Kids Art: Waterecolor and Cling Wrap

Continuing the theme of art projects we did recently, here is another.

I was browsing for simple activities with stunning results that can be easily done at home during the Winter Holidays and came across this. I had to try it with Ana.

Items Used: Watercolor paper, Acrylic paper, diluted tempera paints or watercolors, large paint brush, and plastic cling wrap.

1. Simply apply blobs of color on heavy-weight paper.
2. Place a Cling Wrap sheet on top while still wet, and crinkle it to form patterns.
3. Allow to dry.
4. Remove the cling wrap.
5. Voilà!

We left it by the heating vent, of course, to speed up drying. And proudly showed it to Appa when he got home!

Heavy-weight paper works best, and, the nature and quality of the paper makes a difference, as we would expect. Acrylic paper had a more smooth finish with fractal-like formations.



Whereas, Watercolor paper had a coarse textured look with an interesting cracked crystalline pattern.



Usually, I talk about interesting things we could try with materials at home to gauge Ana's interest on any particular day. And, when she zooms in on one, I try to describe the steps first. Typically, I keep it to 4 or 5 steps. Ask her what she thinks the result of such a process would be.

When she expresses readiness to try it out, I assemble the materials, describing them, repeating the names of materials that are new to her. Sometimes I demo the technique/method that she seems to have trouble with. If possible, I show her pictures of the process and finished results to help her work independently.

I showed her the finished results from the web for this project early in the day and talked about it to her and told her that when she is ready to choose that activity, she can help me assemble the materials. It worked like a charm. I didn't have to wait too long before she put away Enid Paapaa and her clothes and was ready to start.

And, as usual, we weren't satisfied with doing just one, so we created a few, playing with colors and textures, some of which weren't as stunning as the others as we found out. But then, 'stunning' is quite subjective anyway :)

[cross-posted at The Joy Of My Life]

Kids Crafts: Dragon Puppet

The Year of the Ox
is here!

And, to commemorate it, Ana and I made a little craft project over the weekend.

[Also posted here]

Materials used: Card stock paper for head and tail, construction paper for accordion-folded body, two bamboo skewers (or straws or even long Popsicle sticks if preferred), craft glue or cello tape, color markers or paints or crayons or glitter glue to decorate the dragon

The idea is not original, of course. I was looking around for activities to do with Ana and came upon various versions of this project on the web and decided to give it a try.

Ana decided it had to be a girl dragon and didn't like any of the elongated reptilian head I came up with, so, we went with a jolly-looking round-faced dragon with a weird pout and pointy ears/horns :)

Next time, we probably will try to make the dragon fancier - maybe glue glitter and tissue paper to make shiny scales, and probably try a more traditional-looking face...

Method:

1. make a head and a face from the card stock paper, and decorate it as you please
2. fold along the long edge and cut the construction paper; make a fan fold or accordion fold with both the pieces and glue them together to form a long accordion body
3. glue the head, body and tail appropriately
4. glue the straws or Popsicle sticks or bamboo skewers one at the head and one at the tail to hold it up and make it dance

Memory Cards

[posted by Sheela at The Joy of My Life. Many thanks to Sandeepa for reminding me to post it at our DMC! ]


Concentration or Memory is a simple game that helps improve memory in children (and adults). There are several versions of this game. Some involve objects, but this here is for little Ana, with home-made cards.

The cards are laid out face down. Each player takes a turn and flips 2 cards at random. If the cards match, they get to keep the pair. If they don't, they put it back exactly where they flipped them. The memory part is that, they should try to remember which position had which card, so, that as the game progresses, the matching act becomes less of a random guess and more of a test of memory.

For Ana, who is 2 years old, the maximum number of cards I use at a time is 12 - which involve 6 pairs, with each pair having a particular picture she easily recognizes and can match without any shred of doubt.

These are home-made cards, so, when I detect some wear, I make new ones. They are not as sturdy as the store-bought laminated cards, and the pictures are not as pretty and colorful. But, it serves the purpose :-)



Supplies I used: card stock paper, paper cutter, rubber stamps, rubber stamp ink pad, some construction paper and dye-cut punch, pinking shears, glue stick.



