Painting With a Hot Glue Gun (when invitations are a BUST!)

Invitation to "paint" using a hot glue gun and crayons

I would like to preface this post by recommending that you NOT try this.  Unless there is some secret I don't know about that will get it to work - it doesn't. 

From an adult perspective, it’s a real bummer when invitations are a bust.  Sometimes it’s a real bummer for the child, too. If we are mindful, though, and take some time to think about it - there are some really great things that can come from an activity FAIL.

The Process – For this particular activity, my son was a participant in the set up.  He chose the COLORS (recognition) and HOW MANY (counting) crayons he wanted to use.  PEELING (fine motor skills/patience) the paper off of the crayons was another fun step that he enjoyed.  Once the glue gun was hot, he MANIPULATED (fine/gross motor skills) the crayon into the glue gun, which took some pushing!

Problem Solving – We realized quickly that this was going to be tricky.  How do we get the crayon in?  Do we need to wait in between squirts for the crayon to melt?  What happens when the crayons break?  What if we push the crayon instead of relying on the trigger?  How does this glue gun work anyway? 

Our crayons were breaking, the glue gun only worked a few times with the trigger, at one point it squirt across the room onto the wall, etc.  **Sigh**
It seemed to come out easier when we pushed the crayon, but that’s pretty tricky for little toddler hands.  WOW – this stinks.

Teaching Emotional Intelligence - As an adult who has all the tools I need to self-regulate, I’d say I handled it pretty well.  My son was frustrated, though, and curled up in a ball with his head down on the carpet.  He’s really quite good at self-regulating, but for many toddlers – something like this could cause an onslaught of developmentally appropriate emotions (AKA - a tantrum).  We can see this as an annoyance or an opportunity.  What a wonderful opportunity to “teach” emotional intelligence.  An opportunity to validate our children’s emotions, empathize with their feelings, and model compassion as we remain fully present and supportive through those emotions.

So you see - even when we put in all of that effort to set up invitations for our children – and they are a bust – it’s never for “nothing”.   The reality is that everything is an opportunity to teach/learn and connect with our children.

- AK (MESE, MECD)

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