No-Prep Pumpkin Decorating Invitation

 

Not every art invitation needs to be aesthetically pleasing and Pinterest ready.  We were visiting my mom this weekend.  My kids call her “GoGo.” She and Zaven went to pumpkin farm and bought a variety of pumpkins and gourds.  Sunday afternoon my mom set up a card table in her backyard.  We covered it with a simple party table cloth for easy clean up.  

She pulled out her large storage tub of mismatched craft supplies.  She said she just tosses in odds and ends at the end of projects.  Inside this magical tub, the children found acrylic paint, beads, jewels, glitter (I know!), puffy paint, pipe cleaners, buttons, scissors, scrapbook paper, and Easter grass. 

What made this storage tub so magical was not its contents, it was the free range my mom gave the kids as they explored the materials.

Zaven: I’m going to glue this Christmas light on here like an ear.

My mom: That’s a great idea.  See if that glue works.  If not, we can hot glue it.

Quinlan: (covers the entire pumpkin in puffy paint and starts pressing buttons onto the soupy mess)

My mom: We might need to leave that outside to dry a little longer.

 

Her responses were beautiful.  Full of possibility.  Facilitating. 

There was no judgment.  No telling the kids that something wouldn’t work.  I even found myself biting my tongue when I saw my daughter unscrewing all the glitter lids.

 

This experience taught me 2 things:

1.     1. I need to start a tub of leftover supplies.

2.    2.    Letting the children be in charge is powerful…and the mess is not THAT bad. 

When was the last time your kids created and played like they were at GoGo’s?  When was the last time you did?