• About
  • contact
  • Advertise

Picklebums

Activities, recipes, free printables and life with four kids

  • Home
  • Activities for kids
  • family food
  • parenting
  • Printables
  • farm tales
  • shop

Say Yes to Painting.

Posted on January 11, 2011 13 Comments

painting

The beginning of the new year always seems fill with such potential and optimism. I’m trying to catch those positive feelings and keep them hostage at the Pickle Farm for the rest of the year.

One of the things I am trying to keep up with is saying yes to my kids more often.

Many times my brain throws out an automatic ‘no’ without really thinking it through first. I think, ‘that will be messy, or loud, or take a long time, or not what I had planned for this morning’ – so I say No. With a little thought, perhaps a little effort on my part, I could manage most of those issues and say yes more often. And really, it is much more fun for everyone if I say yes!

Muski asks to paint a lot when the girls are at school…. and usually I say no. It takes forever to put paints in pots and find brushes, to get out the easel or to set up a space at the table. It takes even longer to clean up an enthusiastic three year olds painting mishaps.

“One day when the weather is better we’ll set it up outside” I tell him.
“When your brother is asleep, then we’ll do it” I say.
But it never happens.

But now it will.
All three big kids got new paints for Christmas.

paint easy

We already have heaps of paints but these are different. These sets of water colour disks don’t require much effort to set up, and don’t make much mess either. They even come with their own paint brush. Muski, who’s three and a half, can set himself up to paint, getting a cup of water and popping on his apron. He can pack up on his own too.

paint easy 2

We’ve tried ‘el cheapo’ paint sets but the colours were never very satisfying and the paints crumbled and broke. So I spent a little more on these, but they were still less than $7 a set, and the colours are vibrant and strong and they are a pleasure to paint with. I wish I had bought myself some too.

But the most important thing is…. I’ve set myself up to be able to say yes more.
“Can we paint today mum?”
“YES!”

Is there something you often say no to that you could change into a yes with a bit of pre-planning?

we play

This is our first We Play of 2011! Pop on over the new look Childhood101.com for more great play ideas!

0 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Activities for kids, Fun for Everyone Tagged With: activities for children, activities for preschoolers, activities for school kids, activities for toddlers

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

  1. sarah says

    I love water colour palettes too, for exactly the same reason. They’re self-contained, not too messy and it’s so easy to say ‘yes’, whip them out and get started.

    I bought a Micador set of 36 (yes, 36 colours!) for a week at the beach back in November – in case it rained. And yes, it rained, and they were a hit. Thanks for the reminder – we have rain forecast for the rest of the week so I think we’ll be painting tomorrow!

    Reply
  2. Nee says

    Where did you get them from Kate?

    Reply
  3. Beet says

    Good for you Kate! Simplifying an activity for you, setting up something to build independence and saying yes!

    Reply
  4. joyce:waddleeahchaa.com says

    Watercolors are a wonderful art media for all ages. The other day I was working on a project for a preschool class and instead of the traditional markers or crayons decided to pull out the watercolors. It was a instant hit and the colors are so soothing. Thanks for stopping by waddleeahchaa.com. :) joyce

    Reply
  5. Alissa says

    Yes! Just yesterday I was feeling so grateful for this kind of paint set. It feels great to be able to easily say yes to painting. The thing I’d like to say yes to more often this year is sewing with my five year old. Hmmm- I’m going to have to think on that to figure out how to make it an easier yes. Thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply
  6. Jackie says

    Wow! Those are really bright. I got a set for my son but you can hardly see the colors at all. Or maybe we’re doing something wrong, ha. I’m not an artist!

    Reply
  7. Meegan says

    I want to say YES! to these sorts of activities too!! Can you please let me know where you got the water colours from, or what brand they are? I love their abnormally bright colours!

    Reply
  8. bek says

    I so need to do more of this. I don’t have watercolours so going to have to put up with poster paints ;)

    Reply
  9. amandab says

    My floor can go for a week with paint on it (why does Princess HAVE to paint on a Friday when I do floors on a Thursday??) and I can prepare dinner walking through the kitchen with big steps and on half the bench space (the rest being covered in drying pictures) because saying “yes” can mean that I can make the dinner withot the whingeing, or I can have that phone call with my Nana. Someyimes, yes is very good :)

    Reply
  10. Adele says

    I definitely say no too much or i say yes and when she suggest what she would like to make i try to get the best out of the materials. I am going to make more effort too! thank u for mentioning this

    Reply
  11. Amy says

    I too have issues saying yes- so often i say no and then wonder why I didn’t just say yes. Recently I said yes to my 5yr old sewing (with a needle and thread and some felt) he had a wonderful time and did it all by himself, except for threading the needle and knotting the end off. I was so glad that I’d said yes!

    Reply
  12. Christie says

    What brand are they, Kate? I love the rich colours.

    I need to say yes more to having people over to share in our fun times! That is on my wish list for 2011.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Say Yes to Painting – Dot Paints. says:
    April 19, 2011 at 3:34 pm

    […] big kids all got fabulous water colour paint sets for Christmas which makes saying yes to painting so much more doable. With that same idea in mind I recently picked up a set of ‘dot paint […]

    Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home » Say Yes to Painting.
welcome
pinterestfacebooktwitterinstagram

Search around a bit…

You might also like…

Super Cool Space Play Dough Activity.

ALphabet find and colour activity - free printable

Alphabet Find and Colour Activity – Free Printable

Find our printable puppets here Find our easy art activities here find our easy dinner recipes here

Find Activities by Age

  • Baby play
  • Toddler Fun
  • Preschooler Fun
  • School Kids Fun
  • Fun for Everyone

Subscribe to our newsleter

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work, learn and live, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and we pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Find posts by month

Browse all my crazy categories

Copyright © 2021 • Powered by WordPress
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
  • Home
  • contact
  • advertise
  • Privacy Policy