I'd be willing to guess than when you think of paint you also think of paper. And that when you think of pumpkins you think of orange pumpkins, right? I'm personally a big believer in the benefits of creative art. Can a pumpkin be a color other than orange? You bet it can, let's try! And that's what the toddlers were doing the day I visited Room 1. 

So let's begin this rule breaking activity by painting on an actual mini-pumpkin, not a picture of a pumpkin. And let's change the color of this pumpkin. Each child was given the opportunity to name and choose a color for their pumpkin. The child was then able to paint his very own mini-pumpkin. They were able to practice moving and manipulating the brush in order to get the paint in all the little dips and curves of the pumpkin using small muscle movements.

The children were individually engaged in conversation by the teacher during this activity. Did they have a pumpkin at home? Were they going to carve it? Did they like to eat pumpkin pie? During this period of rapid language growth, talking with your child is evern more importnt as it increases your child's vocabulary and enhances language development. In addition, one on one coversation like this shows your child you value what they have to say and what they think.

In everything your child does, he is learning something. I encourage you to break some rules with your toddler and expand some horizons.