Don't Try This at Home

I feel fortunate to live in a city where toddler art classes are easy to come by. I can let my daughter explore art materials without worrying about covering my entire kitchen in a drop-cloth. I think introducing kids to art history first starts with introducing them to creating art. This is my daughter at 19 months:

She became more and more comfortable painting on mural paper, exploring with trucks, combs, and dinosaurs in the paint, and stamping with all kinds of objects. Only 5 months later - I took this picture on her 2nd birthday:

She's an addict. If you haven't read the book, "I Ain't Gonna Paint No More," by Karen Beaumont, I highly recommend it (not only because it describes my girl perfectly!). http://www.amazon.com/Notable-Childrens-Books-Younger-Readers/dp/0152024883 

But now she's 3, and we do try more at home. My must-haves: Large mural paper, a great smock with arms (the apron-style are definitely not enough for us), and yes, a drop cloth. No matter how thick the paper is, paint will go through onto the dining room table without one. (Kids love to layer. I repeat to my young elementary students as they layer and mix in the same area until the paper starts to fall apart: "That looks great - now focus on the part of the paper has no paint!") I love Mimi the Sardine Spillmats: http://www.amazon.com/Mimi-Sardine-Spillmat-Design-Green/dp/B003724VAS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299290916&sr=8-1

My Little Jackson Pollock

We spend time in New Hampshire every winter, and this winter it's been c-o-l-d. We haven't been out skiing as much as we'd like, but we have been staying busy up there and going outside in between hot chocolate breaks. One great, easy outside snow painting idea - spray bottles. Fill them with food coloring or liquid water colors and add water, and then squirt, squirt, squirt. My daughter loves this!

It looks a lot like a Jackson Pollock painting. When we got back home, we were looking through an art book (we have some on the coffee table and she's always browsing through them), and I pointed at a Pollock and said, "This reminds me of something you did!" It was a nice reversal of creating art inspired by an artist. Full disclosure: we did have some help from 4-month-old puppy Bode: