The foam sponges from Alex Toys are Elly’s favorite way to paint right now.
I had purchased these sponges a few months ago, but for a while Elly wasn’t in a mood to paint or draw. She seems to go in stages. Right now, we are in a painting stage. We’ve painted every day this week.
Earlier this week, Elly sponge painted on construction paper. My favorite piece is hanging in her bedroom.
Yesterday, I pulled some blank cards out and let Elly sponge paint them.
The design comes out so nice because of the way Elly prefers to apply the paint to the sponge. Originally, I had taught her to just press the sponge into the bowl of washable paint we use.
(Oh yes, we use washable paint by Crayola. Despite wearing an apron, the paint gets everywhere. It is partly because Elly likes to paint herself when she tires of painting on paper.)
Yet, Elly would often get frustrated with how difficult it was to get paint over the entire sponge. She wanted the end result to look like a dinosaur or a cat. So, I taught her how to apply the paint to the sponge with a paintbrush. She’ll paint one sponge after another. The joy seems to be in the painting and not in the stamping.
The Life, Designs & Crafts of Marie Haigh 