Glitter, Glitter, Everywhere

Art class for children two years old: Week two

Week two at my art class with Leah answered my question about the purpose of this class. It is just about making things and not about teaching parents ways to work with young children We worked with glitter. Why anyone would choose glitter as the art material of choice for two-year-olds is beyond me. Don't get me wrong. I love glitter! It has a definite use in art work of young children. It can really help children learn about when enough is enough. Children of this age, however, are not at that level.

At this class we were given a 10" cardboard heart shape, a small tub of Elmer's glue and some q-tips. The instructor asked the children to cover the cardboard heart with glue using the q-tip. Asking a young child to cover a 10" space with a q-tip is like asking your husband to mow the lawn with a pair of scissors. The q-tip does not pick up very much glue and makes it difficult for the child to cover the space. Once again I would suggest the use of a cheap and disposable foam brush. A one inch brush will help the child cover the area before the glue starts to dry. They were asked to cover both sides of the heart which meant that the grownups were required to hold the heart steady in the air to avoid the glue coming off one side in the process of doing the other. Not as easy as it sounds!

The second step of this lesson was to have the children sprinkle glitter onto the surface of the heart over a tray. Leah was proud of her heart and wanted to take it home to hang it up.

Realizing that this would not take too long. The instructor planned another activity, making a wave in a bottle. Let me explain how this was done. Take and empty water bottle (1 liter size).
Pour about 1/3 cup vegetable oil into the bottle. Fill the rest with water. Shake the glitter in to the bottle by pouring it through a funnel. Add four drops of food coloring. Put the top on the bottle and fasten with duct tape. Give the bottle a shake.

This activity held no interest for the young children. First of all, they didn't understand what they were doing. Secondly, the glitter wasn't essential for the activity. Mostly, the glitter just stayed on the bottom rather than floating through the water.

Here are some facts about glitter:

• It's pretty.
• Young children are attracted to it.
• It sticks to everything, especially young fingers which are apt to go into the eyes and mouth.
• Glitter enhances the look of many things but can also take away from the images when overly applied.
• If not applied correctly, it tends to fall off the art work and makes a mess in your environment.
• Once it ends up in your carpet it never seems to go away.