More Painting With Kids

In addition to the word art Munch and I created, we also reworked another painting from a couple of summers ago-
While her cousin A. was visiting, I had the kids work on a joint self portrait. First, they planned their drawings on paper. A. decided he'd draw a mohawk on his head. Next, they decided what colors they'd use for themselves and the background. Once colors were decided, they got to work painting. It was interesting watching the way they collaborated, shared, and compromised while painting the canvas simultaneously.
Once the background was dry, the kids did a rough sketch of their pictures on the canvas. From working with Munch in the past, I learned to do the painting in stages and let each new addition dry before continuing so it wouldn't get muddy. I had Munch and A. begin by painting all the skin- the face, arms, and legs. After letting that dry, we moved on to painting the clothing and hair.
In between painting, the kids chased "the bad guys" (A. with his imaginary sword and Munch with a magic fairy wand) and decorated a gingerbread house.
Last came the details- facial features, shoes, and additional last-minute embellishments. I liked seeing the subtle differences in the way a 4 and 5 year old conceptualized and represented themselves.
On Christmas day, the painting was unwrapped by the grandparents-
Posing with the final product-

Munch's Updated Workspace

I had a difficult time this Christmas when people asked what they could get for Munch. She's REALLY into drawing, coloring, and writing right now and I ended up getting her lots of art supplies- coloring books, fat & bright colored pencils, some fun, decorated tape-isn't it cute? I always felt so badly for her because our main work space is a train table with lid. I'd find her sitting on top of it, hunched over the picture she was working on. So she really needed a proper table. Luckily, her grandparents agreed to get her one. I spent a few days looking, but many were either too short (she'd outgrow it too fast) or had such a small work space that we couldn't comfortably work together as we usually do. I finally found one on amazon from a school supply company.It's a great size that should carry her through the next several years, at least until first grade. It's still small enough for a tea party with her stuffed friends and big enough for her to cover it and make a fort. We had the darnedest time getting an undamaged one because of the way it was packaged (barely) but I finally got the table set up for her, rearranged her work area, and now she has everything she needs for creating some fun things!Munch's work space is in a nice, bright corner. Under the windows is an old chest/bench in which I keep the paints. The tall bookcase holds puzzles, games, crayons, markers, paper, stickers, and other supplies on the lower shelves where she can reach them. The upper shelves hold workbooks and craft supplies that she needs to ask me for (rubber stamps, pompoms, sticky foam shapes, glitter glue) for more involved or messy projects. The low book case holds more paper, beads, play-doh and dough tools, trays for containing the messes, foam dough (I LOVE this stuff-so easy to clean and no sticky residue!), her fish, and a little iPod and speaker. Tucked into the corners are a tall lamp and a new mini vacuum, the Dirt Devil Kurv, that she knows to use at clean up time. I'll just add a hook to hang her mini dustpan and sweeper and we'll be all set!

My Little Artist

Inspired by a past episode of J&K Plus 8, where Kate takes the little kids to do some painting, I picked up a few canvases at the beginning of summer. Munch planned the main colors and I added another complementary one or two as she painted. Here are the results-

I think I'll have her do one more so we have a group of three. Since our first two use red- maybe the third will be mostly pinks and reds.

My Life as a SAHM

I consider myself really lucky to have the job that I do. Although teaching kindergartners takes quite a bit of energy and patience (both of which I somehow have to dredge up reserves for when I start my afternoons with Munch), it allows me a good amount of time to spend with her. I know how quickly the time goes, so I try to make every minute count. Even our commute hours in the car are great opportunities to chat, play games, sing songs, and tell stories.
I've been home this week-Spring Break- and as usual, I've been busier than ever. Today was especially jam-packed. We started our morning with a tour of the Jelly Belly factory-

she loved seeing the Jelly Belly Volkswagen Beetle- the Beetle's her current favorite car and she loves trying to spot them on the road.

They were having a Mrs. Grossman Sticker Day, so we purchased a couple of assorted packets to do a little sticker art-

After lunch, a short workout, and a quick game of Mario Kart-

we headed to the library. It was Munch's first visit and they were having a special wildlife presentation. She got a front row seat for seeing some beautiful animals. Her favorite was the porcupine-


we also made sure to walk around the duck pond after checking out our books-

Once we got back to the house it was snack & project time. I decided to combine the two after Munch's interest in Purplicious and seeing the way pink and blue made purple at the end of the story.
We read the story, Mouse Paint, and I mixed up a small batch of white frosting. After dividing it into 3 bowls, we added a few drops of red, yellow, and blue food coloring to each.

Then we chose different pairs to discover what new secondary color they created.


Munch spread her colored icing on vanilla cookies to enjoy with some nice, cold milk.

Now, she's busy making imaginary cookies while I blog and get dinner together. I know I'll be pooped later, but what a fun day- I feel like we got good quality time with a lot of learning built in.