Will is like any preschooler….he’s developed the dreaded opinions.
At first, I thought that every single opinion was adorable…oh you want to spew your chewed peas down your shirt! What an amazing human you are! You think it’s hilarious to color on Nana’s purse ? It is! You think it’s a good idea to use your brother as a human trampoline even after I said no? He really is quite bouncy!
Now….notsomuch.
But there are some areas that I actually LOVE having his input in….namely his room. I asked him what he thought of it and he was really quite frank about the things he liked and the things he didn’t. He didn’t like certain art…he didn’t like that we took all the toys out (we were told this would help at bedtime…it didn’t)….he didn’t like his bookshelf because it didn’t hold his big books the ‘wight way’ and he wanted his teepee somewhere else. On the other hand, he told me that he likes more color and wants more “superhero monster truck car big boy stuff”. That was a direct quote from the little man himself. Also he wanted more pictures of himself and Weston. It’s funny to me the things he requested because I LOVE them all. like truly love. like it sounds like paradise for my little guy.
After our little conversation I immediately took down all the pictures that he didn’t like. I also asked him if he wanted to make his own pictures…to which he emphatically said yes. SOoooo….this is us…making his own art.
I’ve seen a lot of demonstrations of cotton ball art….this one is basically the same. I just squirted some acrylic craft paint in bowls and diluted it with a little water.
The entire idea revolves around dipping a cotton ball in paint and chunking it at a piece of paper (or canvas or whatever). Eventually, it begins to look like art. And when I say ‘art’, I mean ‘paint splatters on a piece of paper’.
So my method to keep the chaos at bare minimum is this: I taped a piece of poster board to an old piece of insulation board and put the entire thing up on a drop cloth. I also made sure Will was fully dressed like a cow.
Then came the fun part….the throwing part. You remember how I used to label all the photos of him pitching stuff as “throwing stuff picture”….consider this their homecoming parade 🙂
We kinda expected the paint to be ‘weepy’ (making it have drips and splatters)…um no.
Instead…the cotton balls stuck like a . Will thought it was hilarious.
At one point he did some ‘rainbows’ and then we did a little rapid fire throwing. It was really fun overall…but way less messy than I had expected.
That is…until Will decided that the funner game was to take all the cotton balls and squeeze them like ‘wemonade’.
Since I had this round mirror frame that accidentally is now mirror-less….it became the perfect way to show off Will’s handiwork.
Let’s be honest…kid art is always far from perfect but the kid (ok and mom too)…we don’t care. To our eyes it’s the best, most beautiful, most lovely thing ever. It’s something to be proud of. It’s something to share with the world (and the walls). And it’s something that reminds us of…well…our kids. Our children aren’t perfect either (much to contrary belief)…but dang if they aren’t originals…full of color and fun!
Cotton Balls? I guess no baby report yet! You poor thing:)
I love this idea and need to try it with both of my little monkeys. They’d love it!
I love this! Such a great project to do with little ones.
So cute! What a great idea!
how fun it will be to see his vision of his room take shape!
There is also a baby-breathing-monitor that is a thin pad that you put under the crib sheet and it alerts you if breathing stops. I haven’t actually tried either one of them, but for some reason I think the pad would be more comfortable for baby than something clipped on the diaper. Just a thought. I like your list!:)
Love it! I did the same thing with my kids’ artwork. Now they are 23, 20, 18 & 14. Everything looks impressive framed. I think an added bonus is that when you look at it, you will be reminded of the day he made it and the good feelings you get with that. I like the bedroom too.
Charming and fun!
Side note: Totally distracted wondering if your bambino has decided to make an appearance yet. Thinking of you and the fam!
love this! so whimsical and fun 🙂
Cute! I love the round frame too!
Is Will still in a crib?
Monster trucks are all my 4 yo talks about. every.single.day. He wants a monster truck bedroom, too. I’m trying to balance his love for trucks with my love for order. ; )
Have you ever considered taking Will to MONSTER JAM? I’m sure there’s one near you. It’s the mecca of all things trucks…. My little man LOVED it when we went in Chicago.
Ps- did you watch the bachelor this year?
As a girl who begged to paint her room and had the color chosen for her at age 16, I applaud you! I think as they get older they will have more pride in their room and care for it more if they have more input/control. And I mean really… cotton ball art?! What’s not to love!
So cute! I think we will have to try this. I want more of my preschooler’s art on display.
wants more “superhero monster truck car big boy stuff”.
HAHAHAHA!
That’s just so boy!! I can imagine my son saying the same thing. 🙂
Anyway, love the art project!!
This is great, Katie! I notice often on blogs and design shows that the same popular styles and trends are often carried into kids rooms. The result is a lot of cute spaces that reflect the parents’ personality more than the child’s. So its refreshing to see parents who are inviting their children into the process. I’m not saying that all kids rooms need to be plastered in disney characters and plastic toys. They can still be stylish and well thought out spaces. But they should also be colorful and fun and a reflection of the child that lives in the space. It sounds like Will knows just what he wants, and I think that’s awesome 🙂
Does he still sleep in a crib? Can’t wait to see what monster truck car big boy stuff you come up with!