We don't use color cartridges in our printer, so, I didn't try to design graphics on my computer and print them out. At some point, I would like to print out just the black&white outline and color them, rather than using rubber stamps.

But, the reason I chose to use rubber stamps is so that I can make the cards with Ana. She likes to help me make things, even if she has no clue what I am making. "Let's make some memory cards, Ana" is all I had to say the first time, and when she saw me gather my supplies and settle down, she faithfully sat next to me, observing for a while, then asking to try and glue the flowers at the back and so on... Of course, I always go back and "adjust" it so it looks more uniform.

She is fascinated by the pinking shears and knows it as "Amma's soosuss" (scissors) and has her own plastic scissors with which she tries to clip her hair, her toys and such, of course, without success as it is just toy scissors.

And, while I try to rubber stamp her memory cards as uniformly as I can, she has a blast stamping on her "art" notebook. Her preferred ink color is the turquoise blue, for some reason!

Anyway, as she gets older, I hope to have fun having her design her own cards, and more of them - I can't wait to play with about 50 cards all laid out and trying to match them from memory with Ana...

D and I play with Ana. We don't really insist on turns, as sometimes Ana is so carried away with flipping that she does manage to get all the pairs. This can be played like Solitaire, so, if we can encourage her to get into this game, we could let her play on her own down the road and enjoy the "free time" we get meanwhile ;-)

an age-old battle...

[by Sheela, also posted at The Joy of My Life]

A couple of points I have wondered about: 1) Women are biologically primed for child-bearing, child-nurturing/rearing etc. 2) society has defined Man's role as bread-winner/provider.

To be honest, before I had my own baby, I used to dismiss that as hogwash - in this day and age, roles can be reversed - so what if I am biologically birthing the baby, after birth I can hand over the baby to the husband and head out and be the bread-winner, right?

Wrong! At least in my case. The hormones and the surge of maternal biochemistry over which I seemed to have little control made it extremely tough for me to even leave my baby alone in another's care for longer than few hours (even though out of necessity I had to get back to work, leaving Ana in daycare).

Rational thinking flew out the door in a flash under the maternal surges I felt then. I was fiercely possessive, incredibly curious about raising my baby and quite determined to get it all right the first time around.

Do I envy the SAHM? Not at all! It is hard-work, and best suited for people who have made that choice and stuck to it.

Am I proud to be a WOHM? Not at all! I have made a choice and am trying my best to stick to it and make things work.

Is one inherently better than the other? Clearly not, or we wouldn't be having this age-old battle in our minds.

As I had written earlier, many women don't come this decision - of being a WOHM - lightly or easily.

The dance with the numbers is a tough one. We calculated and re-calculated the budget to see if there was any way we could make it meager-er:
--We don't have cable or DirecTV or any such additional expense;
--we have basic land-line phone with no extras like call-waiting, call-forwarding or even voicemail, as we have a good cell phone deal and have relied on it for all our telephonic needs;
--we buy in bulk from Costco and buy our groceries from local farms getting mostly seasonal produce and maybe some other fancy stuff from one of the eclectic places nearby, plus growing our own as much as possible (season-permitting);
--we are very careful about electricity - unplug wall outlets when not in use (except TV, of course), turn off lights as soon as we exit the area, energy-star rated dishwasher/fridge/oven/water-heater etc.,;
--we decided to use only one car for all our needs (keeping the second one only for emergencies) and plan the shopping trips and commute to work/daycare and such to minimize waste...

Now, if only just recovering the daycare expense by being an SAHM would have made our budget balance better...

Circumstances arranged themselves to make it a necessity for me to supplement D's income. I try to look upon it as a partnership where the sole burden of providing for the family should not rest on his shoulders. By the same token, D looks at raising Ana as a partnership and has helped a lot in taking care of her say two or three evenings a week to give me a couple of hours off to take care of myself and my needs.

