Art at 3

I babysat my 3-year old niece yesterday because her mom had to go to work and I was one of the lucky ones to have my Monday off for President’s Day. 

I always make sure that we have a lot of fruitful and creative activities when she visits for a few reasons:

1. I want to tap into her creative well early on because who knows, maybe one day she also has what it takes to nurture a passion for art.

2. I believe that the goal of art is not just about being good at it one day but it  also serves as a channel for developing mental faculties during the early years as well as an exercise of self-expression.  It will be a good emotional and mental outlet one day too when one starts facing the grown up challenges of the world. (read: therapy)

3. I want my niece to be proud of herself and her little milestones.  I enjoy seeing her show her creations when her parents come over to pick her up from my house. If “cute” is the only purpose that I do this, well, okay, fine!

4. I want her parents to be happy.  And these will be priceless souvenirs of her childhood.

5. I must admit that I also get personal satisfaction from it all.  Lots of it!

Anyway,  here are the two things we accomplished yesterday (aside from the cupcakes that we baked).  We hopped into the CRAYON ART bandwagon.  Since she’s 3 years old,  I applied the glue to each space where each crayon would go but I let her put the crayons on the canvas in the order that she preferred. I held the blowdryer throughout the process although I made her try it too (her little hands got tired).  I stopped when she told me to stop and when she thought the drips were good enough.  She picked the spot for the butterfly and I made her glue it on with my assistance.

We also made jewelry out of Shrinky Dinks! She drew on them with my Sharpie collection. 🙂  I did the cordwork, of course. 

We both had a blast.  Her mom promised to wear the necklace to work (CPA/Law Office).  That will be today!  I’m excited for my niece!