I am still trying to catch up on summer posts. Hopefully, I'll be done before Thanksgiving. Argh. But here is one coming at you, chock full of photos!
This summer, Lochlan and I participated in a parent-toddler art class at the Perot Museum of Science in Dallas. The museum is about a 45 minute drive from our house, but I wanted to do some mommy-son activities with him while I was home in the summer SO I committed us to eight weeks of Monday morning art classes.
The children in the class ranged in age from one to almost three years old and the class was comprised mostly of girls. There was only one other boy besides Lochlan. I wonder why this was the case.... do mothers already decide that art is too "girly" for their sons at such a young age? That would be a disappointing conclusion to draw about gender stereotyping.
I have so much to say about our experience at art class that it's hard to know where to start. Here's an overview of the structure: Each class began with circle time where we sang a welcome song that greeted each student by name. Then the museum instructor explained the day's art project to us. The course had a food theme to it, so all the projects we created were centered around the concept of desserts or sweet treats. After the circle time, we would proceed to gathering our materials and working on the art. Class concluded with a parachute song and some musical instrument/song time.
Sometimes I think I must have been on drugs when I signed us up for this class. Did I really think I'd be able to corral Lochlan and get him to participate in such a normal setting? Our first art class together was a huge wakeup call to the challenges I'd be up against.
Well, for starters, circle time was NOT his thing. Lochlan loves to be mobile, so it took every ounce of strength I had to keep him in my lap. I was actually sore throughout my body the next day! I noticed the other mothers looking at my subtle attempts to wrestle him back down each week. I got wise after awhile and started giving him my cell phone to look at so he would be more likely to stay put.
The art projects themselves were hit and miss with him. He didn't mind getting his hands messy, so that was a plus. I'm glad he doesn't have extreme sensory issues. He was actually rather intrigued by the different materials we used, such as paint, puffy glue paint, shaving cream, etc. Sometimes he stayed in his chair, others times he would make a break for the door if I wasn't watching him like a hawk.
Getting to him to use the materials as intended was difficult. I did a lot of hand-over-hand with him. Probably the most discouraging thing was his tendency to eat paint if I turned my head for even a second! One time, I looked at him and to my horror, saw that he had stuffed a paintbrush loaded with gobs of thick paint into his mouth. There was seriously red paint oozing out of his lips. To the sink we sped, to wash his mouth out.
Another time, he got mad that I took his paintbrush from him before he could eat it. So what did he bite instead? Mommy's hand! Sigh. He RARELY bites but boy, that one was a doozy.
And in general, I left every art class sweaty and completely covered in paint from all the wrangling I did with Lochlan.
Ok, but the positives are we made a few cute art projects.
Oh and parachute/music time. Lochlan LOVES parachutes. He always started beaming as soon as the parachute came out. He liked to mess around with the musical instruments as well.
I guess, overall, I am just proud that I attempted and survived this art class. I felt like a mommy warrior each week. And I'm glad I got some quality time with my little guy. He looked REALLY cute in his smock. :)
P.S. The Perot Museum has the best sweet potato fries EVER.
This summer, Lochlan and I participated in a parent-toddler art class at the Perot Museum of Science in Dallas. The museum is about a 45 minute drive from our house, but I wanted to do some mommy-son activities with him while I was home in the summer SO I committed us to eight weeks of Monday morning art classes.
The children in the class ranged in age from one to almost three years old and the class was comprised mostly of girls. There was only one other boy besides Lochlan. I wonder why this was the case.... do mothers already decide that art is too "girly" for their sons at such a young age? That would be a disappointing conclusion to draw about gender stereotyping.
I have so much to say about our experience at art class that it's hard to know where to start. Here's an overview of the structure: Each class began with circle time where we sang a welcome song that greeted each student by name. Then the museum instructor explained the day's art project to us. The course had a food theme to it, so all the projects we created were centered around the concept of desserts or sweet treats. After the circle time, we would proceed to gathering our materials and working on the art. Class concluded with a parachute song and some musical instrument/song time.
Sometimes I think I must have been on drugs when I signed us up for this class. Did I really think I'd be able to corral Lochlan and get him to participate in such a normal setting? Our first art class together was a huge wakeup call to the challenges I'd be up against.
Well, for starters, circle time was NOT his thing. Lochlan loves to be mobile, so it took every ounce of strength I had to keep him in my lap. I was actually sore throughout my body the next day! I noticed the other mothers looking at my subtle attempts to wrestle him back down each week. I got wise after awhile and started giving him my cell phone to look at so he would be more likely to stay put.
The art projects themselves were hit and miss with him. He didn't mind getting his hands messy, so that was a plus. I'm glad he doesn't have extreme sensory issues. He was actually rather intrigued by the different materials we used, such as paint, puffy glue paint, shaving cream, etc. Sometimes he stayed in his chair, others times he would make a break for the door if I wasn't watching him like a hawk.
Getting to him to use the materials as intended was difficult. I did a lot of hand-over-hand with him. Probably the most discouraging thing was his tendency to eat paint if I turned my head for even a second! One time, I looked at him and to my horror, saw that he had stuffed a paintbrush loaded with gobs of thick paint into his mouth. There was seriously red paint oozing out of his lips. To the sink we sped, to wash his mouth out.
Another time, he got mad that I took his paintbrush from him before he could eat it. So what did he bite instead? Mommy's hand! Sigh. He RARELY bites but boy, that one was a doozy.
And in general, I left every art class sweaty and completely covered in paint from all the wrangling I did with Lochlan.
Ok, but the positives are we made a few cute art projects.
Oh and parachute/music time. Lochlan LOVES parachutes. He always started beaming as soon as the parachute came out. He liked to mess around with the musical instruments as well.
I guess, overall, I am just proud that I attempted and survived this art class. I felt like a mommy warrior each week. And I'm glad I got some quality time with my little guy. He looked REALLY cute in his smock. :)
P.S. The Perot Museum has the best sweet potato fries EVER.
