Thursday, July 7, 2011

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 9: Sidewalk Chalk

Oliver is an amazing kid, but I have to admit: he's just not very interested in art. I try to sit him down regularly with crayons, but I'm lucky if he scribbles for two minutes before getting bored. Upstairs, he has his chalkboard that I made him. He almost never colors on it, but he sometimes asks me to. He doesn't like it if I draw lines and encourage him to draw them, too. He only wants me to draw letters, so I do.

Well, today, I thought getting outside with chalk might make a difference. I hoped it would open up his creative spirit! No such luck. He drew two lines almost immediately, but then insisted on putting the chalk in my hands. Trying to give it back resulted in whines of protest.I coaxed him into drawing a few more lines over the next few minutes, but he really wasn't interested. He enjoyed the outdoors, though, and liked watching me write letters with the chalk. We stayed outside for a good fifteen minutes before he wanted to go in, but unfortunately, the chalk was not a hit.I think sidewalk chalk would be a successful activity for most toddlers his age, but based on my experience, I give it a C. Chalk is cheap; you can buy a little package for $1 at Michael's. It's very easy since all you have to do is hand it to them. There's no difficult clean up (thank you, rain!). So, it really could be a good activity. Unfortunately, Oliver just couldn't give a damn.

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