It is back to being sunny yet pleasant in UAE after a bout of rain spell that lasted for a day. And what do we desert people do when it starts to rain? We take loads of selfies, photos and stuff to post of Instagram; only because we know it’s not going to last very long. Monsoon is precious, you see, in this part of the world.
Anyways, leaving that aside, I just wanted to do a quick post about what we did the very next day when the rain stopped. Since the sun is bright, yet there is a chilly wind blowing across instilling in us that winter is here to stay for a few more months. May be a two or three? But that is not going to hamper our spirits because we are making the most of this good weather by going down to play every evening or making regular visits to the parks. When the summer starts, it’s going to be difficult again even in the evenings considering the humidity will be at its worst. However, we will see when the summer arrives.
Play is such an important element in the life of a child while they are still growing and developing their senses, motor skills, social skills, emotional skills and so on. Though, let us face it, play is such a stress buster for adults as well. While I was a child, I remember capering over the house whole day out in the sun with my elder sister, cousins or friends and during the night we’d play board games, color the charts, make cards etc. indoors till we called it off for the day. There were no TV’s, phones or any electronic devices for our entertainment. We made our own games that were fun and taught us a lot about life although at the same time evolved us from a child to an adult. The times have changed. This is a new era of Ipads, Ipods and smart phones where children are stuck at it; inside the house leaving their imagination to rest. While we still think they are becoming smart, we are not letting them put their creative side to use. I am happy I am a stay at home mom who gets to spend some wonderful time with Little A, be there for him all the time and lucky that we get to play a lot in each other’s company. Every activity we do not necessarily turn out to be as I want it to be or as I may have assumed it to be. I let Little A use his intelligence and explore his innovative side since he is now big enough to make his own decisions and progress the activity as he wish to.
We got down to making our own handmade paint a couple of days back with only two basic things lying in our house – baby shampoo and food colors. If you don’t have food colors, you may also use water colors. Painting helps a great deal in a child’s development. It helps in improving their muscle development, eye-hand coordination, fine motor control, observational skills and helps them in learning about different colors and shapes. It doesn’t stop at that. Painting also helps in seeking their creative side like drawing a tree, car or anything they fancy. We had tried this activity last year too, for which he wasn’t very excited as the paints would get a little messier. Now that he 3 years old and able to write a few letters and draw a square, it doubled up on his excitement. It’s not that I am saying it isn’t appropriate for smaller children. In fact it should be fun if they are allowed to use their hands or fingers instead of paint brushes.
There aren’t any detailed or step to step instructions for making a paint like this. Mix few drops of food color in 4 tbsps of shampoo in a deep container, whisk it up with a stick or a brush and you are good to go. Add water if you like. We used our discarded muffin tray that could hold the paint very well. Find a corner of your house with a glass and let the child explore. We used our balcony glass that is big enough for Little A and very safe. I think doing this activity in a bath too could be a great idea! He picked up the brushes and started stroking on the glass, made his own designs, wrote letters. And while we were at it and it looked so much amusing, I got involved too in drawing the figures Little A loves like a cat, mountains, scenery etc. I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun the cleaning was since water made the shampoo soapy and it rinsed off easily. I handed Little A sponge which he dipped in water, squeezed and started cleaning the glass on his own. You’ll only have to be careful when the floor starts to get wet because it then becomes quite slippery under their little feet. What more – Little A helped me in washing up the ground too so basically the cleaning part was totally fun for us.
Shampoo paints have become a latest obsession in our house right now and seriously Little A’s one of the favorite activities. What’s another good point is that it is both cost effective and super easy to make.
Word of caution – Ensure the safety of children at all times if you are using open spaces and this paint contains shampoo so you want to be sure they don’t put it in their mouth.