A lot of Life is about compromise, planning and doing what seems best under the given constraints.

Either I can complain about it, or, find a good work around to establish some semblance of balance in my world.

My solution was to look at a job as just a job, not a career path, not something that would define me in the long run, but something that helps me raise my family in a comfortable way.

Also, my mom is my role-model in that sense - she worked as a teacher all her life, and raised us, and is a great cook and does wonderful crafts and sewing and such. So, naturally, I consider myself a failure if I can't do at least as much as she showed me it was possible to do.

Besides, we kids turned out fine despite our mom being a WOHM, so, I am possibly not depriving Ana of a well-rounded childhood by not being an SAHM...

But, the day and age in which my mom worked is different from my work situation. At least as far as IT goes, when projects need to be delivered on a deadline, one cannot excuse oneself and work only from 9-5 and head home and forget all about it until the next day.

That aside, my mom had neighbors and family around to walk us kids to school, bring us back, feed us, play with us and know we are safe even if my mom (and dad) had to work late some days. Such resources are hard to come by here, unless one is very lucky indeed!

Also, who doesn't want to be one's own boss, and command one's time as one wishes, instead of pretty much being a bonded laborer on someone else's clock and payroll? Alas! Not many of us really have that luxury, except sincerely wish for circumstances that let us make such a decision and abide by it - for better or worse...

And, when the need to be professional at all times combined with callous and inconsiderate bosses drain the cheer out of us WOHMs, no wonder we doubt whether it is all worth it? But, I prefer not to complain, I prefer to abide by the decision to help bear the burden of raising the family - financially and otherwise.

But, would I be happier as an SAHM? I'll never know... but, all I know is happiness is a state of mind that comes from accepting the situation one is given and making the best of it, drawing a sense of contentment about the way things are - instead of constantly trying to make the current situation better before one can be happy.

Somehow, despite all the Feminism and Equal Rights, it irks me when D suggests that it is not fair for him to bear the sole burden of providing for the family. Especially when "providing for the family" involves more than the basic Food, Clothing and Shelter.

Why have I subconsciously come to accept that the Man should not have a choice? Why am I worked up about making my choice, knowing that I have the luxury to make a choice, whereas upset when the roles are reversed?

Rhetorical as these questions may be, sometimes, there are no easy answers to our brooding. Hopefully, I am making the choice that is right for my situation, just as other women have done over generations and will continue to do way past my lifetime.

As I had written in another post, the need for perfection, the need for things to be a certain way before one can feel inner peace, is clearly convoluted, and conflicts with achieving the said inner peace.

If we are striving for something to be better than it currently is, well, therein lies the paradox...

Baby Puzzles

Puzzles happen to be a lot of fun and essential activity for child development. So they say, and I believe they might have a point. Each child develops at his/her own rate. So, it is not easy to know when exactly to introduce these activities... we let Ana guide us mostly.

Once baby knows to sit up steadily and has enough dexterity to pick up food and other toys items intentionally and place them at a different spot with certain premeditation, as well as have enough focus to recognize patterns, it seems like a good time to introduce the puzzles. When Ana could recognize animals, shapes, fruits and such, around 15 months, we introduced what I call Stage One puzzles pictured above.

I call these Stage One for these reasons:
1. easy for baby hands to pick up using the little plastic knobs (caution: never let the child do it unsupervised at this age - they tend to put things in the mouth and these little plastic knobs are a hazard); and if it doesn't have the knobs, the pieces are large enough to be held by baby hands comfortably.
2. easily recognizable shapes for the puzzle pieces (unlike jigsaw) like animals or fruits and only one would seem right - not a lot of ambiguity.

In the picture above the farm animals puzzle (Melissa & Doug™) was a favorite as Ana used to love stating the animal name and putting the right piece in the right spot. All wooden shapes are the same in this farm animal puzzle, but for the color and pattern which helps identify whether it is a sheep or a horse or a cow or a duck...

