Stumble It!
Sonny and Michael with their paper dolls.
At preschool, the boys had a homework assignment to decorate a paper doll to look like them. The dolls were to display something about each child’s raging personality. Believe me: there has never been a more telling project for Michael and Sonny. Raging Mom and I helped with cutting and glue (I LOVE the hot glue gun!), but the project was completely directed by the boys. What a cool project. It demonstrated how different the boys are; yet, they both chose all of the same materials to use from the giant pile of craft supplies!
Michael.
Michael was careful to put everything in exactly the right place. He colored every limb one color and put his superhero stickers in a neat square on the “shirt” of his doll. He was very specific about what kind of eyes, nose, and ears the doll should have and was very focused throughout the entire project. Michael is obsessive compulsive an organized child. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things for him. He had a great time and was proud of the finished product.
Sonny made the perfect doll for himself as well. Sonny does not like to be told how things should be–he has his own plan. Sonny didn’t have the time or patience for worrying about painting clothes. He just wanted the entire thing painted as quickly as possible, and was delighted to spread paint all over the table and himself in the process. He then plastered superhero stickers over the entire doll. When it came time to put a nose and ears on, Sonny refused. Why should his doll have to have a nose and ears? Sonny is scattered, yet artistic. He spends lots of time just looking at pictures and colors in books. What he lacks in focus, he makes up for in passion. He, too, was proud of his doll.
Sonny.
Last week I went in to pick the boys and was able to see the other paper dolls that had been made by their classmates. All but one other had perfectly drawn facial features and clothing–clearly the work of their parents. Though the others were done with great care, the complete detachment from the child was obvious. I imagined the parents doing most of the coloring and drawing on these pristine dolls, and all of a sudden I was proud of my messy, chaotic, wonderfully creative boys.
Song of the day: “Paper Doll,” The Mills Brothers.
Filed under: raging thoughts | Tagged: creativity, paper dolls, preschool, twins
LOL those are awesome…my daughter likes to wallpaper ANYTHING in stickers…
Jay
Ps- starting a new tradition today…a Pessimistic Monday Prize…come see!
Good for you. I realized as I was setting up to help my son with a project, that I was about to do most of it, and moved back and made suggestions. I rolled out the clay so it was flat and showed him a few different approaches to it, but he molded everything and made it look pretty darn good. We had to let it dry, so we’re finishing it tonight.
Aw, I love their dolls!! I am definitely more of a Sonny than a Michael.
We did this when I was a kid but instead we traced out bodies on paper with crayon but the girl who traced me did a sloppy job and I ended up looking totally fat. It was a bad time for me.