My girls love to paint with watercolors and they seem to have
the world's worst timing to ask me if they can paint with them.
The supplies were scattered around the art studio in places they needed my help to reach.
For example they would ask for watercolors when I was in the shower,
or when I was cooking dinner and had raw chicken all over my hands,
or when I was "indisposed" (hiding in ) the bathroom... you get the idea!
I knew I needed to come up with a solution but it's one of those things that I kept
forgetting about until I was busy and they asked again.
Finally, I came up with a solution during the first week of my on-line
Playful Learning Spaces class with Mariah Bruehl.
Put everything in a pretty basket
and leave it out where the kids can find it.
Why did it take me this long to figure this out?!
I used a basket I already had in the house.
I filled it with:
two tablets of watercolor paper,
watercolor paints and brushes,
two glass jars (that can be filled with water at the sink),
a sharpened pencil,
a fine tip and a small line permanent marker,
small roll of paper towels,
and some water-soluble colored pencils.
Note: The salt shaker we use for watercolors is sitting on a table in the art studio
where they can reach it as needed but it's not in the basket
(I was worried it would tip over in the basket.)
The girls "discovered" their new watercolor basket as soon as they got home
from school that afternoon and have been using it almost daily ever since.
Evening watercolor session while mom cooks dinner.
Fondly,
Pink and Green Mama
9 comments:
love this idea...as with all your ideas :) no kidding on the world's worst timing thing...must be a common kid trait. thanks for the great ideas!
What a great idea! I need to do this.
Brilliant idea! I'm going to do this very soon. My daughter LOVES to watercolor paint and I always find it difficult to set it up for her. This way I'll be fostering her independence while letting her do one of her favorite activities. THANKS! Oh, but can I ask, what do you use the salt shaker for?
Ahh, watercolors! I do love that they are so beautiful and pretty much mess free!
What a nice idea, I am always wondering how to keep project stuff in a handy and organized place!
I love this. I need to do more things like this... easy access art supplies. In fact I have a similar basket that is filled with stuff in a very non-functional way, maybe it's time to empty it out and repurpose!
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Perfect! Now if only I can find a way to dry them without dribbling. My kids crank them out at lightning speed.
Perfect! Now if only I can find a way to dry them without dribbling. My kids crank them out at lightning speed.
This is a lovely idea! When my sons were little,w e were fortunate enough to have a large window seat in the kitchen with storage space underneath for all of their art supplies so they could work on their latest creations at the kitchen table while I was getting dinner ready. Accessibility is the key-when the desire to create something is there, it's wonderful for kids to be able to seize the moment and get what they need for a project!
That sounds lovely! I WISH we had room in our tiny kitchen for a space for the girls to work while I cook. Most of the time they just perch on our kitchen stools at the counter with a basket of crayons and color or draw while I cook. : )
Fondly,
MaryLea
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