Magic Marker Monday

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Esmé is, shall we say, a RE-LUUUC-TANT reader and writer, so much so that I occasionally wonder if I’m a delusional parent as far as her abilities are concerned. 

And then she writes stuff like this under the menu on the fridge – which, by the way, we had just filled in with “healthy foods that she promises to eat this week.”

There aren’t any Fruit Loops boxes in the kitchen for her to copy off of – honest!

And there are her random 3D creations that I absolutely adore stumbling across.  Like this  castle made of styrofoam packing and sharp pencils on our bedroom floor:

Or this pet “water bird” made from kitchen tongs and a wooden spatula, complete with a soup ladle to sip water out of:

So, what kind of mischief magic has your little one been creating lately?  Come share at 5 Minutes for Special Needs!

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

~Pablo Picasso

Magic Marker Monday

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When Pappa gets put in charge of art, it gets all fancy, I tell you.  It’s all about having the right tool to do the job, you know?


Air brush painting?  That’s just so out of my league…


For more Magic Marker Monday, check out 5 Minutes for Special Needs.

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

~Pablo Picasso

Magic Marker Monday

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Most days Esmé whips through her math worksheet like nobody’s business, and I comment to her Pappa that math is definitely one of her areas of giftedness.

Other days, her worksheets look like this.  And I wonder…


(I don’t think the girl is intentionally smooshing the snail.  Not that I’d mind.)

And her writing assignment is sometimes a bit overdone as well…

I’m pretty sure her SATs are going to look the same way.  Not that I’m stressing yet or anything.  :)  Seriously.  Hakuna matata, folks…

In case you’re wondering – we’re working through Math-U-See Primer.  And the writing page is from A-Z I Like Animals.

For more Magic Marker Monday, check out 5 Minutes for Special Needs.

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

~Pablo Picasso

Magic Marker Monday

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Is it really Tuesday already?  Tuesday EVENING?  Too bad…  I refuse to let my calendar intimidate me into postponing this post until NEXT Monday.  I am in control, not my calendar.  Right.  Okay.

We printed out this cool shapes printable book from waddleeahchaa called It Looked Like a Heart.  Then Esmé went to town illustrating and customizing it…  I did give her some spelling assistance, but it’s all her stuff. 

The raccoon – it has an upside-down turtle friend.  Bugs are flying all around the man’s BEAUTIFUL hat.  And the bus has mud splattered all over the side. 

Enjoy!

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

~Pablo Picasso

Magic Marker Monday

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Is it just me, or is every parent just amazed at the innovative creations of their child?  It’s like when they learned to talk – a whole new world of expression opening up to them…

This 100%-Esmé creation was inspired by Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes – a library favorite from several months ago.  I’m not sure what triggered it just now, since we don’t own the book and haven’t seen it in a while. 

But here you have it – a black kitten with jingle bell nose – the moon that looks like a bowl of milk – the steps the kitten climbs to try to reach it – the tree the kitten climbs to try to reach it – the pond with the moon’s reflection that looks like a GIANT bowl of milk.


What has your child been creating lately?  Link up over at 5 Minutes for Special Needs…

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

~Pablo Picasso

Magic Marker Monday

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Now that the Christmas tree is no longer resident on our chalkboard/table dual-purpose thingie, that chalkboard is seeing some use.  Here is a random sample of yesterday’s 3yo random creations.

My favorite:  The Esmé rocket!  Captured in the nick of time before Mr. Erase-All swiped it out.  Name spelled so you can read it properly in your rearview mirror, of course.


Now this beaut is a sharp-toothed clam.  Look it up in your encyclopedia if you haven’t heard of it before…


And this is an apple.  Note the eraser-toothed girl biting chunks out of it…


…until all that is left is the core.


What has your child been creating lately?  Link up over at 5 Minutes for Special Needs…

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

~Pablo Picasso

Magic Marker Monday

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Art in our house has taken a sad turn lately with creative canvas choices...


First Esmé used a blue marker on the cat.


Then she did some cutting art on the blue comforter covering her bed.


Sigh…  I guess regular old paper does get boring after three years.

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

~Pablo Picasso

Magic Marker Monday

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Yesterday one of Esmé’s assignments was to color a leaf with “fall” colors – any color(s) of her choice.  She spent quite a while – rare since her perfectionist style is at conflict with her 3yo attention span – and this is what she came up with.


It just makes me smile!

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

~Pablo Picasso

Magic Marker Monday

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I’m loving Esmé’s self-initiated free art – all very detailed.  Here is her brother, Mr. Potato Head on a whiteboard:


And this is “Gule,” a big big bracelet on one arm and a flower in the other hand, with a few little “e’s” thrown in:

In chalk, here is a pony.  Depending on your perspective.  (That little circle that could be an elephant ear is actually the pony’s head, with a nice mane flowing down.  And that long thing that could be a trunk is actually a leg.  In case you were wondering.)


And this?




Isn’t it obvious?



Have you figured it out yet?



Try again!



OK, OK.  This, my dear friends, is the flight of a hummingbird.  (We read Little Green by Keith Baker a few nights earlier, in case you were wondering…)

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

~Pablo Picasso

Magic Marker Monday

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“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

~Pablo Picasso

This?  This is me.  I’m a millipede with lots of legs.  Millipedes always have nine legs on one side.  And nine on the other.  And long eyelashes.  My name is Esmé, and I am three years old.


And this?  This is a zebra’s heart.  With pink stripes.  Zebras have beautiful hearts!


(All art inspired by “quiet time” while Mom naps… )

For more Magic Marker Monday, visit 5 Minutes for Special Needs.

Not Me! Monday

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Mommy would never take her eyes off me for a second, not even to wash a few dishes while I'm busily waterpainting in the kitchen.

So I would never have a chance to create "RAIN!" with my watercolor paints.

And Daddy would never say something silly like "It doesn't rain INSIDE the house!"

So I couldn't come back with "It DOES when I MAKE it rain!"

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I would never crush and rub a garlic clove all over my face to make it "beautiful!"

(Not even to make my face and hair like a white unicorn face and mane.  Because I never pretend to be an animal.  I am perfectly content to be a little girl.  And I know unicorns don't really exist.)

And Mommy would never tell me how good I smell if I DID do something like that.

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I would never wear a silly Eeyore sweater with donkey ears.  Because I am not an animal.  I am a little girl.

So I would never cry like a donkey, complete with crocodile tears, because my ears were stuck behind my head in the car seat belt.

It's not like donkeys need to keep their ears free of seat belts or anything.

Not that I would know.  Because I am a little girl.

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So let's finish this off with a round of Magic Marker Monday.  Because we really need to show off this new RAIN artwork of ours... 

"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."

~Pablo Picasso

"and another lifetime to clean up the mess."

~Mom

Magic Marker Monday

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"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."

~Pablo Picasso

Esmé's Mommy here.

On my reading "stand" (an empty medicine cabinet that belongs in our unfinished bathroom but sits by our bed) is the library book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. I've been lamenting my lack of drawing skills every time Esmé tells me: "Draw a sheep! Draw a horse! Draw a pig!" So my husband's aunt recommended this book to me, and I have hope! I will get this brain switch thing figured out one day and come up with passable art!

Two-year-old Esmé, of course, already has the brain switch thing figured out. How else could she take one of these 2-inch critters (encased in a jar for her viewing pleasure and artistic pursuits)...

...and carefully craft this magnificent replication of the scene?

At least she wasn't into tattoo art this day.

And don't ask what we did with the beetle after its modeling stint...

(Thanks to www.bentler.us for the beetle photo...)

See 5 Minutes for Special Needs for more of Magic Marker Monday...