I'm having a crafty mama crisis. Crafting runs in my blood, and in this digital era it's really fun to find new crafts, try them and then share them. The problem chez moi is that Charley would rather do something else. I can hear all sorts of logical responses from other moms, teachers, etc.: "He's only two!" "Play should be child-led!" "Cut the kid some slack!" "Find a craft he's interested in."
Great ideas, really. Only I'm kind of stubborn, and I have some kid crafts that I want to try myself. Charley's just my excuse. Two recent examples of our crafting endeavors show what I'm talking about. One is from The Imagination Tree of Tissue Paper Stained Glass Hearts and the other is adapted from her Woven Hearts Mobile. Here's his work on the tissue paper hearts.
He liked tearing up the paper, and then he even stuck some to the contact paper. Then he got down from his high chair,
walked around to where I was standing, and started hitting me. Seriously. I have a child who really. doesn't. want. to. craft. (sobbing...oh and for the record, I wasn't being militant about it at all. I am serious about that.)
The top picture shows how far he got on the yarn-wrapped heart. Only I did that wrapping to show him how. He wasn't interested and went back to playing with his vehicles.
In theory these are both great projects for a toddler-turned-preschooler. He has the fine motor to do them, and they seem fun. Right? Well, not to him. I think, in light of the hitting, that crafting makes him mad. I'm not sure if it's because he doesn't want to stop playing, feels like he's not good enough, la la la...there could be 50 reasons.
So I guess my next project will be tracking down some Charley-friendly crafts to see if I can entice him by involving vehicles as supplies. More kinesthetic projects might be in order too. Back in the fall when we did the acorn painting he had a great time, and that involved rolling an oatmeal container around. I know there are some great ideas out there, so wish me luck. If you've had luck enticing reluctant creators let me know what worked!
