Plum Jam / Džem od šljiva

What I love most about our summers here, in nature, is, not only the fact that we are outdoors all day long, but also being so close and connected to the nature and it's processes. I think that it is very important for children (specially those who live and grow in urban cities) to be able to be part of these life-processes and partcipate in them when ever possible. Here are some photos from last year when we made plum jam together with the kids, and even though baby Z was only one-year-old - even she did help as much as she could and wanted. And just how many things one can learn in just being outside in nature! 


Ono što najviše volim u vezi sa našim boravkom ovde, u prirodi, je ne samo činjenica da smo sve(!) vreme napolju, već i to što smo na neki način spojeni sa prirodom i što imamo priliku da pratimo ili čak budemo deo njenih procesa. Mislim da je za decu (naročito za onu decu koja žive i rastu u  velikim gradovima) vrlo važno da budu deo ovih prirodnih i životnih procesa kad god je to moguće. Ovo su prošlogodišnje fotografije - kada smo svi zajedno pravili džem od šljiva. Čak je i beba Z, koja je tada imala samo godinu dana, pomagala - onoliko koliko je mogla i želela. 

A Game of Their's Own / Njihova igra

A few days ago V and Baby Z made this big drawing on the floor. It was actually a layout for a game of their own that succeeded.
Pre neki dan V i beba Z su nacrtali veliki crtež na podu. To je zapravo bio poligon za igru koja je usledila, a koju su sami izmislili. 

Dinosaur (foot)prints in play dough/ Tragovi dinosaurusa u testu

V is crazy about dinosaurus. He loves them, knows everything about them, always pretending to be one of them, moving like them, etc. The other day I made some play dough (2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 3/4 cup water, 1 spoon of oil, food color) that is one of his favourite art materials, and invited him and his friend to make some dinosaur footprints in it. They loved it but their game turned out much more than I expected! Even Baby Z played the game!

V obožava dinosauruse. Zna sve o njima, stalno se pretvara da je neki od donsaurusa, kreće se kao oni, itd. Pre neki dan sam napravila testo za vajanje, jedan od njegovih omiljenih likovnih materijala (2 čaše brašna, 1 čaša soli, 3/4 čaše vode, 1 supena kašika ulja, boja za hranu) i pozvala njega i njegovog drugara da naprave otiske igrčaka-dinosaurusa u njemu. Jako im se to dopalo, ali su njihova igra i istraživanje mogućnosti materijala prevazišli moja očekivanja. Čak je Beba Z učestvovala u igri!

A big wall painting / Slikanje na zidu

In the corner of our backyard there is a small brick shed that was once ment for chicken. We never liked it, because it was a kind of construction that absolutely did not fit into this beautiful nature space. So after a little thinking what to do with it to make it more appropriate and 'acceptable', we came to the idea to paint the red brick wall in white, and make a surface for painting!

U dnu našeg dvorišta nalazi se jedna mala šupa od crvenih cigli, koja je nekada bila namenjena kokoškama, dok je deda još bio živ. Nikada nam se nije dopadala, jer se uopšte nije uklapala u ovaj prirodni, šumski ambijent. Nakon malo razmišljanja o tome šta da uradimo s njom, kako bismo je učinili prikladnijom i za nas prihvatljivijom, došli smo na ideju da crveni zid od cigala ofarbamo u belo i tako napravimo podlogu za slikanje.

And here it is! Perfect for large-scale painting! Perfect for messy art! Perfect for clean-up! And perfect for being outside! 

I evo ga! Savršen za slikanje širokim četkama! Savršen za mazanje, brljanje bojama i potom čišćenje, jer je napolju! 

And what I like the most about it is that kids (and parents) can paint together! It is that big!

I ono što najviše volim u vezi sa ovim zidom je što deca (i odrasli) mogu zajedno da slikaju! Eto toliki je taj zid.

How to encourage scribbling? / Kako podsticati žvrljanje?

Very often, first scribbling starts as a child pounds the pencil on the paper. The sound that the child hears as doing this, encourages him to continue pounding. Since the pencil leaves a visual trace on the paper, the kid notes cause and effect.

I love playing 'visual games' with my kids. These are little invented games that result in something visual (such as here and here).They are so designed to direct the child to the process or action, not the product.

We can encourage children to scribble with questions  relating to sound, movement of the pencil, it's direction: How loud can your pencil make a sound? What kind of sounds can it make? How fast (high) can it jump? Can the pencil crawl? Is it possible to spin it? Can it pop on to the top of paper? Can it come down?

Even though toddlers and very young kids, actually don't need encouraging scribbling, since it is so natural to them, this is a very nice way to just play with them. Even older kids will enjoy this game.

Vrlo često, prva žvrljanja počinju tako što dete udara olovkom po papiru. Zvuk koji dete čuje, ohrabruje ga da nastavi sa udaranjem. Pošto olovka ostavlja i vidljiv trag na papiru, dete vizuelno uočava uzrok i posledicu.

Volim da se igram "likovnih igara" sa svojom decom. To su male izmišljene igre koje imaju za posledicu nešto vizuelno (kao npr. ovde i ovde). Tako su smišljene da usmere dete na proces ili akciju, a ne na proizvod.

Npr. pitanjima koja se odnose na zvuk, kretanje, pravac, možemo podsticati dete da žvrlja: Koliko glasno može da se čuje tvoja olovka? Koliko brzo (visoko) može da skače? Može li da puzi? Može li da se vrti? Može li da se popone do vrha papira? A da se spusti?

