creating with what we already have pt 2: discardable container lids

Something I've found my toddler aged friends enjoy doing is... scribbling. While it's always easy to keep them entertained for a couple minutes with a crayon and a piece of paper, I think it's important to consider other ways they can practice this expressive movement, while also further developing their fine motor skills.

Go on an adventure around your home, and search for some tools. I used the other end of my paint brush as my "drawing" tool!

Have your family members help you search for anything that can be used as a tool to draw with - it doesn't have to be a traditional writing tool. Think forks, q-tips, straws, coins, clothes pins - anything you can hold in your hand that has hard edges! Collect a few different items to experiment with.

You'll also need to look around for some spare containers - old paint cans, buckets, tupperware, jars - do you happen to have any of these that are no longer holding objects? If you do, and if you can spare a couple of lids, this is a fun, sustainable/upcycle project anyone can enjoy working on. If you're happy with how they turn out, it's easy to display them on the wall!

Find some paint, most any child-safe paint (and any color!) would probably do.

As a team, work with your little ones to cover the lid(s) in paint. This can be expressive!

Now before this paint dries, pick out a couple of your "drawing" tools, and use them to scribble onto the layer of paint, revealing the lid underneath. Encourage your family members to keep scribbling, over and over again! Like with all of the project ideas posted here, there is no wrong way to do this.

Here is a picture of what my lid looks like, it was about to get tossed, but now it's a fun little piece of wall decor!