WHAT’S ON
Let’s Get Messy!
Kat Vandal is the founder of new kids streetwear brand VANDALKIDS. Kat was inspired to start her brand as she loves encouraging her son to get creative, but doesn’t like the washing and repairing of clothes that come with it. So she designed a range of clothes that is parent and planet friendly with innovation such as wipeable fabrics and reinforced materials and that doesn’t compromise on style. Here she gives us her favourite ideas to encourage messy play. A lot of parents are put off by messy play. It feels like a lot of work to set up – and of course clear up afterwards. But messy play has a lot of benefits for children; it’s about learning through experience, exploring, pushing the boundaries of creativity, thinking outside the box and amplifying their experience and memory by using all of their senses. Getting messy and doing something unconventional can also be a great bonding activity for parents and their children too. The key to messy play is to make the activity more about the process than the finished product. Involve your children in the whole 8 | Cherubs Magazine
thing, in the preparation – and the cleaning up too!
Washable window painting
Moving from paper to windows is great for triggering interest, improving fine motor skills by changing body position and holding the brush to paint horizontally. Plus your kids will love that you’re letting them get creative on the windows! What you need: • shaving cream • tempera paint (meaning water-based paint that can be washed with water and soap, very inexpensive and available in any art shop or online) • a hose if you do it outside • a cover for the floor if you do it indoor (cardboard, paper, old blanket will do) • a squeegee, a cloth, soap and a bucket of water • brushes. The activity: To prep, mix shaving cream with paint; this is a fun part of the activity as kids love to mix and see their ‘potion’ transform, in this case become fluffy.
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