Next is what I call Stage Two puzzles:



These don't have knobs for easy pick up, but, have large enough pieces, not quite jigsaw, that will only fit one way, no ambiguity. But, it is a bit more challenging as the shape of the pieces are not uniform or easily recognizable. For instance the Peanuts one in the picture or the Pluto one, all the kid has to know is where the head and feet and such goes and then try to assemble them such that the pieces fit. But the challenge is in the fact that it is not easy to put certain pieces in place before the others are in place. Between 18 and 24 months, Ana seemed to like these.

Next are what I call Stage Three:



These are basic 9-piece jigsaw puzzles with very open and simple themes. Ana loves the animals one - with dog and cat and goldfish and bunny and such. In this category, slightly more challenging 9-piece is the abstract one of the multicolored elephant puzzle in the picture - which is actually 2-in-1 where front is a single elephant and rear is many elephants - aimed at introducing one and many - but the picture is abstract enough to be challenging, yet, easy enough as there are only 9 pieces and only one way they will fit. Around 22 months, closer to turning two, Ana started to focus her attention on these jigsaw puzzles which have a general overall pattern, but the individual pieces don't always seem to make sense.

In my mind, Stage Two and Stage three overlap. They seem equally challenging and interesting.

Next are the Stage Four:



These are more challenging 24-piece jigsaw or block puzzles. Ana is about 27 months now (2 yrs 3 months) and she is into these. The block puzzle is actually 6-in-1 "farm cube puzzle" where 16 blocks need to be assembled in proper order to complete each of the six puzzles.



My favorite puzzles for Ana so far have been Melissa & Doug™ wood puzzles. However, some of the ones in the pictures above are possibly 30 years old as they were gifts from my mum-in-law - apparently D, my husband (her son) used to play with them when he was little! I love the fact that she held on to those and passed it on to Ana.

What usually worked with Ana is, I used to set one puzzle out at a time - all jumbled - in her play area, very handy and at a convenient spot for her to find and assemble them. In the middle of playing with her toys, she would notice this and start putting it together and scream when she gets frustrated and needs some gentle direction or nudge.

By no means am I an expert in child development activities, but, I wanted to share some of the puzzles Ana has enjoyed doing since she was about 15 months or so. Perhaps children are ready even earlier and we can let our children guide us...

This post is completely inspired by Sandeepa's thoughtful comment left on one of my posts. Thank you Sandeepa for giving me an opportunity to share one of my favorite activities with my baby.

Happy Father's Day, Dear Appa!

Dear Appa,

Every time I sat down to write a post about you during the last 10 days, I seemed to hit a wall - not because of dearth of things to say, but, realizing that nothing I say would seem adequate, would convey the right emotion...

It is Father's Day already and if I don't record a few thoughts now (knowing you would read it), I would have missed a beautiful opportunity. So here goes...

My earliest memories are riding in the front seat on your bicycle. I must've been 4 or so then, and used to love it. When you pedaled a bit before you got on, when the bike reached a dangerous 45° angle and I was sure I'd fall down, you'd swing your leg over and seat yourself and we'd be off... Those days seem idyllic now.

When I was sick, I'd insist you take me to our family doctor; I remember hanging on to your arms and hiding behind you in an attempt to ward off the impending "injection" (shots) that our doctor always gave me...

When I cooked my first few meals and had you sample them, you would praise them to heaven and I'd be all beaming until I tasted them myself and realize I hadn't added any salt. When I call your bluff, you'd insist that less salt is good for health and that I am smart enough to know that already!

When in 5th and 6th grade, I used to love making posters. Some were alright, most were mediocre at best if I look at it objectively now, but, you were so proud of my work that you let me put them up on our living room wall... you encouraged me to hone my artistic skills.

I am not sure if you remember: when I was in 2nd grade, you bought me a cone ice cream for the first time. I had eaten popsicles and ice cream in a cup, but, edible sugar cones filled with ice cream was a novelty. I started at the top and finding the ice cream all over my nose and cheeks, I decided to eat it the smart way - by biting off the bottom! In no time at all, i was a sticky mess. I was quite sure I had done something terrible and that you'd never take me out again and buy me ice cream, but, you just laughed and rode us home on your bike and I got washed up, leaving just an embarrassing story behind for my dear brother to leverage :-)

I was not a pleasant teenager - I was angry about a lot of things and didn't quite know how to deal with your generosity.

