Mother Daughter Creative Pursuits!

Between my husband and I, he is the outdoor adventure one while I am the rock-the-world within the confines of the home type. But both of us have decent attention spans with things we enjoy doing. Turns out our little one can't focus as much. Teacher at Montessori said to me one day, 'she's quite distracted you know, seldom finishes her tasks, always looking for an avenue to run!' That's it. After several rounds of horror, disbelief and introspection I decided I needed to remedy the situation. And there comes my daughter-mother art projects!

Fast forward 3 months and I am proud to announce that we have quite a few fancy achievements tucked in our belts. Find below, both the pictures and a little side or back-story for each...
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This is from the time when we saved up the toilet paper cardboard rolls, slit it up into thin strips, painted and pasted them together to make flowers which in turn were hung together in Taanu's creativity wall as a wall-hanging! More ideas online.

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I found this beautiful ceramic paint-your-own tea set at World Market. Taanvi used the vivid colors to color while I painted designs on them. The father soon decided to join in as well and put paint to brush.

The set is complete- with 4 cups and saucers and spoons and napkins, tea-pot, milk and sugar pot! The paint and brush also come in the box and the paint can easily be washed off. Whenever the painting become a little messy we just washed off and did over again!

Not only did it prove to be a lovely way to spend an evening but the set is a permanent addition to my daughter's play area kitchenette where she serves tea to visitors!

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Another time, Taanvi and I decided to welcome spring by adding some gorgeous color to the patio! We made our way to Osh one glorious Sunday afternoon and picked out some very colorful flowering plants. We tried to get a variety of colors and then picked out equally fascinating pots. With help from the nursery experts there, we then potted our plants and got them back home! There is now a little spray bottle that Taanu uses to water her plants! The best thing about Osh is that they are willing to exchange plants that die on you, which for a complete plant killer like me is such a confidence booster!

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A few weeks back we were fortunate to have a lot of visitors at home. Relatives had come to tour the Bay Area and were staying with us for a week! Unfortunately along the same time Taanvi had fever and while the visitors went sightseeing she was confined to home. Sorely upset she kept whining about how she wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge that very day and no amount of consolation helped! Mind you, she's seen the bridge many times but she just could not bear the idea of being home while others toured the city. Finally I told her how they were silly to go out in the hot sun to see the bridge when we could instead have the bridge come see us! That caught her fancy! So I sat down with ruler and red paper and wool to construct a Golden Gate model of our own. I must admit this was more me than my daughter but the activity was beyond riveting for the 2.5 hours until complete!

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Then just this weekend Taanvi and I went fruit shopping to make our own fruity popsicles! This is so easy and fun and healthy, I recommend all parents try this with their kids. All it takes is some colorful cut fruit and lemonade to be poured in moulds and frozen! More images online.

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Below are some more pictures of Mommy-Taanvi artistic pursuits- some involve chalk and board, others involve decorating a Christmas tree or making a snow-man! These are the more impromptu ones requiring either lesser planning or represent those that were done outside of the above 'mission' or related deliverables.

All of these activities have been a source of immense pleasure for me. Yes, they require energy and planning and participation, but heck, what's parenthood without some immersive fun!

P.S: Leave me a comment with your favorite idea from above or with an idea of yours that we should try!