I do it to myself

One Monday in Elliot's class a mom told us the story of how she gave her 2 year old and 4 year old paint, cardboard and put them on the grass and how they had fun for hours. It sounded like a dream come true to me. My kids never stay occupied for more than 10 minutes at a time these days.

After we built Elliot's bed I had leftover cardboard and tons of paint they never use and decided to give her trick a try. The only thing I didn't think though, Erik hadn't napped that day and it was near the 5 pm crazy hour. See I do these things to myself. I try these creative opportunities for my children and when they go crazy I get upset, but I really have no one to blame. Anytime would have been better than the 5 pm crazy hour on a no nap day.

So it started off simple enough. I took most of our painting supplies outside to see what they were interested in.

I painted a little something myself to show them what to do and get them started.

Then it started off nicely, Erik was trying to stamps and various art supplies.

 

Then I just let him have at it and he started dumping out the paint. I knew this is part of the experiment, and to toddlers and preschoolers more is better.

It worked at first. Erik is really into mixing colors so he was fascinated by the results and what colors he could make. Elliot just kind of followed his lead.

But there is always more and they started to break the few simple rules I gave them, like keeping all the paint supplies only on the cardboard and not the grass.

Then it got even worse and it was Elliot this time, not Erik! Elliot started painting his leg and it was over. I let them have fun and cover themselves. Afterwards I let them run around the yard to let the paint dry and transported them directly to the bath tub. See I always try, but it always deteriorates to this.