While most kids would have the opposite problem, you always asked me for my "Buy List" and I used to be hard-pressed to put anything on the list: You and amma provided me with everything I needed to grow up well-rounded.

When I started experimenting with baking, and failing, you just joked about it, turning it into a ritual: "Sheela's Annual Cake-baking Ceremony", emphasizing on the Annual so I will not experiment so often:-)

Your sense of humor is incredible. You constantly keep up the cheer in the house and sometimes I think you would have been a successful comedian, if you wanted to...

As I grew up, we talked about Vedic philosophy, about God about how to lead a good life. We've argued a lot. You've never used your authority as my Father to shut me up.

Your generosity and blessings are the best gifts I can ask for, and I have never needed to ask for it, you and amma have been freely giving it to me.

This Father's Day, I just want to say Thank You! Thank you for being there and raising us as best as you did.

I wish you were visiting me now so I could say it in person... Happy Father's Day, Appa!

kids craft: Father's Day Art

Toddlers love to finger paint and get messy. Usually, the work is not frame-worthy and gets saved for a while and then tossed out. One way to preserve them for a while is to make a keepsake out of some of the special work they do: like, turn them into a piece of art, or into greeting card...

Ana likes to finger paint and has been finger painting since about one year old. I have saved most her "work" so far and have used them in hand-made greeting cards and such. I like the vivid colors of the tempera paints, and the milder hues of the finger-painting paints.

I was wondering what to do for Father's Day... and Ana gave me the start!

Last weekend, she had finished painting a piece - usually, that's when she asks me to unroll some more paper on her easel so she can paint on blank paper again... While unrolling some more for her, I decided to tear the piece she had just finished and turn it into "art" for Appa. The painting you see is entirely Ana's work.

While there is more of that story in my blog , I just wanted to quickly share one way to make little gifts for close friends and family (who else is going to appreciate this, right??!)

To make her painting into a quick souvenir and gift for her Appa, I simply mounted Ana's art on a mat I had, added a loop to hang it from. And then, gave a few stickers to Ana to paste it on the mat just for added effect :-)

Of course, Ana cannot write yet, so, I added some words and a stamp and...

Voila! Daddy has a nice little Father's Day gift made (mostly) by his baby girl to proudly hang on his office wall!

Kids Craft: Bookmarks

This is a nice little project for 4-6 year olds who can either copy a pattern or come up with their own whimsical ones. The nice thing about this project is that it is small, it is useful and can be done during birthday parties and given away as party favors. And, probably can work as an incentive to read books :-)

Ana is too little to color "properly" with her crayons and markers, let alone color within boundaries and draw designs. But, I remember doing a few craft projects with my cousins when I was baby sitting them and wanted to try it with Ana anyway...

I used card stock paper, had Ana scribble with her crayons, and cut out bookmark shapes around it to incorporate her work. Then, of course, I had to finish it myself as my 2-yr old simply does not have the skills in place to do it herself.

Any thick paper would do. Perhaps start the kids off with some pattern that you draw and have them color whimsically... this is a very simple project, nothing much to it, really... feels silly posting it here as a craft project, but, I've posted this on my blog, and, just thought I'd share it here as well.

Cheers!

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello Dear Moms,

I posted this in my personal blog and wanted to share it here at the club:

Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis probably never dreamed of a day honoring her. I think Anna Jarvis, if she could be here today, will both be happy and sad regarding what she started. She might shake her head at the commercialization of the day she fought hard to establish, honoring her mother. She might also give an approving nod at the fact that many of us indeed take the day seriously and make our mothers feel special in what little way we can.

My first Mother's Day as a new mom a couple of years ago with a newborn is a blur. I felt awkward. But, I was grateful as well, as my mom was with me to help with my post-partum recovery, and we talked about her days with a newborn and mine.