This post had me rolling from laughter. “You think it’s a good idea to use your brother as a human trampoline even after I said no? He really is quite bouncy!” All parents, “no, no, no, no, ehhhh. Fine.”
Such a cute idea! I loved Will’s room as you had it, but good for you for listening to him! I know that when we move my son will have a ton of opinions about his room {this one is done and we aren’t changing a thing right now!}. It’s so fun to imagine what he will choose.
This is awesome and I love that he got all messy and had fun. Great Idea Katie!!!!
Hope you are doing well and that baby LJ comes soon.
We have an LJ too. Luke Joseph (wanted Lincoln Joseph, but lived on Linkin Avenue at the time…. didn’t think we’d ever move at that point :))
wike wemonade… that kid slays me! SO adorable. Awesome that you two had some craft time together pre-baby. 😉
Is bedtime getting any easier? I envy that you still have Will in a crib. My girls could all climb out of their cribs by 18 months old and so, for their safety, we transitioned to beds early. Just a thought though, maybe if Will picked out a “Big Boy” bed with cool superhero sheets, he’d be more inclined to sleep in it!
Will’s crib converts to a toddler bed…which he is in. So it is the same size but he can get out easily.
xo – kb
Will’s crib converts to a toddler bed which yes, he is still in.
xo – kb
I did watch it! I actually liked the season – I know a lot of people didn’t but whatever 🙂
xo – kb
Nope. Not any easier. He doesn’t like bedtime at all. And he is in his ‘crib’ but we converted it to the toddler bed so he can have free reign.
xo – kb
Bedtime was never an easy thing for my daughter either. (She is now 28 and sleeps just fine now!) She once said at the same age as Will is now; “Why do we have to go to sleep? Can’t we just start the next day now?” I told her that mommies and daddies need to rest before the next day starts. Your children are adorable. Thanks for sharing them!
This is great! Would love to see some pics when all of his new art work is displayed in his room 🙂
I agree with Will, it definitely needs more color and pictures. Great art work Will.
I love the cotton ball art. It looks like such a fun project.
I am SOOO not an expert on being on mom, but I can tell you what has worked with getting our 3 year old to bed. You saying that you tried taking all of the toys out of Will’s room made me think of it. We don’t have toys in our daughter’s room, but she has tons of books. We let her stay up and read her books as long as she wants. It actually works really well because she just looks at them until she is tired, then goes to bed. Really cute, actually. I think because she knows she doesn’t really have to go to sleep, she doesn’t fight bedtime too much. I know every kid is different, just trying to help 🙂
Such a cute idea Katie. I think it’s fantastic that you’re including Will in decorating his room. It will be a happy room you’ll all love as it evolves, I’m sure! Sending positive thoughts for little LJ’s arrival!
Where is LJ??!! How many days were you past your due date with Weston? You must make a good home for them to want to stay put a little longer :0). I was thinking of Will and bedtime routines. My daughter (around 3.5 years at the time) hated bedtime until I started a little fantasy play with her. I told her that when I was little I woke up to find my dolls dancing around my room and that when you close your eyes they come to life and if you are lucky sometimes you catch them in the act. (this is something I remember as a child). She started to think about it and then was interested in catching them in the act. Of course I would say that it only happens when you close your eyes and turn off the lights. I would play it up and say “gee I wonder if baby beans will be the one to dance and play with your doll house” you know creat an image for her to think about. So far that has help encourage sleep. However I can see how it could make it a bit scary for them as well so I always keep it to light play ie dancing around or maybe Will’s toys could make race tracks. Not sure if it will help but wanted to share :0)…bring on the BEBE!
We do that too with the books…but he doesn’t ever get tired…or he does but fights it like the dickens. I personally think its because he has always had nightmares and it makes him hate sleeping. We took him in to talk to someone but they gave us tips to deal with anxiety but there isn’t anything we can do short of drug him…so we just forge on 🙂
xo – kb
We actually tried that at the recommendation of a reader before but Will is super practical (I think he gets that from Jeremy because it’s definitely not me)…and he told me that the only thing he sees is scary things in his dreams (he has always had nightmares) so it was a complete fail…although I hope it works with Weston (he’s so entirely different that I imagine it would work!).
xo – kb
I love this, BUT I couldn’t handle the set up and mess from it, good mummy you are!
Still upset i cant see any of your pictures! Not in my feedly and not at the website itself. They show up as blank photos, and when i clicked to copy url of picture and opened that separately i found the issue! Here at work we are blocked from photobucket…as well as pinterest. So when bloggers post images from either, they dont load.
OH WELL! but glad i figured it out:)
I’m glad you figured that out. I know that it’s policy for some work places to block time-consuming internet sites (don’t they know that blogs can help increase productivity!? tsk tsk!).
xo – kb
Try this with the little man. FUN!
http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/08/summer-fun-chalk-rockets.html?m=1