{"id":997,"date":"2014-09-03T19:24:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-03T19:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/03\/exploring-autumn-colours-2\/"},"modified":"2018-05-17T09:06:32","modified_gmt":"2018-05-17T08:06:32","slug":"exploring-autumn-colours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Autumn Colours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exploring autumn colours with a toddler.
\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
I took the opportunity to indulge my 2 year old daughter with a one-to-one painting session last week, when her two big brothers were off with Nanna for a couple of hours.\u00a0 This is not something I get the chance to do very often, so I was really looking forward to seeing how she would get on without them.I set up the activity whilst she was finishing up her nap.\u00a0\u00a0When painting with toddlers in particular preparation is very important. The last thing you want to do it leave a toddler unattended with paint, whilst you dash off to pick up something you forgot.\u00a0\u00a0I laid out a paper-plate with red, yellow and orange paint, as I had decided to base the activity around learning about the colours of autumn. Then as well as paintbrushes I put out a potato masher, a washing up brush, a few corks and some cotton buds. I was interested to see which materials she would go for first and which ones she had the most success with.\u00a0\u00a0I had a stack of white paper handy and of course lots of kitchen roll and baby wipes on standby!<\/p>\n

After a quick post-nap snack we set to work. She had a good look at the washing up brush first off.\u00a0 I tried to show her how to dab it into the paint on the paper-plates, but she was having none of it. \u201cNo,no,no,no,no,no\u2026\u201dshe said, as she threw it back down onto the table. I think she must have thought I was going to set her on the washing up!<\/p>\n

We had more luck when she reached out for the potato masher.\u00a0\u00a0She plunged this straight into the paint and then giggled away whilst stamping it down onto her sheet of paper.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFinished now,\u201d she declared with a flourish waving her masher in the air with one hand and her piece of paper in the other, after completing a few stamps of paint.\u00a0\u00a0She then demanded another sheet of paper and I was happy to encourage her to do more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Next up she made a move for the corks and she had no trouble in working out what to do with them. She dipped the cork into each colour in turn and happily stamped them all over her paper.\u00a0\u00a0As she stamped I asked her which colour she was stamping and she nearly gave me the correct answer each time!\u00a0\u00a0She had also managed to create a big brown smear over the paper after the colours had gradually merged during her enthusiastic stamping, so this actually meant the picture had all the makings of a lovely autumn tree by the end of it. She was delighted with it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

After the corks she moved onto the cotton buds which are great for developing those fine motor skills. She had great fun dotting and scraping the paint around her paper with them. \u201cLook circles mummy,\u201d she told me, as she smeared a circle like shape across her picture.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

Then no autumn inspired craft session would be complete without some leaf painting.\u00a0\u00a0I handed her a leaf and she made a grab for the paintbrush and instinctively started to paint the back of the leaf and them promptly stamped it onto another sheet of paper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
She did quickly tire of this though and she decided to inject a bit more of her own personality into the activity.\u00a0\u00a0She decided she wanted to finish off with some footprint painting.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"\"\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

I was then instructed to put her paper down onto the floor so she could stamp her feet all over it. She had great fun painting her feet with each of the colours several times over. I was quite relieved I only had the one child to manage whilst doing this part of the activity. I would normally keep footprint painting for outside and have some warm soapy water on stand-by to plunge the painted feet into before they made it back indoors. We managed quite well though not to make too much of a mess of the floor.<\/p>\n

All in all we spent a good 30 minutes on this activity, which is good going for a very lively 2 year old.\u00a0\u00a0She really enjoyed the activity and was very confident in taking charge of it rather than relying on me to direct her in what to do. It was great to see her come up with her own ideas as well.\u00a0\u00a0I credit this to her watching and taking in what her brothers do when they all sit down together to do arts and crafts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exploring autumn colours with a toddler. I took the opportunity to indulge my 2 year old daughter with a one-to-one painting session last week, when her two big brothers were off with Nanna for a couple of hours.\u00a0 This is not something I get the chance to do very often, so I was really looking … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[205,231],"tags":[148,129,23,63],"yoast_head":"\nExploring Autumn Colours - Crafty Kids at Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exploring Autumn Colours - Crafty Kids at Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Exploring autumn colours with a toddler. I took the opportunity to indulge my 2 year old daughter with a one-to-one painting session last week, when her two big brothers were off with Nanna for a couple of hours.\u00a0 This is not something I get the chance to do very often, so I was really looking ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Crafty Kids at Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-03T19:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-17T08:06:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/collagepin-1024x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Crafty Kids at Home\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Crafty Kids at Home\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/\",\"name\":\"Exploring Autumn Colours - Crafty Kids at Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/collagepin-1024x1024.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-03T19:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-17T08:06:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3dd40a507060b002beafd45d45f3d084\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/collagepin-1024x1024.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/collagepin-1024x1024.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Exploring Autumn Colours\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/\",\"name\":\"Crafty Kids at Home\",\"description\":\"by Multicraftingmummy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3dd40a507060b002beafd45d45f3d084\",\"name\":\"Crafty Kids at Home\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4207d1adbf1e7e0a66763c4625ce788d?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4207d1adbf1e7e0a66763c4625ce788d?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Crafty Kids at Home\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/author\/34gzb\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Exploring Autumn Colours - Crafty Kids at Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Exploring Autumn Colours - Crafty Kids at Home","og_description":"Exploring autumn colours with a toddler. I took the opportunity to indulge my 2 year old daughter with a one-to-one painting session last week, when her two big brothers were off with Nanna for a couple of hours.\u00a0 This is not something I get the chance to do very often, so I was really looking ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/","og_site_name":"Crafty Kids at Home","article_published_time":"2014-09-03T19:24:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-05-17T08:06:32+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/collagepin-1024x1024.jpg"}],"author":"Crafty Kids at Home","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Crafty Kids at Home","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/","url":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/","name":"Exploring Autumn Colours - Crafty Kids at Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/collagepin-1024x1024.jpg","datePublished":"2014-09-03T19:24:00+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-17T08:06:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3dd40a507060b002beafd45d45f3d084"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/collagepin-1024x1024.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/collagepin-1024x1024.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/exploring-autumn-colours\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Exploring Autumn Colours"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/","name":"Crafty Kids at Home","description":"by Multicraftingmummy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3dd40a507060b002beafd45d45f3d084","name":"Crafty Kids at Home","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4207d1adbf1e7e0a66763c4625ce788d?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4207d1adbf1e7e0a66763c4625ce788d?s=96&r=g","caption":"Crafty Kids at Home"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com"],"url":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/author\/34gzb\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craftykidsathome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}