Hugger Boo

A Den of One's Own

A den, a hideaway, a grotto, a shady secret spot.  Isn't that what every child needs?

Baby's First Painting

Baby Boo Two is almost one and I thought it was about time for his first painting.

We made some 'paint' using cornflour, using a great recipe I found here on a great early learning blog called Imagination Tree. There is a great section on different types of play on here too if you get a chance to take a look at it.

I've made cornflour goop before but the addition of hot water takes you into a whole new dimension of cornflour goodness. It takes on a thick gloopiness that is just perfect for baby fingers.

Yumm!

So how did he get on? Well first he ate a bit, then gagged. Edible, yes, but tasty, no.

Boo was beside him demonstrating the correct method...

I put a bit of the paint on the paper to see if he would push it around a bit.

He happily did so for a minute or two.

Then he played with the paintbrush a little.

And that was it, he wanted out.

I think maybe having him in his highchair confused him (what is this blue stuff you're expecting me to eat?!)

Next time I think he'll be on the floor on a mat, wearing just his diaper, just like Meg's baby on Sew Liberated demonstrates.

Felty Fun

This week we have been enjoying some fabulous felty fun with these screenprinted animals which we picked up at Collage Collage.  They were drawn by artist Sarah Holtom who also runs workshops there.

I'd love to make some of these myself!

Let 'em draw on the windows

My latest fave art material for kids is window crayons. Boo got a pack of these, made by Crayola, in her stocking this year and has been enjoying finding a whole new 'blank canvas' for herself on the window panes. The timing seems apt as well as I finally decided to put our seasonal window trees to bed after enjoying 5 seasons with them. They apply really well, the colours are vibrant and they screw up so there seems to be plenty for many drawing sessions, as well as keeping little hands clean.

Here's Boo drawing a little red person, and then a little green person.

She informed me that this was herself and Boo Two which gave me a little warm feeling as its the first time she's drawn herself with her sibling. I haven't used other makes of window crayons so i can't compare how they perform with any others, though I know Lyra make some and I would love to try those also.

Only drawback we found was that, once applied, little hot hands could smudge the drawings and, when you have this little tyke around getting into everything, it was quite tricky to keep from just about everything in the vicinity being covered in smudgy crayon. But we love em.

Bunny's Burrow

Boo goes to a Waldorf preschool, doesn't watch tv, and has very limited access to other media, one result of this being that she doesn't fall prey to kiddy consumerism. This fact, along with the vivid imaginative life she lives with her 'guys' (soft toys), leads to her requesting gifts that are interesting... and usually challenging for me in that I have to make them. One year she asked for a new outfit for bear, simple enough. This year, she requested a 'bunny burrow' for her beloved bunny. Okay, no problem. Errrm, what exactly does a bunny burrow look like and how would one go about making one? Well, here is what I came up with...

Bunny's burrow is fashioned from a large piece of felted sweater, rolled into a tube and sewn into a cylinder open at one end. As this was rather floppy, I used some pipe cleaner circles to reinforce the cylinder at 3 points, and sewed pretty ribbon over them to keep them in place. Finally, I knitted bunny some cosy wool bedding. Doesn't he look cosy? Upon opening her gift, Boo looked initally unsure, then asked 'is this a bunny burrow?'. When I assured her that, yes, this was indeed a bunny burrow she seemed to accept it completely (I don't think she had really visualised beforehand what a bunny burrow may indeed look like) and bunny was swifly installed in his burrow. Phew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Past

This year, we have mostly been reprising favourite Christmas crafty/bakey goodies from previous years.  Broken nights with the wee boy are zapping me of the energy to devise anew, but I'm reassured that seasonal rituals are just what small ones find most reassuring.  So here,in the spirit of ritual, are some of our christmas activities from years past.

Activity-based advent stockings

 

Salt Dough Christmas Tree Ornaments

 

Potato printed christmas wrapping paper

 

Plaster cast christmas decorations

 

Gingerbread House

 

Origami Advent Calendar

 

King Winter/Winter Waldorf Nature Table

Hope you are enjoying some Christmas making rituals!

 

 

 

Autumn Window Trees; the reprise

Just a year ago (was that all it was?!), we created our window trees - see their first Autumnal incarnation here.  My goodness, I look back at this and it seems me and the Boo had all the time in the world, now we snatch babe's naptimes as our together time, and to be truthful, mostly we are are outside hunting for spiders and worms rather than creating anything much.  But the trees have been taken to heart as tradition so on they must go!

My current motto for living 'keep it simple' was applied to the trees this season and we simply did some wax leaf rubbings, cut them out and stuck them onto the window.  I say 'we' but Boo only did a couple, leaving me to ensure the trees didnt look completely bereft.  Boo enjoyed applying some of them floating down and on the ground. 

We are loving Autumn right now, with it's bright days (for now at least!), plentiful spidery wonders to be found, funghi sprouting everywhere, leaves fluttering and bulbs to be planted. 

My daughter, the collagist

 
If I have perhaps been feeling rather guilty of late in that I haven't been devising exciting art projects for the Boo, she has managed to lift my spirits and reassure me that given space, kids mostly just get on with what it is they need to do as and when they need to for their development.  I've provided scissors in Boo's making space since she was two and have tried on numerous occasions to teach her to use them with little lasting success.  Now, however, she has seized upon them and it seems to be all she wants to do.  Cut, cut, snip, snip, snip.  We have amassed a collection of old cards, magazines, fabrics etc, and she seizes upon any bit of printed junk that comes through the door to add to her burgeoning collection of material. 

Her collages are completed on the easel, often over a number of days and with multiple layers.  They are often based upon figures which are embellished with different clothing, strange objects for limbs and other people's eyes.  I am wondering how much of an influence on her young mind was our recent visit to the Surrealism exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery?!

 
Meanwhile, I have been busy working on a project of my own, which incorporates use of collage.  Like mother, like daughter.

Kitted-out Kitty

 
Hi there!  We've had family visiting for the past few weeks, and I've been spending evenings chatting and sewing... this lovely little creation from Clothkits for Boo.  By hand.  Every little tiny piece.  Somehow I just had to do it, and now I do think it's out of my system.  Phew. 

So I introduce to you Kitty, with her complete kit:

... dungarees

 
...in a pretty floral dress

 
 
... in her 'car outfit'

 
...and her sunflower kimono

this kitty knows how to wear her hat at just the right jaunty angle...

 
Kitty has been taken to Boo's heart and is now accompanying her of many of her daily adventures.

Boo in Okido

 
We have been fans of Okido magazine for a little while now.  We heart the art/science themes (e.g. the weather, babies, emotions etc), the funky innovative illustration and the age-appropriate stories and activities (mazes, doodles, finding characters etc).  Boo senses an alter ego in the character 'messy monster', as I am sure do many young uns reading his stories!  The 'Dirt' issue is particularly special to us, however, as, there on the inside cover are two pics of the Boo herself mucking about in muck.  She appears top and bottom right, in her wellies.  We affectionately refer to her as 'child of the mud', seeking out muddy puddles as is her wont, so she fits right in here.