Water Painting

1. Do your kids love to play with sidewalk chalk.....by scribbling DIRECTLY ON THE HOUSE?

2. Do your kids love to paint on just about every surface (the table, the walls, themselves).....EXCEPT FOR THE PAPER?

3. Do your kids love to play outside?

4. Do your kids like to keep cool in the summer?

If your answers are YES, YES, YES, and YES, then here's a fun activity for everyone.

Thank you to Mom-E for resurrecting this one (apparently I had a very sheltered childhood, because I'd never done this until a week ago).

I call it "Water Painting."

All you need to do is get a big bowl (preferably a plastic/nonbreakable one), fill it with water, get some old paintbrushes (the bigger the better), and tell your kids to "Go paint!"

I know you may get tired of me saying this, but one of the most wonderful things about children is their appreciation and passion for the simple things.

Both Big Brother and Little Brother absolutely LOVE this activity. They go to town painting the house and the driveway (and each other and Mom-E & I). They could care less that their medium is water.

In fact, they might actually help get rid of some of those sidewalk chalk marks still lingering on the house.

Of course, I'd NEVER start a water fight by flicking a wet-loaded brush at them. No, no, never, not me. (But if that happened, it'd be fun, not that it's ever happened).

The best part is that clean up is almost nil (though you might want to coordinate the painting before bathtime if you anticipate children getting soaked.) Little Brother usually dumps out the unused contents of the bowl, and the water paint evaporates.

Enjoy!

See you on Fatherhood Friday,
Busy-Dad-E