More art stuff

My wireless has been down for a week now…in case you were wondering why i have not been posting anything much. One good thing that has come out of it is that i have suddenly found more time to read (by read i mean stuff other than Little Bear, Swimmy and Freight Train).  

It’s been a fun few days…we have been doing a lot of sticking/pasting and i have been using the emerging art work to make cards. Amu has fortunately not engaged in the sticking activities though he LOVES to paint. I quickly make paint using flour, salt, water and a little food color for him and place it in a small steel bowl or dish. Then he can decide what he wants to do with it. He plays around in the paint with his fingers, he loves splashing the paint on the plate and watching it fly up in little droplets. He likes to lick the paint too (it is super salty so i don’t see what he likes there). Then he spreads the paints with his hands allowing them to slide on the paper and usually off it onto the plastic mat. I sometimes add a couple of ice cubes to the paint and he loves chasing them over the paper and mat. By the end of it, he is practically swimming in paint and squealing in delight. i rarely try and structure this activity for him. He is only 9 months old right now and i want him to just enjoy playing with paints and textures. I was a little worried that he would try and grab the paint the twins were using (which unfortunately is not the edible home made variety) but the reverse often happens with the twins dipping into amu’s supply. 

 

The boys have currently been doing more stamping and sticking than painting. I have picked up some lovely blocks for printing from Colaba (outside Jehangir Art Gallery). They are traditional block prints (wooden ones from Rajasthan) and we have got an elephant, a tiger, a peacock and a lotus flower. They boy enjoy using the stamp pad and stamps and so do i! (Does anyone know if i can get washable non-toxic stamp pads for kids in Mumbai?)Right now we are using the Faber Castell ones which i bummed from my parents!  By the way – this is a great activity that can be used to make cards, wrapping papers and bags. Black printing on bright colored paper looks stunning. We did birthday cards for my hubby using block prints on bright pink and purple card paper.