn't as entertaining as I'd hoped I let the trio paint. Painting is one of their favorite activities and it's so easy to wash off. I put the bibs on, taped large white paper to the table, and gave each child a different primary color.

After letting everyone paint with their color for a few minutes, I wanted to switch colors so they could create a secondary color (orange, green, purple). Not knowing my intentions, Maddie was extremely upset when I took her paint away. As soon as I gave her another color, she was happy as could be.

After fifteen minutes, James tore his wet paper and began painting his hand. Amelia and Maddie remained content until I took their paint away. All in all it was a fun, creative morning.