As I mentioned, Aiden really got into the Christmas craft thing. Actually, I think Christmas helped Aiden get into crafts overall, as his interest in crafts has increased since the holidays. Although Aiden still does not enjoy drawing or painting, almost never initiating these activities even when prompted, he does enjoy guided activities or activities with props: stickers, glitter glue, cutting, gluing, etc. We made many crafts of his own initiative including a huge variety of sticker-adorned Christmas trees and candy canes – he did a lot of practice with his scissors in cutting them out (with a little guided help turning the paper)!
In addition to the activities he led, I put together some crafts that I saw on Pinterest. If you look to my Christmas board, you’ll see the instructions for some of the crafts below… and MANY more you can make for next year! I made several of the handprint snowmen ornaments as gift-toppers – though Aiden’s only contribution was the handprint. Still, quite cute. The beading was good for his fine motor skills and he seemed to quite enjoy it. The fingerprint stamping made his fingers dirty, which he isn’t fond of, so it was a mixed-result one for us. Stamping in general, however, was a big win and we sent out MANY cards with stamps.
Aiden actually did a card exchange with his friends this year, sending out about a dozen cards and creating several more for family / neighbours / teachers. He still asks to make people cards! I did not think he would enjoy this at all, since he doesn’t like to draw, but he found other ways to decorate that were more his style.
This is our second year building a gingerbread set. Last year we made a gingerbread house and realized, too late, that we should have read the packaging. The house had to be assembled and left for several hours to set, which was difficult for a toddler to sit through. This year, I bought a gingerbread train which, though it’s recommended to let set, can really be decorated right away.
Set on the EZ Build Tray, the train has enough support to be decorated while the icing dries. The same company also makes houses, so I’d be interested to know if the houses of this brand can also be decorated right away.
The icing was nice and thick, with plenty to spare (um, eat), so we had a lot of fun sticking on the candies. My only beef with the set is that all of the candies are hard candies (or gum). I would have preferred a mix of hard and soft/gummy-like candies. I like the gummy candies because the sugar adds a nice shimmer.
All in all, it made for a fun half hour. :)
I was having a bit of a rough day yesterday, compounded by a baby who wasn’t keen on taking a long nap and a 3-year-old whose ‘quiet time’ consisted of watching a movie and asking questions about it every 30 seconds. I was quite drained, so I opened up my Pinterest boards and began looking for some inspiration.
Christmas is one of my favourite times of year because it gives me a reason to make meaningful crafts – crafts that we can keep and use year to year as ornaments or give away as presents. I love crafts, though Aiden is only just beginning to warm up to them. Giving him a defined craft or project is always easier to grab his attention, so we sat down and began a few different ornaments, then went to the fridge for some gingerbread dough (thanks Whole Foods) and rolled out some cookies.
If you would like some inspiration for your difficult days, check out some of my Pinterest boards!
Aiden recently started getting a little more interested in crafts and in drawing. His patience for it is still short, don’t get me wrong, but he has at least shown an interest. We keep things fresh by using different materials or sometimes doing projects. I recently purchased some popsicle sticks for a future Pinterest-inspired craft, but Aiden found them in his craft bin and asked to use them. So, we made a boat:
After the glue on the boat dried, Aiden created some water, some “letters” on the boat and below it (since boats have names, you know), a pink cloud and a SUN, his first really recognizable drawing. First he drew some circles (his ‘circle’ goes around a few times still), but then he stopped and very deliberately drew in the sun’s rays.
Aiden drew this picture all based on his own initiative – no prompting or suggestions. It totally blew us away to see him suddenly develop this skill!
Check out more of Aiden’s art here.
On August 11th, while Damien was a little under 3 months old, my mother-in-law, Dora aka Babby, threw him a Welcome party at her home. Friends and family joined to celebrate our new little man with delicious treats and some good times together. To commemorate his birth, Dora painted a tree and we cut out some leaves for guests to decorate. The final product will have the leaves glued on the tree.
For Aiden’s baby shower, we created square paintings that we had behind his crib and are still a part of his room decor. I wanted to be sure that Damien had the same sort of memento and it’s always nice to have unique art.
Thank you to everyone who came out to see Damien and share in our joy! See all photos here.
