We met yesterday and the Pathfinders made their canvases! They loved it - and loved describing how it felt to get their toes painted with cold paint!
I bought a table cloth at the Dollar Store and taped it to the carpet next to the girls' restroom in the building we meet in. Then, I used an old towel for the girls to stand on while i painted their feet. After I finished printing each girl's feet on the canvas, I carried the girl to the bathroom where another leader/parent washed their feet in the sink. It was a really good system.
After we painted their feet, we painted their hands - one girl at a time - and used the same bathroom wash system. While they were waiting, I gave them craft sticks to color with color pencils - I told them to make them into themselves. And said they could be a bookmark. I just needed SOMETHING to keep them from bouncing off the walls that I didn't have to supervise them in doing.
Next, I gave them each a paintbrush to draw a heart. I had to outline a couple of hearts and then they filled them in. (I did do a little rescuing to preserve the heart shape on a couple of them. They might have gone a little over-board...)
Next, I said they could paint dots around the feet and hands but NOT on the hands and feet. One of the girls didn't follow that direction...so I painted over the feet that they "dotted" at home to "fix" it. I wish I hadn't given them the same sponge brushes that I had used to paint their hands and feet. I wish I would have given them small brushes...because they went crazy with the "dots" - which turned out a little triangle/blob-like.
We closed by putting back on our socks and shoes and practicing their Bible memory verse. (I"m going to write the words on the canvas with a Sharpie when they are completely dry.)
I'm spending 3 weeks on the Cherish My Family section, because of how our meetings are planned, but I'm glad. Part of cherishing our families means we do nice things for them - like give presents! So this canvas is going to be a Christmas present for their parents/guardians!!!!
At the next meeting, I'm bringing wrapping paper so they can wrap their own present they made! For the girls who didn't make this meeting, I e-mailed the parents and asked them to send their child with a gift that they plan on giving at Christmas so they can participate in wrapping with us.
I love how they turned out and the girls really enjoyed making them.