Last week, I got a chuckle out of reading “The ‘Correct’ Tools?” and the comments from Mrs. Karen’s Preschool. Towards the end of her post, Karen stated…
“The “correct tools” in my classroom are ones that encourage fun, creativity and yes, lots and lots of giggles. Why in this world would anyone settle for just paint brushes when there is a world of possibilities out there? Oh well… I guess I should stop the ranting and do something productive today. Maybe I’ll mop the kitchen floor? Hmmm . . . I don’t think we have ever painted with a mop!”
So, thanks to Karen, guess what we did today? …
I was hoping to share Karen’s idea for painting with a mop as part of my Eric Carle birthday post but things kind of went off on a path of their own so I had to regroup on how to present this post without confusing everyone…
My little nephew, Wy, loves to wear aprons and he loves to sweep and mop floors. He drags out my dust mops and brooms every time he comes over without fail…
So after reading Karen’s idea, I thought it would be fun to share the book, “My Apron” by Eric Carle combined with a little mop painting…
Well, you need to know that Wy and I never got around to reading this book. I will save it for another day. But Wy did do some serious painting with a mop…
I spread two large sheets of paper on the driveway and gave Wy a “mop” or whatever this thing is with a handle and some washable tempera paint to paint with…
I also set out a large sponge so Wy could explore a variety of “painting tools” …
I hadn’t intended on Wy getting so messy, but since I usually have trouble getting Wy to paint, I just sat back and let him explore…
Wy went from mop painting, to sponge painting, to shoe painting…
And then the shoes came off…
And he started foot painting…
And hand painting…
And crawl painting…
And head painting…
So much for Wy’s aversion to paint. I really think we just needed to find the “correct tools!”
Here’s Wy’s finished painting. I plan to let it dry then we will recycle the now painted paper into something else next time he is over…