For the first time then, I realized what it must have been for her to raise her two kids. Until we come a full circle, we don't realize what it must have taken for our moms to bring us into this world, what fears and hopes they had, and even something as profound as how did they decide to pick a name for us and so on... When I pester her about anecdotes from my childhood, she says, "oh you were such a quiet girl, always entertaining yourself and not bothering me much..". " i have no idea how you grew up to be such a wonderful lady..." if you could only see the twinkle and suppressed smile when she tries to say this with a straight face...

Amma, I know I have always made little cards for you to show how I feel - too bad there were more "I am Sorry..." cards than "Thank You" cards until I grew out of my teens...

I remember the time I had chicken pox, you would brush me with neem leaves and read Les Miserables (abridged), my first introduction to Jean Valjean... I remember your strict "disciplinarian" style when I was out of line... I remember not liking my school days much when you would not bail me out of "punishments" for minor infractions, i remember thinking you must hate me, else, being my teacher in school, why would you not show any leniency, why would you not go out of your way to make sure my school days were a breeze as "the teacher's daughter"? My warped teenage mind refused to be objective...

Is it any wonder that I am mirroring you now? You sewed most of my clothes, you had so many crafts interests, even to this day you are teaching yourself jewelry-making and zardosi embroidery so you can make wonderful gifts for your granddaughter...

Is it silly that even today, when I stress about a little tiff at work, or when I can't seem to cope with many things, I run to you - well, I simply pick up the phone and dump it all on you. You patiently listen, then say just the right soothing words and I feel my worries are lifted away... Not many have that gift, Amma, and I sincerely hope I have it in me to hug Ana's worries away as she grows up.

I know I send you cards for every little occasion, even send you a card just because... the physical distance that separates us now makes it difficult for me to give you a hug when I remember the times you have said a simple word to make my worries melt away... cards and words are my only resort now to let you know how grateful I am to have a Mother like you...

Don't criticize a (wo)man until you have walked in h(er)is shoes, they say... And I won't.

Amma, Happy Mother's Day! and Thank You for all that you do for me.

Hello from Sheela

Hello Dear Fellow-Moms,

Thanks Sandeepa for giving me an opportunity to be part of this wonderful community.

Just a little about me: My name is Sheela. I am originally from India. I have been living in the US for the last 14 years. I am thirty-something. Yes, indeed, I am one of those who can't bring herself to admit her exact age - not because I fear growing old, but, because I am afraid I haven't achieved much in the time I have been given so far :)

I am currently living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with my husband Dustin and my soon-to-be-two baby girl Ana.

I work for a software company as a developer/programmer, which I enjoy for the most part. But, my "real" interests are cooking, sewing, crocheting, reading, photography, hiking/camping (which we restrict to Summers, especially after the wee one arrived).

I wear my Mommy Hat, Wife Hat, Daughter Hat, Sister Hat, Chef Hat, Yellow-Green Hat, and Crazy-Craftswoman Hat as best as I can. While I am the same person, I feel the Hat I wear adds distinct value and responsibility to my Life, hence I started three separate blogs last year and tried to keep them focused on three different aspects of my Life that meet and mingle beautifully - viz., Mommy, Cook, Just Another Speck In The Universe.

Blogging, when I started it, was intended to be therapeutic. Just my corner to record my thoughts and deeds that I am willing to share voluntarily, no pressure, no expectations. It is hard not to get addicted and obsessed, but, I think Dustin and Ana have kept me balanced so far.

Sandeepa was kind enough to mention that one of my posts struck a cord in her and suggested that I share it here: last July, early in my blogging life, I shared my thoughts wondering if I was asking for too much... Circumstances have not changed, and it scares me a little to think of welcoming another wee one into our lives now.

On a cheerier note, I am looking forward to reading and contributing as best as I can . Perhaps as the community welcomes more moms and we settle into a nice rhythm, we could pick a topic a month and have contributions from all member moms so we have a collective input on the chosen topic... just a thought :)