Mouse Paint: Mixing it up

I managed to get most of the regular weekend chores done during the week so we could have another great weekend. The only family chore we had was to clean out the black hole coat closet. We discovered this week that Will's tennis shoes (about 3 months old) no longer fit him, and half the socks in the bins were baby-size. The little kids and I got the closet emptied Friday. They lined up all the shoes and we got rid of all the pairs that were too small. In the end, we found that ALL four kids needed tennis shoes, so we got up bright and early Saturday morning and went to get some for everyone. When we got home, we hung up all the freshly cleaned jackets and coats and purged the ones that were too small. We got rid of all the baby stuff, all the diaper bags, all the extra pull-ups tucked into every purse and backpack. We found and purged parts to the baby carriers, toddler leashes, and little bitty backpacks. We did a LOT!

Because we got so much accomplished, Sunday afternoon was another art-day! Stressful, messy, creative, and fun. I pulled out the acrylic paints and filled the pallets for the kids (ice cube trays). One of our favorite books is called Mouse Paint (Ellen Stroll Walsh, 1995). The kids like it for the cute pictures and because they are reading it now. In the story, three white mice find three pots of paint -- red, yellow, and blue. They climb in, climb out, drip puddles, then dance in them and mix the colors. When I told the kids we would be making our own colors like in Mouse Paint, they were a bit confused until they understood that I was saying MIX! Then the fun really began.

I struggle to sit still while the kids are creating. I like control, planning, and neatness, and I have to practically tie myself to a chair to keep from interfering with their creativity. I discovered last week that the easiest way for me to stay out of the way (while being within reach) is to create something myself. All of us enjoyed playing in the paint. Allen doesn't really like doing the creative arts, but I am SO thankful he is willing to mop the floor when the rinse water is spilled... and I am really thankful when he takes the kids for a bath so I can get the rest cleaned up. After all the mess, I was much more relaxed, and the kids are learning about colors, textures, techniques, and play.

This week, they all mixed their own colors a bit. Each of them chose a main color that was mixed in to the others. Jon chose red, so he mixed red into white, black, yellow, blue, and green. Maddie wanted pink, but I showed her how to do that with the red. Ben wanted yellow, and Will chose blue (though he didn't end up mixing his.) All the mixed colors ended up a bit muddy because we took the water cups away after the table flooded when one spilled.

Ben's YELLOW

Jon's RED

Maddie's RED

 Will's ROBOTS & SUPERMAN

 Sarah's GREEN

I had to giggle when Will told me, "Mama, that looks like a painting like Collage Monet." I guess he's been reading some of the art history books. This was my first time mixing colors like that and I'm anxious to do it again!