Must Love Babies

Valentine's Heart Resist Painting

Looking for a cute Valentine's painting project for your preschooler? I saw this project originally at Hands On As We Grow and thought it was perfect for our kids. So while I certainly can't claim originality for this idea, I did try to expand on it as part of our homeschool preschool curriculum.

Now lest anyone frown at me for using a technique like resist painting with preschoolers (some say it inhibits creativity), let me say that I am a process over product person. The main point was to explore painting with different non-brush materials and helping my girls get over their fears of getting dirty! At the same time, we had talked about making some decorations for the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday, so when I saw this project, I figured it could kill two birds with one stone. This project underscored the idea of heart shapes and the colors pink, red, purple and white being representative of Valentine's Day, which we had previously discussed. We also discussed the difference in paper orientation (Josie chose landscape and Caroline chose portrait), and we talked briefly about the term "negative space" and that white is the absence of color. Those were pretty much above their heads but I wasn't worried about mastery, just exposure. So although some people think the resist technique gives too many parameters for a creative preschooler, I happen to think it is a fun project on its own merits and can be a great part of a well rounded art curriculum! The basic questions I ask myself about preschool art projects are:

1) does it encourage creative thinking or practice?

2) does it teach a skill or concept?

3) does it expose the child to a new material or technique?

4) is it challenging, yet not frustration-creating?

5) is it tactile?

6) is it FUN?

If you can answer yes to most of those, it is probably a green light!

Anyway, here are the materials we used. Just use whatever you have on hand. I didn't have fancy rollers or rods but I did have a paper towel roll waiting to be recycled, so I cut that in two and used it. I also added Q-Tips, cotton balls, a skewer broken in half and an old rag as vehicles for the paint. We used painter's tape for the resist portion.

Obviously I did the hearts. There is no way the kids could have done this without becoming completely frustrated, which defeats the purpose. They used the leftover bits of tape to stick around the paper where they wanted.

The rag proved to be the most effective in covering the paper in paint.

Using the skewer to scratch the paint before it dried

The finished painting, before removing the tape...

... and after. We "framed" the paintings on their choice of colored contruction paper. They both chose black. :|

Now that they have gotten some exposure to the resist painting, I think I'll remove the parameters and have them do it again, letting them rip the tape and create their own design one hundred percent. Then they can choose their own colors... I am excited about how those will turn out! In the meantime, the girls are very proud to have their paintings be part of our Valentine's Day decoration!

Review and Giveaway: 'What to Expect' Series of Books

You know how, when you're pregnant, someone always gives you that What to Expect When You're Expecting book? Yeah, there's a reason for that.

When we found out we were going to have a baby, I was SO excited. And totally freaked out. Ok, the idea of actually being pregnant kind of grossed me out, to be honest. Turns out, I loved being pregnant, so much so that I did it again right away! And I really miss being pregnant -- there is just nothing else like it. Yes, it's hard sometimes, but it is such a unique time in a person's life, and every time I see a pregnant lady I get a wee bit jealous, and I look at my husband and make the sad face, and he shakes his head no and walks in the other direction.

But I digress.

I remember many moments when I was super curious about what was actually going on in there. Or why I was craving sweet pickles wrapped in fried eggs (yes, I craved that. No, I never worked up the nerve to try it. Yes, I kind of regret it.). Or why I slept ALL THE TIME, even at work, even in the car (as a passenger), even if I only had five minutes to sleep. Or why the thought of 85% of foods completely disgusted me, or why I once literally threw up from watching a Hamburger Helper commercial.

Enter What to Expect When You're Expecting! My sister sent me this book in my first trimester and I surprised even myself with how many times I found myself using it. Yes, I know, there's internet, why would I want a book? They're like big, and heavy, and you have to, like, turn pages and stuff. Well here is the thing: I did look stuff up on the internet, and it was helpful sometimes. But it was also not very effective. Sometimes I looked up a topic and found myself linking to a gagillion websites I never intended to visit and time was wasted and I still didn't have my answer. For example, I was downright paranoid about miscarriage and I googled it and I eventually landed at this girl's blog about trying to conceive and her struggle with miscarriage and I ended up reading her entire blog post history and crying and being even MORE paranoid about miscarriage. Not good. Or, the time I googled some weird blood test results I had received and ended up on a website that suggested maybe my baby would wind up having little to no metabolic function, or even worse, stillborn. GREAT.