Iako veoma maloj  deci, zapravo ne treba podsticaj da bi žvrljala, jer to rade spontano i prirodno, ovo je lep način da se poigramo sa njima. Čak će i malo starija deca uživati u ovoj igri.

'Only on paper' / 'Samo po papiru'

I teach Baby Z to draw "only on paper" (for now). I prefer using this affirmative sentence instead of negative sentences like "we don't draw on the table or the wall".  A lot of repetition is necessary in order for  a toddler to accept and understand this. Every time the point of her pencil slips off the paper to the table, I gently move it back to the paper and say: "We draw only on paper."

Before I was a mom I thought, that one day, I would let my own kids draw where ever they wanted - in order not to inhibit them! Ahem. Now I see that this was an unrealistic concept. How would I, then, explain to them that it is ok to draw on the walls in our house, but that it's not ok to draw on the walls in grandma's house, aunt's house, friends, or any other place? And how would I, then, explain to a kid (toddler), that it is ok to draw on the walls, but that it's not ok to draw on furniture, clothes, floors and carpets, shoes...?

Now I think that it is totally ok to explain a kid (toddler) that there are places ment for drawing, and other places that are not. What is important here is to make it clear - drawing (scribbling) is ok, but some places are not ment for it!

When drawings (scribbles) appear at 'undesired' places, it's ok to involve the kid in the cleaning process, without making a big deal out of it, and showing that cleaning is a normal part of creating (a mess!), and also making it clear that the scribbling is ok, but the place for it was not!

Za sada učim bebu Z  da crta "samo po papiru".  Više volim da koristim afirmativne rečenice - šta sme da radi, nego zabrane tipa "ne crta se po stolu ili ne crta se po zidu".

Potrebno je puno ponavljanja da bi dete ovo usvojilo. Svaki put kada vrh njenog flomastera ili olovke sklizne sa papira na sto, vratim ga na papir i kažem: "samo po papiru". 

Dok nisam postala mama mislila sam da ću - jednoga dana - svojoj deci dozvoljavati da crtaju gde god žele - da ih, kao, ne bih sputavala. Međutim, sada vidim da to nije realno. Kako bih onda objasnila detetu da se sme crtati po zidu naše kuće, ali ne i kod bake, ne kod tetke, ne u vrtiću, ne na drugim mestima. I kako bih objasnila detetu da se sme cratati po zidu, ali ne i po nameštaju, odeći, podu, cipelama...?

Sada mislim da je sasvim u redu objasniti detetu da je na nekim mestima u redu crtati, a na nekim drugim mestima - ne.  Važno je samo da, tom prilikom, ne pošaljemo detetu poruku da žvrljanje nije u redu ili da ga povezujemo sa negativnim osećanjima - ljutnjom, omalovažavanjem (o ovome je već bilo reči ovde), već da budemo precizni: žvrljanje je ok, ali neka mesta nisu za žvrljanje.

Kada se i desi da dete crta na "nedozvoljenim" mestima, ne treba ga grditi. Dobro bi bilo uključiti ga u proces čišćenja,  bez pridavanja prevelikog značaja tome i prikazujući čišćenje kao normalan i sastavni deo stvaranja, pri tom vodeći računa da detetu bude jasno da je njegovo crtanje (žvrljanje) ok, ali da nije odabrao dobro mesto za to. Odmah zatim, možemo mu ponuditi papir i ponoviti da se crta "samo po papiru."

More scribbling / Još žvrljanja

Sweet Baby Z loves doing everything she sees that her older brother is doing. Since he draws so often, she started drawing as well very early.

Slatka Beba Z voli da radi sve što i njen stariji brat. Pošto on često crta i ona je vrlo rano počela da ga oponaša u tome.  

She has her own drawing notebook, which I dedicated to her so I could keep all her early drawings in one place. But, she draws on other papers as well.

Ona ima svoju svesku, koju sam joj namenila kako bih mogla da sačuvam na jednom mestu njene prve crteže. Međutim, često crtamo i na običnim  papirima.

She mostly uses these Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 pencils which are excellent for toddlers because they are large enough (she can't harm herself and they are easy to hold), they are non-toxic (which is importatnt since they usualy end up in her mouth), and they can be used in three different ways: as pencils, pastels or aquarelle paint if mixed with water.

Najčešće koristimo ove Stabilo Woody 3 u 1 olovke koje su odlične za rani uzrast, jer su debele (dete ne može da se povredi i lako ih drži u ruci), nisu otrovne (što je važno, jer često završavaju u ustima), i mogu se koristiti na tri različita načina: kao olovke, pasteli ili akvarel boje (razlivaju se u dodiru sa vodom). U Beogradu se mogu naći u knjižari Papir Color.

But, since her brother V likes drawing mostly with markers and has them in literarly every room in the house, baby Z also draws with them. That's the reason why I always look to buy washable markers, because even though I teach her to draw only "on paper", I often find little scribbles in the most unusual places in the house (the soap conpartment of the dishwasher for example), which is so so sweet and always make me smile.

Međutim, pošto V najviše voli da crta flomasterima i ima ih u svakoj prostoriji u kući i beba Z rado crta s njima. Zato vodim računa da uvek kupim flomastere koji se skidaju i peru sa vodom, jer bez obzira što je učim da se crta "samo po papiru", vrlo često naiđem na male žvrlje na najneobičnijim mestima po kući (npr. u odeljku za deterdžent-tabletu u mašini za pranje sudova), što mi redovno izmami osmeh na lice.