Sunday, February 16, 2014

Friday finally came around

While Mr. Neoclassic enjoyed a Friday evening out with a few of his good friends, I hosted Jazz and her friends for an overnight party. I'd planned to show a fun romantic, Valentine's movie (age appropriate, of course), but was outvoted. The crowd, including Irish Jig and Zydeco, voted for Despicable Me 2. We turned out the lights, hooked up the sub-woofer and covered the den in popcorn bits. After the movie and Irish Jig's bedtime, I pulled out the paints and had the girls finish a Girl Scout project for me.

Recycled Halloween tablecloth for spills.

Lower lip biting for concentration.

Cross-eyed stare for intense concentration.

The end product - painted soup cans and matching peg people:
for color sorting and for hand-eye coordination.

Kaitlyn and Hannah (my good friend Jannette's girls) are Jazz's closest friends.  They are also in our sweet little Girl Scout troop. The whole troop worked its way through a Journey book and decided their service project would be creating manipulative games for a local preschool (Irish Jig's). The troop spent a recent meeting cutting felt for a different project and we just didn't get to the painting for this matching/ sorting game. With all our lost snow days, we don't have Troop time to finish this last project and we were going to skip doing it...until I realized I had three wonderful painters at the ready.

Their commentary and conversation is always hysterical. They get into their "art" zone and start discussing events at school and church, funny stories, and the latest music, movies or good snacks. Their guards drop and I hear it all. It's great fun and very informative!

Once finished and dry, we let Irish Jig road test the game.


She had a blast picking up the correct colors for each can and then carefully placing the peg people along the can rims.  I am happy that our Troop used a bit of recycling in the project.

If you'd like to make your own set, here are some suggestions:
  • Use a quality can opener.  Mine crimps the open edge to eliminate the sharp and dangerous edge. 
  • Cleaning the cans well goes without saying, right?
  • Apply a quick layer of spray primer.  This helps the paint adhere to the can much better.
  • Use non-toxic acrylic paints.  For little people who might place something in their mouths, it pays to be safe.  We used higher-quality tube acrylics.
  • Sand rough edges/ spots on the peg people first.  These were donated to the troop and weren't the highest quality, so there were some rough spots.  I didn't want little fingers to get a splinter.
The biggest hint/ reminder I must always give my OCD/ Type A self when watching smaller people create their work is to BACK OFF!  Not every spot of wood or can is perfectly covered with paint.  There are brush strokes showing.  That's okay.  These girls (and the rest of the troop that did the other projects) put their heart into creating something wonderful for someone else.  And that is the lesson no amount of badge earning can teach.





Today's post title from The Judd's Girls Night Out.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for your comments on my comment on Chocolate on My Cranium. I liked your idea about having "The Fun House." After I asked that question my daughter actually had a bad experience at the house of a friend we trust - nothing too serious, but it really made me aware that I need to have the friends at my house. It will be nice to hear lots of ideas from moms all experiencing the same thing.

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    1. The interesting thing I've noticed when I have the groups at our house is that they get really comfortable and let their gaurds down. I make a point of not hovering (especially with my teen), but I also make a point of coming in to drop a bowl of chips, offer drink refills, etc. They get so comfortable that they continue the conversations and games. The information you will pick up about what's going on and where is very interesting (and useful). I don't mean that we encourage gossip, but just that we hear the latest stories or issues they are facing.
      For example, my oldest is 15 and he hosted a Christmas party for about 20 friends. They were all wonderful and had a great time. I did learn, through my solicitious offerings, that they were all facing a difficult teacher and we plotting among themselves the best way to handle the upcoming exam. They were supporting one another, which was beautiful!

      Anyway, I have visited your site and I envy your large family. Continue your great work - always with humor!

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I thank you for visiting with me and for sharing your thoughts. I hope your day is fabulous and that you make some time for music - no matter what kind!