Bathtub Painting

As the Eskimo gets older and more independent, I'm having to work harder to find things to entertain and challenge him everyday. Because when he's bored, all of us have a miserable day. For some reason, he seemed to really be missing Grandma and Grandpa today. Unfortunately, they live halfway across the country, so a quick visit is not really an option. We called them and chatted for a few minutes, but this didn't quite satisfy the Eskimo. So I needed a distraction. And a good one at that.

I decided to try something I've been meaning to do with him for a while now: painting in the bathtub. First, I got him really excited about it while I gathered the materials. I asked him if he wanted to paint (yes!). Then I asked him if he wanted to paint in the bathtub (YES!!). I told him that he was going to get to paint all over the bathtub and the walls and he started getting really excited. I had him help me pick out the paints and the paintbrushes and by this time, he was practically tearing down the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. We went up to his bathroom, stripped him down, put him in the tub, and gave him his paints. I gave him no instructions or guidance. I let him do whatever he wanted to do with this one.

We put the paint in separate bowls, although next time I will likely just pour it on the floor of the tub for him. :) I also provided him with brushes, but the only thing he really used them for was painting himself.

Lots of finger painting. He LOVED spreading the paint on the walls and layering the colors. 

Don't you love how he managed to paint a heart shape on his tummy?

Sorry, all my good, smiley photos of him involved a lot of full frontal nudity and I'm not that liberal. ;)

As you can imagine, this was a MESS. But here's where I get bonus points for efficiency. It was time for me to clean that bathtub anyway, so I figured we might as well make an even bigger mess before I bothered. Also, we have one of those lovely shower head hose attachments that make cleanup a breeze. We actually got it long before the Eskimo came along so I could give the dogs baths in the tub in the winter. :) The other thing you can use for cleanup is your diaper sprayer if your bathroom is set up properly. The toilet with our diaper sprayer attachment is right next to this tub, so it would be super easy to spray it down. 

Anyway, this was a TON of fun and the Eskimo loved it. If you do this with your little ones, be sure to post pics on my Facebook page! I'd love to see them!