First painting. (Never too young.)

I'm an art teacher and a majorly crafty person. My husband is a graphic designer and a drum builder. It's only natural that Adelaide possesses some of our creative genes (I hope!). I want to make sure that as she grows up, there are art supplies out for her at all times (a craft table just for her?) and at the ready. I envision us sitting down together, mama teaching daughter how to sew, paint, whatever. I really, really can't wait.

So on her 6-month birthday (last Wednesday), I introduced Adelaide to finger paints. Oh my. It was messy but it was wonderful! I went out earlier that day to buy a set of 3 canvas boards for a whopping $3.97 and a set of non-toxic finger paints (4 tubes - red, yellow, blue, green) for $4.97. So essentially, for less than ten bucks, I have enough paint to last for ages, and three canvases for her to experiment on.

I declothed her, even though the paint said "washable." Naked baby = easier transfer to the bathtub. First I gave her the canvas board to explore, but it just went right to her mouth, of course.


I tried using little clamps to hold the canvas to the Bumbo tray, but she ended up too interested in those so I took them off moments later.

Here she is seeing, touching, playing with paint for the first time ever! I only used blue and yellow because I knew they'd mix to a pretty green. If I'd given her all the colors available, they would have mixed together to a muddy brown, and I didn't want that.



I ended up holding the board for her which was great because she went crazy! She loved spreading the paint around and scratching at the board (the canvas board has a little bit of rough texture to it).





Isn't this next picture so darling? It's like she's saying "Hey look Dad! Look what I made! Isn't it great?" She looks so proud. She was definitely having a lot of fun.





Only once did she try to eat the paint. I wasn't worried because it's non-toxic, and she's just learning about the world through her mouth. Just a quick redirection on my part and she was focused on the canvas again.





I love all the little scratches in her painting. Adds some interest, don't you think?



Ta-da! First painting, June 22, 2011.



She had a blast! Look at that happy baby :)



And worn out. It was a big day for Adelaide. First we took her 6-month pictures, then gave her her first taste of solid food (post coming), and then her first painting... whew! Who wouldn't be tired after all that? We then headed to the bath to begin our bedtime routine.



This is just the beginning. I see a lot more paintings in Adelaide's future. This time, we did yellow + blue = green. Next we'll do red + yellow = orange, and finally blue + red = purple, for a set of three that I'll frame and hang somewhere like the proud moma I am.