ART@2years 2months: 'Daddy'

Drawing is something my daughter enjoys a lot. She enjoys drawing more on the DoodlePro than on paper. Probably its easier for her to draw and erase.

Today, Daddy's doll drew 'Daddy' yet again!

But...but...but....why is Daddy always in the sleeping position? Can u see Daddy's bulging belly? :D

Mummy is waiting to see herself too one day (hopefully slimmer atleast in the drawing).

Daddy was so happy to see her work that he agreed to pose as per her drawing.

Is Creativity A Gift or A Barrier?

Could life be topsy turvy for a child trying to be too creative? Sometimes I have been made to wonder if the other way of looking at things could make your brain go haywire.
Nowadays, parents prefer stimulating their little ones right from the time they inhabit their mother's womb. Research shows that stimulation does help in increasing the number of networks created in the brain thus leading to multiple intelligences depicted in a child.
No wonder that children are becoming smarter with every generation. Not only that, innovation has become the need of the hour for every profession. Thus parents are trying to find means and ways to give children as much exposure as they can from childhood. That is how the Baby Einstein cds are going off the shelves.
What could be the consequences of all this? Are we trying to go against nature? Could there be a negative outcome to this? Would you fail from being a normal well-functioning humanbeing if you started seeing everything differently? Could you mature faster than your age leading to other problems in the future? Could it be difficult for a child to cope up with his/her peer group at school? Could your child be subjected to ridicule or to the contrary have too much of expectation to live up to? Could your child be made to feel different? Could he/she become a loner/a snob? Could your child's teacher penalize your child for trying to think more than is required not following the codes acceptable in the traditional education system?
It is worth pondering on all this and find your best possible solution for parenting your own kid. So, what if your child looks at the creases on your bedsheet and spots mountains and valleys. So what if your child watches her own little TV screen, 'the cushion' while Mom watches her own favourite soap on TV! (Yes, its my friend's daughter's story). Isn't that what creativity is all about? Should that natural urge be curbed? Life would be so boring if we just saw things the way they are. Finding meaning in things in day-to-day life is what makes life so precious, so meaningful.
So, what-the-heck! Let them be their own selves and enjoy their creative power as long as it lasts! Gulp all your fears and fearful thoughts with a sip of kopi-tarik.
The other day my daughter was sailing in her boats of fancy. She was singing 'Row row row the boat' when she dropped two cushions on the floor while I watched with intrigue what she was up to.
She enjoyed her boat ride while I enjoyed watching her easily transcend into the world of her imagination from reality.

Do I smile when I watch the video. I must admit, "yes, I do".
So, is creativity a gift or a barrier? Do share your thoughts.

I Can Read Now

Flipping books has always been a fun pastime for DD. I am glad that she loves books as much as we do.

I have shared earlier on the types of books we've got for her in the past. She has seen loads of books on various categories in her two years of life, from soft cloth books to hardbound books to real books (with thin pages). She loves watching the pictures and listening to stories.

I show her flashcards and read aloud books to her and try to make it fun whenever we are with books. She often picks up a book and comes up to me wanting to know what is going on in the book. :)

Here's an update on her development. She has started reading a full sentence. She surprised me all of a sudden by reading the sentence, "N is for Nest" in one of her books about a week ago.

Here is a video of her reading@25 months from her playschool book. Thanks to the teacher too who made this possible. I am quite excited although this is just the beginning.



For parents who might want to know the secret behind teaching your toddler reading: It is important to look at the foundation before you start building an apartment. So, don't be too pushy or force your toddler to 'read'. It will come automatically.

Let the child enjoy the process of loving books first. It is better not to have high expectations as it will lead to a build up of stress in your mind that the child could easily decipher. If you pressurize your child to read, he will lose interest in the activity altogether. So, take it slow but keep on trying.

For parents who already know the secret to teaching your toddler to read, please do share your tips and learnings.

Drawing and Post Rationalization

While most of us draw with something in mind before we start, only few of us let the pencil take the flow.

My view is toddlers who are unaware of where the pen/pencil might take her, draw with an open, free mind. It is only with time that they start thinking that 'now i am going to draw an apple and then draw it'.

All they see is an empty space that needs to be filled. Their eager hands get curious of what wonderful thing can emerge with just a stroke of a pen. Its something similar now with my own toddler. She just scribbles something with no intention of drawing the same, and then wonders how the image came into being.

Here, she scribbled as usual and out emerged what she said is 'a sleeping man'. She kept saying, "Mumma look-sleeping man." Now, is that a pre-drawing skill or is it just chance? I wonder. :)

Visual Imagination

Children can see complex things in simple stuff. It is for us parents to understand, appreciate and encourage more such creative thinking.
While it is easier for us to just focus on the obvious, for example, tell her these are three balloons (see video below), by appreciating her ability to see a 'choo choo train', opens up possibilities to increase imagination, by seeing similar other objects in day-to-day life.
As Freud says that 'poetic imagination is a form of substitution and can be seen in the play of childhood. Fantasy is playfulness. Fantasy is the adult's potential for play. It involves a flight from reality'.

Let us all transcend into the world of fantasy and imagination and see the wonders out there, thereby encouraging our little ones to think alike.

Identifying Shapes

My daughter's favourite song on Shapes is 'Shapes shapes all around so many shapes in busy town, If you look then you can find lots of shapes of many kind'.

While having her piece of cucumber she suddenly pointed out with excitement, "See, Moon. See crescent". Before i could take out the camera to take the photo she had already taken another bite.