My son’s birthday is this weekend, he will be 2, and I decided that I wanted to have something akin to the notches on the door frame to see how he has grown. Each year I will offer up a canvas and see what happens. My husband asked me” What if he doesn’t want to do it one year?” ” Well then we’ll frame a blank canvas, that will be memorable too!” My son had the time of his life doing this, he ended up in the bath after covering himself and my kitchen in many many colors. If you want to have some fun here is what we did:
- Gather your materials. We grabbed all our paint, all non toxic , you can see why. Also a 8×10 canvas and a few brushes to choose from. Don’t forget the drop cloth, I don’t often get ours out, I am so happy I decided to today.
- Start by asking your child what colors they want, just because you are letting them go “wild” doesn’t mean you can slide some color lessons in !
- Switch up colors and brushes.
- Or forget brushes all together!
- Let dry and frame to make it a keep sake.
Books!
“If You Give A Pig A Party” by Laura Nummeroff , this is the only book in this series I don’t own. I read it to my son yesterday while shopping for party supplies at Costco. I love this whole series, I like the cause and effect text and how even younger children start anticipating that the Pig is going to want something else… I love that the Pig’s party guests are the other Nummeroff characters, like the Moose from “If You Give A Moose A Muffin” and the Cat from “If You Give A Cat A Cupcake” . Such a fun book !
Glamour Moms says
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE DUDE!!!!! Hope you guys have a great weekend!!!
Amber, That's Me! says
Yes, Happy Birthday! I love the idea of doing one every year! I have always wanted to do the canvas thing, but haven’t tried. Maybe next month for the 4th birthday will be a good time to start!
Erin Tales says
What a wonderful idea! And I like that book!
Joyce says
Happy Birthday!!
Heather - CROQZine.com says
How fun! Happy birthday! I didn’t know he wasn’t two yet… he’s such a prodigious artist! 🙂
Devin says
Hello there,
I just wanted to say THANK YOU for posting all these great crafts!
Obviously, I am a new visitor here…someone posted your site on my blog just the other day, as I was lamenting (after making Indian Headdresses with my children) that I wished I could come up with more things for my oldest, who is 5, to do. He loves this sort of thing, and you are now officially subscribed in my reader! I am not crafty at all, unfortunately, so I am excited about getting some help!
I can’t wait to try out several of these things…keep ’em coming!
Devin in Illinois
MoziEsmé says
Awesome idea – it will be fun to see the progression over the years!
I’ve been wanting to invest in canvas just to see how Esme does with it, but it’s kind of pricy. I think I could handle it once a year, though…
Michelle Sybert says
what a wonderful mess! happy birthday little man!
Allie says
Thank you all for the wonderful well wishes! It was a very happy birthday for the wee man, filled with friends and family.
Amanda says
I started doing this at my daughter’s first birthday too. Now we have two beautiful painting hanging up in our living room. I love looking at the first one and seeing the knee impression from where she decided to crawl away!
Melissa Meacham says
LOVE the top picture!