Mystery crayon rubbings

As a child I loved doing crayon rubbings. They seemed a bit magical to me. I loved seeing what money looked like, the contrast of the rubbings exposed the design for me. We did some fossil rubbings recently at the museum and then the Artful Parent gave me this idea...

I set a space with 2 areas of odd items blue tacked into position, one for B

and one for Little Miss.

Then I secured a piece of butchers paper over the top and put a few crayons on top.

When B came home from school I told them both I had set up something for them at their desks.
They rushed downstairs in excitement and at first just saw the paper. B actually said in a sarcastic voice, "Oh its just drawing paper." He is getting harder to please as he gets older and wiser. But I felt the paper and said, "I think there is something underneath." Of course then they tried to tear the paper off, so I ended up demonstrating what to do.

They had to be careful as the butcher's paper was too thin and ripped easily and my choice of objects should have been flatter.

Guessing the objects as they rubbed was an interesting game.

But they were really desperate to see what was underneath so in the end had to rip the paper off like it was a present.















  



Even though I didn't think this activity went really well, wrong paper and impatient kids, once they saw the arrangement of objects they immediately asked for me to set them up another one.


Find out what else kids have got adults doing at childhood101

Cool kids furniture

Designer children's furniture is something I love and yet hate at the same time. I love the clever thinking and beautiful aesthetics but hate the high price tags. And I love the creative approach to redesigning something that already exists. A play table can be fresh, new and offer a twist, or scope for further functionality and creativity by being designed slightly differently. Not to mention just more fun that your regular run of the mill table. So even if I have a perfectly functioning table and chair arrangement for B and Little Miss, I find myself wanting something else. Like this deskhouse with pencil holder chimney by nine to nine.

Or these letter storage stools from Art can break your heart.

And what about this beautiful range of furniture from BM2000
These bedside cabinets with faces are adorable characters.

Little Miss would love to sleep in a pink fairy castle bunk bed.

Or I am sure she would be happy sleeping on top of a rainbow bunk bed.

Both my kids have grown out of being in a cot, but this one is so funky and it converts to a toddler then adult bed.

There is something about designer children's furniture that encapsulates childhood. And when I think about it there are many parallels between designer children's furniture and the kids themselves.

The furniture is small in size - just like the little people.

The furniture is happy, fun and makes you smile - kids laugh so much more than any of the adults I know.

The furniture is often adaptable- just like kids, sometimes much more than we give them credit for.

The furniture is often brightly and playfully coloured - anyone who has children knows they can be very very loud, as well as have a wardrobe full of brightly coloured clothes, not ever to be mixed in with a white washing load of Dad's shirts.

But the problem with little people is that they turn into big people, stop laughing and eventually leave the home containing all the expensive children's furniture.

So I guess that's why Ikea is so successful.

I love it when...

...I'm out somewhere like waiting to see a doctor, or in line at the refunds counter of Target and one of the children says the dreaded word combination "I'm hungry" and I really love it when I'm equipped with the right food.

The two words "I'm hungry" almost send chills down my spine.

For one thing I can distinctly remember being hungry as a child, a lot. I am sure I was a well fed with 3 healthy meals presented every day, but all those in between times were never satisfied. And I remember that, very well. So when one of my spawn presents me with the hunger issue I love being able to conjure up a satisfying healthy snack out of my handbag.

There are not many foods that can manage to be stored in a handbag and also be a satisfying healthy snack. I remember my sister once finding a forgotten Kit Kat when we where at the beach and let me tell you that was the best Kit Kat ever eaten. But I would never give my children chocolate without them earning it in some way, like eating broccoli first or being really well behaved when its important to be. Fruit is a great snack and I never not let B and Little Miss eat it, but fruit is not really very transportable and you leave it in your hang bag at your own peril. Sultanas would be great if my kids ate them, sadly they don't, and they even reject all kinds of baked goods containing them, even those with thick pink icing on top, go figure.

Adding to the problem is the fact that Little Miss and B have very different tastes. Little Miss prefers plain bland food, whereas B is into full salt or sugar fixes.

So the other day while we were out and both children chanted those dreaded words,"I'm hungry" and I had a rice cake for Little Miss and a muesli bar for B I was thinking I had mothering nailed....

...for that moment anyway...

...until someone said they were thirsty.

When I grow up...

At dinner one night Little Miss announced, "When I grow up I want to be a superhero."

