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Flour Free Play & Self Portraits

February 21, 2011 by 25 Comments

Flour Drawing : Free Play with Flour


I set out a jelly roll pan with a layer of flour spread along the bottom.
I intended this to be practice for drawing/writing with his fingers. 

Henry made a circle and that was the extent of it.
Henry soon got his backhoe, loader, semi and went to town 
plowing snow and clearing the path.

This provided the entertainment for the entire morning. 
Even through Grandma visiting.

I’m not sure which was more fun though:
the plowing – or the cleanup

Sucking up the flour with the vacuum showed instant gratification. 
Its always nice to see that it actually makes a difference when you’re cleaning.

[FYI : I set a sheet down under Henry, although flour still got everywhere - but its easily cleaned up.]


Self Portrait & Man’s Henry’s Best Friend

To get Henry excited to do this activity : we first did a portrait of… 
Can you guess who? Click here for a hint.

Next, Henry’s turn. He laid down, I traced him. All along the way, I asked him what color he would like each thing to be. Unfortunately, he wanted to be traced in Yellow, so it doesn’t show up the best. 


We got to work adding his features. 
Green Hair.
Green Eyes.
Red Lips (I didn’t ask… oops!)
Green Shirt.
Red (!!) Pants.
Yellow Work Boots.

[do you know what Henry's favorite color is by any chance?]

I drew the outlines for these along the way and Henry colored them.
Henry’s Self-Portrait along side his portrait of…
Did you guess who?
Blue Dog, of course.
[FYI : Henry doesn't stay in the lines, or on the paper for the matter. So the markers we use are washable. And when they say washable, they mean it. They're easier to clean up than dry erase markers are on a dry erase board! I high recommend these PipSqueaks]

   
- Henry is about 34 months -

Categories: Activities, Toddler Activities Topics: ,
About Jamie Reimer

Jamie is a baker's wife and stay at home mom of three boys. Jamie began hands on : as we grow as a New Year's Resolution to do hands on kids activities with Henry when he was 2.5 years old. Read more about Jamie and her family. Follow Jamie on and Pinterest!

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Comments

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  1. Erica @ http://bisforboycreations.blogspot.com/ says:
    February 21, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    Oh my gosh this looks like so much fun and my 2 year old would love both activities!
    erica @ http://bisforboycreations.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  2. pink and green mama MaryLea says:
    February 21, 2011 at 11:25 pm

    Love the flour as a sensory table activity!! It must be yummy to draw in, I think we'll do it here but I'm going to play with it too! : )

    Reply
  3. Kathy says:
    February 21, 2011 at 11:51 pm

    I love the flour as sensory play idea. I'm going to try that with my 2 year old this week!

    Reply
  4. Elle Belles Bows says:
    February 22, 2011 at 12:44 am

    Thanks for swinging by my blog. I always enjoy yours. I love that you brought the shop vac into the play. My E would LOVE that!! Great idea! Kerri

    Reply
  5. Muma Paparazzi says:
    February 22, 2011 at 1:05 am

    Fantastic! I love how the aim of the set up got changed to a pile of snow…priceless!
    Definatley one we'll be trying here at our place…i might just start with the cars in it ;)

    Reply
  6. An Amazing Child says:
    February 22, 2011 at 1:12 am

    Flour is such a wonderful sensory experience. And aren't boys funny, my little man always, always ends up driving his cars and trucks through all our sensory activities. I wonder what girls would do?

    I do really love how you got the vacuum cleaner out though. J is obsessed with the vacuum cleaner at the moment and so I am absolutely going to get it out for him next time. Thanks.

    Reply
  7. Kay says:
    February 22, 2011 at 3:04 pm

    Such a cutie! :) This will be fun to try with my grandson when he is older. Thanks for sharing!

    -Kay
    http://www.e-learninglinks.com/

    Reply
  8. b. lee says:
    February 22, 2011 at 5:52 pm

    oh my! what an awesome idea * *

    Reply
  9. quiverfull says:
    February 23, 2011 at 5:50 am

    cool! my boys (and girls!) would love the flour snow plower. and the vacuuming clean-up!

    Reply
  10. Krissy @ B.Inspired Vintage says:
    February 23, 2011 at 6:08 pm

    I've been meaning to try the flour with my kids to encourage their writing skills, but I just know the trucks and construction equipment will be in it! My little guy already has a little indoor sand box for that. But I bet they would love to vacuum it. Thanks for sharing!!!

    Reply
  11. Cate says:
    February 24, 2011 at 7:58 am

    I was sitting here cringing at the mess of the flour – I was imagining it *everywhere*. But I have never thought of getting them involved in the vaccuuming…what a brilliant idea :-)
    thanks for sharing!!
    xxxCate

    visiting from childhood101

    Reply
  12. Christina says:
    February 25, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    Saw you on MOHTH… I never thought of letting my kids play with flour. I know they will love it! I'm going to be following you…Can't wait for some more ideas!
    http://theresjustonemommy.com

    Reply
  13. Rashi says:
    February 27, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    really liked the idea of Flour drawing and most importantly, having them clean up as well!

    Check out my recent post @ http://blog.memetales.com/

    Reply
  14. Tracy says:
    February 27, 2011 at 8:14 pm

    Great creations and I love the concentration on your son's face while drawing with flour and markers and then vacuuming! Thanks for linking up to NOBH!

    Reply
  15. JDaniel4's Mom says:
    February 28, 2011 at 7:51 pm

    JDaniel would like making the mess. The vacuuming he would love.
    Great ideas!

    Thanks for linking to Read.Explore.Learn.

    Reply
  16. gayle m. says:
    July 6, 2012 at 9:31 pm

    I just saw this a week or so ago and tried it! What a hit! My 2 daughters were making cakes so i whipped out the jelly roll and the flour was right there waiting for us! LOL My grandson (2.5) had a blast! We plowed and “flew” planes through the clouds, and got trucks stuck in the snow! What a great idea. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  17. Claire says:
    January 8, 2013 at 4:52 pm

    Such a brilliant idea to bring in the vaccum cleaner!!! I’ve always just battled to wipe the flour up. Definitely going to use it next time.Thank you so much for all your wonderful ideas<3

    Reply