I saw this awesome idea on one of my favourite play blogs, Play at Home Mom LLC, long ago and loved it at first sight. At the time, Miss G wasn’t yet really into drawing, so I filed it away for sometime in the future. Now, with an almost 3 year old who adores drawing and colouring and a 30 {or so} hour trek to the other side of the planet looming near, it was one of the first things that popped into my mind when preparing for what is bound to be a somewhat challenging journey. It’s silly, fun, doesn’t require a ton of pieces, and since it’s dry erase, will be perfect for using again and again during our long plane rides.
To get started on the project, I took our little lady outside and snapped a few photos of her from the shoulders up. For a few, I asked her to have a more serious expression just like she did for her passport photos…
And for a couple, I asked her to show me her silly face.
Later on that evening, once Grae was fast asleep, Brad printed the photos out on the printer using a thin card stock.
I contemplated leaving the photos whole (lots of fun opportunities for fun backgrounds) versus cutting out Gracen’s head (great to use as puppets or masks when a popsicle stick is taped to the back), and decided to do a couple of each in the end. With my photos ready, I ran them through a laminator and trimmed off the plastic edges afterwards.
The next morning, I set out this little invitation to create…
In addition to the laminated photos, I included these awesome dry erase crayons and the erasing mitt they came with. Of course dry erase markers would work just as well and I’m sure there are some kid-friendly options out there, but for on a plane, I liked the idea of crayons a little better, and knew they wouldn’t intoxicate our fellow passengers with fumes.
I was so excited about this activity that I had sort of spilled the beans about how it would work the previous day when I was taking Gracen’s photos, so she jumped right in, excited to make herself look super silly.
First up, green eyebrows and a big blue moustache. Doesn’t get sillier than that!
Next, some eyeglasses…
Red earrings, and a sunshine!
And while Grae decorated herself over and over again, I worked on a funny faced Gracen too (sometimes I wonder who’s having more fun… Oops!)
These have been such a hit, and not only with Gracen! We’ve been visiting lots of family members these past few days, and it seems that everyone – even the ADULTS – love to join in!
The best part is that when you’re done with one drawing, all you have to do is erase it and you can start fresh again!
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Very cute idea (and super cute kid:). I have a technical question. Have you really found the dry erase crayons that easy to rub off? We have a book that originally came with those crayons but it was so hard to clean off we switched to low fume dry erase pens. Maybe it’s because our set didn’t come with a special mitt. Do you know what the mitt is made from?
Hey Renata! Yes, we do find that our crayons are easy to rub off, but now that I’m thinking about it, we wipe them off fairly quickly once we’re done. I have had dry erase books (with markers) that have been a huge pain to wipe clean, so maybe the longer they sit, the more difficult it becomes? The mitt doesn’t seem to be made of a super special material – it’s almost like an athletic knit on the outside and a fleece on the inside… I don’t know if this helps or not! :D
This is such a fantastic idea, Jen! Love that you can just wipe the photo clean and start again!
This is such a fun idea that I know my kids would love! Thanks for linking it to Tuesday Tots. I’m featuring it today on Learn with Play at home :)