For which Little Miss's Daddy replied, "Well the world needs superheroes."
And I couldn't agree more.

Wobbly tooth

It was an exciting day when I casually asked B if any of his teeth were wobbly, only to find that one was.

We were both really surprised and B became very excited. The wobbly tooth then became his occupation for several weeks. I could see him playing with it in his mouth, giving the thing no rest at all. He ate food a little differently careful not to knock or bump his precious wobbly friend.

Remember having a wobbly tooth in your mouth? I can remember my tongue constantly playing with it until it dangled, held on with an invisible thread, not quite ready to let go and make way for the adult within, restless to emerge.

But out it came, all of a sudden, one night at story time. We had a moments surprise then we all looked at that tiny tooth, set free, so small in the palm of his hand. The big gap in B's mouth became the new playground for his tongue. Of course the tooth fairy would come now so excitement interrupted our bedtime routine.

And as that tooth fairy came and left B a gold coin, I couldn't help feel like I was being forced to let go a bit too. My boy is growing up. His adult teeth are making their way. B will be ready for more challenges and responsibilities and I will be letting go little tooth by little tooth.

Holiday highlights

I am greeted with "Is anything planned" by B at the end of every school day. So school holidays offer me a task to keep my busy boy occupied. He is thriving in the structure, challenge and occupation of school. His misbehavior during past school holidays seems to me to indicate that he 'wants' in the loose freedom of long uneventful days.

This distresses me somewhat as I would like him to enjoy the routine-less days and creatively occupy himself with his own imagination. And to a certain extend he will do this, inventing new machines, building with recycling, drawing hundreds of drawings to work out how a steering wheel turns wheels or playing schools or other role playing games with Little Miss. These activities are all really great...

But as he naturally tends to turn to me as his teacher mother for the next topic of exploration, I thought I would take the pressure of us both by actually planning some outings these school holidays. So we have been busy, but we have had so much fun.

Firstly we looked down exploring fossils and dinosaurs at the South Australian Museum's school holiday program. We searched for bones and fossils in special pits. Did fossil rubbings, made a dinosaur mobile, put together puzzles and played with clay.

Another day we turned our gaze up  at the University of South Australia's Planetarium learning about star formations visible at this time of year and viewing a 360degree movie about what it takes to be an astronaut. The scorpion is in the southern hemisphere's sky right now and the Planets are starting to line up this month.

Then we were challenged by reality altogether as we went to see Patricia Piccinin's exhibition Once upon a time.... at the Art Gallery of South Australia. This was a little bit scary as we saw life like sculptures of people and fantastical creatures interacting together. Little Miss really liked all the small baby like creatures and B got confused by the boys who were his height playing a DS and he didnt like all the exposed bottom parts.

It was B and Little Miss's turn to make their own kind of creature at a local library when they attended a craft session there. They were to decorate a chicken Easter basket, and unfortunately the art exhibition did not influence them, as chicken Easter baskets we got.

A wonderful Auntie Easter bunny offered up an extravagant countryside egg hunt with clues or guide strings providing a years worth of bribery material chocolate that exhausted B and Little Miss for a few minutes. We had a wonderful family Easter gathering on a beautiful warm day, made all the more special as two babysitters teenagers played for hours with B and Little Miss.





B and Little Miss's Dad took a few days off work after the Easter break and we went on a very long car trip to spend a few days in the seaside town of Robe. We stayed right on the beach. The sand offered up all kinds of entertainment.


Kangaroo

Seagull

Little Miss

Robe is a stunningly beautiful place and we all had a wonderful break away.

At home we also took a short train trip.

Short though it was, this train trip bought back many memories of traveling around on trains. I had some very odd sensations remembering being so young and free on the train, and especially catching the train with my Mum. Now jolt to the present, I'm feeling the responsibility of children and I am being the Mum. Life really is a journey of circles. I think from now on I will start to feel old, as I have vivid memories of my Mum at my age, it feels so poignant yet reassuring to become my Mum. And I miss her so very very much.

I love it when....

my kids eat green.

Every night they face some sort of green thing on their plates

Different greens get different reactions. There might be a little moan accompanied with, "Ahh not peas" or "I don't like broccoli"

But sometimes when it is cucumber or snow peas, or salad leaves,

a little mouth opens.

A fork loaded with green is raised.

The green goes in.

The mouth chews.

