pastel drawing/ goop

Body art, wet chalk style :)

Rainy and grey today... all my loves arent well with coughs and colds and general splutterings in all directions. So it was a quiet day with lots of cuddles and a touch of tv :)

Whilst Jared was happily perched watching Thomas, Amahli went hunting in the craft cupboard and pulled out the pastels that Jared has drawn with yesterday.

I LOVE pastels. Creamy and smooth, the colours are vibrant and fun :) They have long been a favourite in our house although I havent really let Amahli use them because they are also incredibly smudgy and messy. And she attracts mess like nothing I've ever seen.....

But today, I was feeling cruisy and so I let her use them.

Until now, she as scribbled in a random way, enjoying the feel of the crayon or pencil ran across a page, experimenting with using each hand, learning how to hold and control pencils or crayons, rather than creating an actual picture. This is a really important part of learning to draw and using drawing implements and I have enjoyed watching her experiment with them. But today, for the first time, she was focused on the page and what she was drawing.

I watched as she amazed herself at the picture appearing,( stifling the need to giggle every time she pulled a surprised face) each colour contributing to her picture.




When finished, I asked her about her creation. She responded " a bainbow!" ( rainbow).
Proud little girl, proud mumma :)



Being an insidey day, I thought that they would enjoy doing something different. I found some cornflour and set to making Goop. Another of my favourite things, goop was one of the first things I made on Prac at my first preschool centre, about 16 years ago ( wow I'm old!). I used it for tactile play, sensory play for a vision impaired child, cooking play for weeks for a funny group of 5 yr olds, and a heck of a lot of mixing/adding/pouring/measuring play.
What I didnt think of was it is a VERY tactile experience and messy looking. None of mine would go near it. I even tinted it a lovely lurid green and got stuck into it myself, they watched with faces of disgust. Jared humoured me and stuck a finger in but wanted to wash it straight away. Amahli, who is normally pretty keen, decided it was a bit too much for her too. And so, whilst they played in the sandpit I set up in the undercover outdoor area, I played in Goop :)





Quite an amusing thing, trying to take photos whilst one hand is covered in strange green goop. Its such an interesting mixture, its a liquid and a solid. You can roll it into a ball, only to let it go and have it ooze through your fingers. And its incredibly soothing to play in.








On a slight improvement, both little ones were fascinated with me tipping the container of goop and letting it run down to the other end. It looks like waves at the beach, and is quite mesmerizing. Jared even went so far as to tip it back and forward himself.

I'll get them in it yet :)
And I am now a lovely Avatar green....
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