Nurturing the Budding Artist

When Leif was very young, a forward thinking friend's mother gave us this book. I love the author's philosophy and agree that art, especially in the early years, should be more about the process than the final product. It's all about exploring with textures, colors and methods and allowing the creativity to flow.

So yesterday I realized that we hadn't done anything artsy in a while. I pulled out the book and quickly found a recipe for paste paint:

1 cup flour

3 cups water

food coloring or tempera paint (we used food coloring)

Put the flour in a saucepan and slowly add the water while whisking. Bring it to a boil on the stove and feel free to add a bit more water if you want a thinner paint.

Once the texture is set, pour into jars and add your coloring. I stuck with the primary colors, thinking that simpler was better at this age. Here they are cooling under Leif's supervision.

The end result was pretty satisfying. Leif loved mixing the colors and with the amount we made, it looks like he'll have enough paint to keep us busy for many, many mornings.

You can find MaryAnn Kohl's book, First Art; Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos here. For more thoughts about how to nurture your child's creativity (and much more) I recommend the book, You Are Your Child's First Teacher by Rahima Baldwin Dancy. You can find that Waldorf inspired book here.