The Inspiration of Art. . .

The girls have recently acquired a new easel. . . with a little help from Mom of course. This has quickly become the new favorite in this house. It's sad to think that Leila is two and has had so little experience with paint and other forms of art. When Gabrielle was younger, we used to paint and do crafts all the time. But I guess life got busy, and it got harder to coordinate with Leila always wanting to eat everything and cry for undividing attention. But at last we have reached an age of independence and comprehension. Which is key to Leila doing things on her own and to her understanding when I say that "the paint goes on the paper, not on the walls, or floors, or in your mouth" and "it's okay if your hands get dirty, we can wash them." After some research, I ended up investing in a double easel with the idea that they could both use it at the same time. It also has the chalkboard on one side and the dry erase board on the other. So far it has worked well. Gabrielle, who has a lot of experience with painting, jumped right in immediately painting away. Leila needed a bit more time to figure out what was going on, but she has been gradually easing into it, and going so far as to dip her fingers in the paint to paint with. I've put all of there painting stuff in a tub under the easel so that they can get it themselves when they are ready to paint. As with all things, I've found that the more accessible they are, the more likely it is to get used. And so far, it is getting used a lot!