A few days again while making a salad my creative genius struck. I looked at the romaine ends and thought “hey, these would make great stamps!”.
So, that’s what we did, and it was so much fun. I didn’t structure our activity. I simply suggested we paint, placed the romaine on the table, and asked a simple question.
"Do you think we could paint with things besides our paintbrush?"
Wow. Did we have a lot to talk about?
So much language and conversation developed with that simple question.
I introduced new big words in our discussion and we talked about how we can adapt and use different tools for alternative purposes, and how we need to have flexible thinking to learn and create. How colors mixed create new colors.
We guessed about what colors they would make and we analyzed what we saw when we looked at the cardboard.
My son quickly noticed the marks looked like flower petals and then he began to draw “stems” and “ground”, which then lead to more conversations about plants and how they are all similar or different to the flowers we created.
This simple activity reminded me of how simple learning can be. We don’t need complex toys with batteries or fancy materials.
Nope.
Keep it simple, my dears.
Dig into your recycle bin and grab that box. You know you have an Amazon Prime box somewhere. (They make the perfect canvas.) Then reach into your fridge for some lettuce, apples, carrots, or potatoes, and grab some paint.
Create and have fun!
*Are you curious about how to expand your children's receptive language skills?
*Would you like more about fun activities you can do at home?
*Comment below, I am happy to help.
In gratitude,
Jamie, The Thankful SLP
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