Last week Allison and I picked up a set of TaDoodles for Eva. It was a set of three crayon type ones that came with Red, Blue and Green. TaDoodles are shaped for the grasp of a toddler. They are chunky and look like weeble woobles with a crayon on their heads. There are silly faces, animals and many other choices. Some TaDoodles are markers, some paints, some stamps and some are even bathtub crayons and markers.

While Eva is not quite ready to use these she is fascinated by the color being marked on the paper. Allison was smart and kept rolls of fax paper when her old office switched to a printer type fax. Now we have a huge supply of paper that Eva can use to make her mark. It is great fun and the scribbling is important so Eva can express herself. You might not think that scribbles are important but I was reading about a book from a couple of child development doctors called Celebrate the Scribble. Here is a description of that book.

Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Dr. Roberta Golinkoff, renowned authors and child development experts, offer a peek inside early childhood through the marvelous marks made by young children. There’s much to see and celebrate in children’s scribbles much more than meets the eye. What appear to be random, accidental marks are rich in meaning, both for the children creating them, and for the adults who proudly display their colorful scribbles on office walls and refrigerator doors. Created by toddlers from across the U.S. and Canada, including a few celebrity children, the drawings and paintings displayed in this book elevate scribbling to the magnificent and important form of art it truly is.

Tonight when I came home there was a piece of artwork waiting for me. Eva and I then sat down and played with the TaDoodles together. She is looking like a lefty. We shall see. Oh and here is Eva’s first piece of Art.