There are so many, many things I find delightful in my oldest daughter (and yes, numbers two and three, I blog about you too!), but one thing that “tickles” me is her propensity to “tinker.”  If she finds an empty shoe box, one hour and one tube of glitter glue later, it’s a car for her Ugly Doll.  Hand her some chopsticks, a few plastic spoons, and a roll of scotch tape, and she’s made catapults for herself and for her sisters (I have a great video of my trio running around the backyard flinging erasers at each other).  Pretty much the best way to keep my girls entertained without the television is to hand my eldest some art supplies.  Give her a few minutes, and she’s sure to concot some elaborate machine or art project in which all can participate.

With this in mind, I keep a lot of art supplies on hand at home.  Glue and tape, mosaic pieces and yarn – even paper clips, rubber bands and empty toilet paper rolls are fair game.  And I always pop into Blick when I’m close and can spare the time.  Blick’s “Crafts” section has everything imaginable for my aspiring DaVinci.  The various collage paks usually scream “buy,” and yep, so does the ModPodge, which comes in every color imaginable including preppy plaid.  Moms, if you have never tried it before, ModPodge is the equivalent of glue heaven.  All three of my girls LOVE this stuff and we have ModPodged tissue paper, leaves and flower petals onto everything from flower pots to baby food jars and maybe a few fingers in between.  The feathers assortment is kinda’ cool, and our Zhu Zhu pets have soft, downy beds as a result.  Oh – and be sure to check out the sand art supplies.  If you can plan around the mess, these are pretty entertaining.

So throw a plastic tablecloth on the table and turn ’em loose with some great art supplies this weekend.  You might end up with homemade birthday cards (the very best kind!), but you might also end up with a “fanboard.”  Wheeee!

Sky’s the limit!