Pitter Patter Painters

Whilst I think of myself as a very creative person, I am not the best at drawing or painting. My husband on the other hand is a very keen artist and is always drawing, painting or taking photographs and I think this has started to rub off on Sofia already. From quite an early age, Sofia has been picking up pens and trying to draw and it is very cute to see her scribble her ' name ' on birthday cards and pictures for family.  As the little one is only one, we have not had much exposure to painting, mostly because she puts everything in her mouth but also as it likely to get very messy! However, recently we had the perfect opportunity for Sofia to get her hands dirty, get messy and have lots of fun without all of the washing up. The Walker Art Gallery, in Liverpool, put on and event called Pitter, Patter Painters; a free event where toddlers can get to explore art and painting with lots of fun along the way. The day was lots of fun and Sofia loved getting her hands full of paint and drawing on benches and walls without getting told ' no, no, no ' . Activities included hand painting and freestyle drawing on walls but also had a few of fun ideas such as a paddling pool of paint with different shaped balls that you could coat and throw on to paper to make different shapes; definitely one for the garden if you want to try at home! I also loved the idea of having a bench coated in paint but with a layer of plastic over so that little hands who don't like getting messy can still enjoy the colours and textures.

The painting session was a part of the gallery's BIG ART project, a great project that aims to allow children to get involved in art at an early age, with a room dedicated for children to take part in various crafty activities and lots of fun ways to educate. There may be a museum near you with something similar, so it is worth checking it out. You can also check out the Tate website, with a page dedicated to   kids that has lots of great ideas for activities that you can do at home to have some pitter patter painting fun. The thing with painting though, is that it should be fun and doesn't need to be structured and organised. so get creative, don't be one of those mums who worry about the mess and get splattering.