Paint with Water – Part 2

Observations: Paint with water is our new favorite activity.   I first talked about the paint with water book we received from Sweet Pea’s Great Aunt Jackie here.  Since then, I have been on a constant look out for more of them and have discovered a few things that I wanted to share.

We found our second paint with water book,  Strawberry Shortcake’s Happy Splash of Color, at in the kid’s activity book section in Target.  I immediately noticed that the dyes in this book had a much more saturated color than in the Spot book.  I assumed this deeper color would make for more satisfying painting, but that turned out not to be the case.  Once Sweet Pea wet the page, the color just didn’t spread very much.  The colors didn’t blend and the colored dots and stripes didn’t dissolve at all.  One family member remarked that Strawberry Shortcake looked like she had the measles.  Worse, the dye stained Sweet Pea’s hands and clothes a lot more than in the Spot book.

Not to be deterred so easily from such an engaging activity for Sweet Pea, our next book (also found at Target) was Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club House Paint With Water.  I bought this specifically because the dye on the pages looked much duller than the Strawberry Shortcake book.  This book was a huge success not just for painting, but also from a marketing standpoint for Disney.  Only 4 painted pages later and Sweet Pea can identify a 1-inch square Mickey Mouse sticker from 30 yards away.

In any case, I love these books.  I know this is sort of contrary to the Tot School spirit, but after dinner I give her 3-4 pages in a row and am rewarded with at least 10 more minutes of peace to enjoy my dinner.

Notes from the Trenches: I have a lot of notes today.   First, know that if you let your tot paint on some sort of a non-solid surface (such as the table in the picture below), the wet paper will develop grid shaped holes.  This may make your tot quite upset and lead to a lot of questions such as, “Where mouse go?”

Second,  make sure you put a plastic tablecloth or mat under the pages (and this goes for the less saturated dye too).  The color soaks through the paper and will stain whatever is below it.  The stain is pretty hard to remove remove.  I finally had success with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to remove the leaked-through color from Sweet Pea’s little plastic play table.

Also,  the smaller paintbrushes that come with the books will keep the time/page ratio up (which at the cost of about $0.13/page can be an issue) , but will lead to more holes in the paper since it is difficult for your tot to regulate how hard they press.  Sweet Pea had a lot more luck with a larger paintbrush, but sped through the pages that way.

Rating: 3 Stars * (Fun, Independent, Easy)