Before I forget, there’s a cute book called Crafty Chloe (if you’re looking for a cute book for kids with a nice message).
But that’s not what this blog is about.
Our kid is NUTSO for arts & crafts. The picture above was from Mother’s Day, when she crafted several things for me, including what you see there, a few cards, two “treasure boxes”, and this lovely number, which was displayed at school for all to see:
Looks just like me. Crazy big hands, long modelesque legs, long black hair and eyes – and I think I’m pants-less? ;) Regardless, the sentiment was sweet (and no, she didn’t do the writing). Though she DID do the writing on this nice card to our friend Ann on her birthday in May:
And that’s not half bad for a 4 and a half year old!! Regardless of skill, she likes the arts and crafts.
Give her some glitter glue, markers, and anything else, and you can’t hold her back from making, well, SOMETHING. “Mommy, let’s do an art project!” So when we went to a local school fair, we just had to check out the potter’s wheel. And I’ll have to say, she did a pretty great job with it (and yes, her mouth was open MOST of the time in awe):
I’m sure many of you know how this works already, but I had no idea. Next, she had to poke her fingers into the clay to make the bowl – very cute (and effective):
I’m confident I did NOTHING like this when I was 4 years old (unless mud pies count, because I think I was pretty good at those – better than I am at cooking today, some might say). Of course, this was a random booth at a school fair, so I’m not sure where this masterpiece ended up… They asked for name and phone number and said they’d call, but they never did. Luckily, I just tracked down the fair on Facebook and messaged the school – hope that works.
Who doesn’t need a tiny brown bowl with “mostly” even sides?
Many of the rest of Zoe’s masterpieces are captured on an app called Canvsly I found in the app store. She’s quite prolific… Not sure what we’ll do if they get rid of that app, but in the meantime, we can share and enjoy on our phones. And I feel confident Zoe’s greatest masterpiece is yet to come!
She also likes to “collect” things. Yes, like a bag lady. Shiny object on the ground? “I found a COLLECTION” That’s why there are bags and boxes and containers, oh my, filled with random items in our house. If one day she ends up a hoarder (or a bag lady for that matter), we’ll all know it was inevitable.
For now we’ll try and coach on the “good” collections (jewels, coins – and once, a 10 dollar bill!) and the “bad” collections (random bird feathers, old gum wrappers, bottle caps). I must admit I’m on the squeamish side of parenting – no surprise to many. So yes, I have WASHED a bird feather Daddy let her bring in the house.
I can hear my mother’s voice now, “Birds have mites!” Well, yes, Mom, they do. But did you know that apparently those mites aren’t actually ON the molted feathers? That mites know when a feather is about to fall out and migrate to the ones that are sticking around? It’s a true story. Though I can also find online that they DO carry bacteria, parasites – oh, and that collecting them is illegal. So. Maybe my mother’s instincts were right? ;)
Emphasis on Joy 