Big Day for the Little One

Yesterday was a big day for the little one at the fair. They had three contests throughout the day for the kids. She was in the wee ones group for all three (6 and under). The first contest was a pumpkin decorating contest. Many kids had been practicing at home and with parents had diligently planned out what they were going to do. Our strategy was gathering the craft supplies that the little one wanted to take. No planning, no "you make this". So it took her a little while to figure out what she wanted to do and watching her thinking process was really cute. The little ones are so cute to watch anyway. They have 45 minutes to decorate. Some kids had all their pieces cut out and all they had to do was attach them to the pumpkin. Others had all their pieces and had been coached and shown by mom how to do it at home and then struggled to execute in the competition. And then there were the ones who really were getting into their own thing. We called Pootie's pumpkin the party pumpkin because it had feathers and cheap gaudy earrings, loads of paint, beads and even a boa. She won third place. It was great to see her excitement and great knowing that the win was all hers. Oh, parents are not allowed to help in any way while in the competition. The next competition for her was the Crazy Creations. They are given a bag of materials and allowed to make whatever they come up with. The older kids really came up with some neat ideas. They were given straws, pipe cleaners, a coat hanger, some spools, tin foil, etc. Katie made a sort of mobile with the coat hanger and then a wand with some of the straws and such. She won second place. Again all on her own. The funny thing while watching her work was when she started singing. Apparently singing is a great thing to stimulate creativity. Then onto contest number 3, the cupcake decorating contest. Again, it was obvious that some of the little ones were following the designs that mom taught them. I gave Katie two big tubes of icing and a large variety of candy. While I was trying to give her some ideas she promptly told me that she knew what to do. So I hushed and then just sat back and watched as she did her own thing. She won third place again. I thought her Andes Mint/Hershey Kisses cupcake looked really yummy...well that is until she topped it with a fruit roll-up. She had fun and really felt proud of herself yesterday. She should. She did well being put on the spot all three times and coming up with ideas all uniquely her own. That is what makes watching these little ones in competition so much fun...watching the thought process and the concentration. All in all it was another fun fair day and we are taking the day off today. Mama can only take so much! Blessings, Kat