Then swallows,

and the mother is happy.

Well it makes up for all that cake I have let them eat.

Potato stamping eggs

Little Miss got an idea in her head to do potato stamping. I have no idea where she got this notion from, but she has developed a keen interest in potatoes. She wants to grow some and make potato people too. It's a pity she is not really interested in eating them. Unless they come crispy and salty in a foil packet.

Anyway potatoes are a lot like eggs, well their shape is sort of egg like when you cut them in half.  So we carved up some potatoes I cut in half, in readiness for potato stamping.

Little Miss used a pencil to poke prod and leave her mark.




















A sharp knife was my tool of choice. I tried to carve a decorated egg and a rabbit.




















Little Miss chose pink paint, no surprises there, and I got the red and white out too. Then it was just a matter of dipping then pressing.

The egg stamp worked out really nicely

The rabbit was not so successful

I also cut an onion in half and this was my favourite print making tool, though the smell wasn't so nice.

We could make some Easter cards to give to family with our prints, or maybe a mobile with ribbon or some more bunting for Easter decorations. Or we could just admire our stamping as it is. But I'm also thinking of cutting out an onion print sticking it onto a blank sheet and asking the kids to turn it into something. I'll let you know how we get on. If this post inspires some potato stamping remember to throw away the potatoes afterwards, they get a bit nasty on the nose if your daughter decides to keep them in a special place for a few days.

Let them eat cake

If there was ever a time to eat cake, it must be in your childhood.

Childhood is so short, those baby teeth will all fall out, and my children are always moving about and exercising. So I say let them eat cake, let them have the pleasure, and let them have the fun.

It wont be long before they learn the guilt and consequences that come with age and responsibility. I long to see cake as just cake, but now when I look at my middle I see the signs of cake gone before, cake loved and cake enjoyed. Cake comes with baggage. For a child though, baggage is something someone else carries.

Go forth little children and enjoy your cake.

Bunting

Lately I've been seeing a lot of bunting about. It's groovy stuff so I've been trying to think of a way to easily make some with the kids.

Autumn provided us with the inspiration. As Little Miss couldn't help but pick up some of these beautiful fallen leaves. I set up our creative space with the leaves, triangles cut from craft paper a few Easterish stamps and the stamping paint pad and ink pad.

Stamping leaf prints naturally followed.




















Then leaves in relief took on, as fingers applied paint around the edge of a leaf.

It was all getting a bit messy as finger printing happened too. But then B got other ideas. The craft paper colours were reminiscent of traffic lights so B went off on a stop, go, slow tangent. And some random red dots got involved too. Once each side to of every triangle was decorated and dry I stapled the triangles to some gift wrap ribbon then hung it up.

Hey presto - instant autumn traffic bunting. Just what we needed.

Activities with kids rarely turn out like you expect. See more examples at Childhood 101 and Playtime at Hands on: as we grow.

Capturing creativity

I love visual art, but art openings are usually pretty wanky affairs. Odd people stand around in odd arrangements trying look like they know what the hell the art is meant to be saying. Cheap wine flows as does the verbal diarrhoea.






















But I was pleasantly surprised by a recent art show I went to. Not only was the conversation more on my kind of level, but all the art work seemed to capture the essence of creativity. The energy in the work was astounding, there was no fear evident in any of the mark making. The use of colour was free and full of expression. The compositions broke all the rules and the stories within the work were spelt out.



Little Miss's kindy art show was a true visual feast.

Go your own way

As much as I may try to advise, suggest and sometimes even insist that my children do things a certain way, they do their best to ignore me.

And they have to. That is the way they learn. Unfortunatley I can't instill my own lessons or knowledge into them.

BUT I find watching my children make mistakes completely uncomfortable. I want to correct them and offer my answers to everything.

For example B has a fortnightly presentation to give at school. (It's what 'show and tell' has turned into.) This week his talk is about family. I find myself checking on him and his progress frequently. I offer suggestions and ideas to present his information in interesting ways. He makes a family tree and he writes down his spiel. When I see his writing I automatically correct his spelling errors. But then I pause.  B has spelt celebration - sellbration.  This is his work for his talk. He is going to be reading out these words in front of the class. B has to understand his own writing, my spelling correction will  only confuse him. So I leave it alone.

I am still learning too, my answers aren't always right for B and Little Miss.

Through this life you go your own way, and make your own mistakes.