I was painting in my sketchbook the other morning while the littlest one was sitting with Jan, discussing how the birds were flying overhead. She was particularly struck by the fact that sometimes, birds don't need to flap their wings in order to move through the air.
"What are you painting?" she asked.
"I'm painting what I see." I responded.
My girl looked at my sketchbook and then at the view in front of us. And with that, she hopped up on a chair and began painting on a sheet of watercolour paper I had placed there for her. Just in case.
When she was through, I asked her to tell me about her work -- a black outline with dabs of orange and blue.
"It's a bird, flying without flapping his wings."
Had I not asked her to explain, I never would have known that she too, was painting what she saw that morning: A bird, soaring through the sky.
When creating with children, you don't always need an elaborate plan or fancy materials. All you need is some inexpensive paint, some paper and the patience to let things happen as they happen -- without direction...
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