Sometimes the internet can be a pregnant woman's worst enemy. You're tired, emotional and constantly freaked, and now you're going to add to it a questionable source of info? This is why a book like What to Expect When You're Expecting can be a comfort and a source of quality information; it's like asking an experienced, trusted family member or friend versus a stranger on the street (who may or may not be totally crazy). What to Expect When You're Expecting both informs you and reassures you. It is easy to use with a well-laid-out table of contents and a thorough index. It is broken down in four basic sections: preconception, pregnancy (by month), a section on multiples, and postpardum. There are also three extra sections, one for Dads, one for staying healthy in pregancy and one entitled "The Complicated Pregnancy." It's not a sexy book... there are few pictures and a noticeable lack of cutesy, trendy lingo. But it is regularly updated to reflect current trends in medicine and technology and remains a solid, trustworthy source of information. I can't tell you how many times that book both educated me and put my mind at ease. It's also a lot easier to carry around with you than a laptop (that may or may not be able to get an internet signal anyway). And did I ever fall asleep cuddling my laptop? No. Did I once fall asleep cuddling my copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting? YOU BET I DID.

Jump to your newborn... you wanna talk about questions?!? The questions and concerns you will have multiply exponentially once that kid is out! It is easy to get overwhelmed with worry about every little thing and call your pediatrician 25 times a week. What to Expect the First Year is like a baby bible and will prevent your baby's doctor from hating you! We had post-its and little scraps of paper all through ours. Broken down by month (0-12), this book covers everything from sleeping patterns to nursing/bottle feeding to little medical issues. What to Expect the First Year is THE BEST. It even has recipes for baby's first finger feeding meals, a chart with common illnesses and a great list of home remedies for common ailments. I don't have enough fingers to count how many times this book reassured me that some crazy things Josie was exhibiting were totally and completely normal. I distinctly remember perusing the teething chart to see if she was getting her teeth in the right order (not to mention looking up all those horrible side effects of teething). And even though we had been through that first year with Josie, we looked to this book to guide us through Caroline's first year as well. They were so different, plus I swear you forget so many things babies go through so we needed a refresher with Caroline.

The book is packed with useful information, so it makes sense this is the biggest volume! Just like What to Expect When You're Expecting, this book is well organized, straightforward and to the point, yet it somehow has a comforting, motherly tone and is an easy read, even if you are neurotic like me and you read it cover to cover!

Rounding out the trio is What to Expect the Second Year, which is essentially like The First Year except with all the benchmarks and milestones of that crucial, fast-paced first toddler year. Organized by topic, this book is great whether this is your first toddler or not, since toddlers develop and function so differently. This book covers all the big subjects: eating, sleeping, physical activity, socializing and that all-important chapter on behavior and discipline, just to name a few. For me, the chapter on feeding was a huge help. With Josie, she was (and still is) a classic picky eater, and this chapter not only reassured me her behavior at the table was perfectly normal, but also gave me ideas to encourage better and more varied eating habits.

So the bottom line for me is: why would anyone NOT use these excellent reference books?? They should issue these puppies at the OB's office when you go in for your first visit!

With that in mind, I have partnered with the awesome folks at WhatToExpect.com to give away copies of their 'What To Expect' books to two lucky Must Love Babies readers!

THE DETAILS:

• Two (2) readers will receive one of each: What to Expect When You're Expecting, What to Expect the First Year and What to Expect the Second Year

Ways to Enter:

• Leave a comment (make sure to sign in or leave your email) telling me how you would use these books
• Like Must Love Babies on Facebook (leave me a comment letting me know)
• Follow Must Love Babies on Twitter (leave me a comment letting me know)
• Tweet about this giveaway (mention @MustLoveBabies in your tweet)
• Blog about this giveaway (leave link in comments)
• Subscribe to my blog (leave me a comment letting me know)

Giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, August 31, 2012

Enter for yourself and then share the link with friends who are expecting or have a little one! Good luck! And thanks again to the nice folks at WhatToExpect.com for making this possible!