snipping with scissors.

 Some call this kind of thing early Montessori*.  I call it oops-the-baby-found-the-scissors.  And the jar of homemade bookmarks (a.k.a. 1/2" strips of colored paper with a hole punched in the top. a.a.k.a. #1's first moneymaking scheme).

 After working on it for quite awhile on his own I noticed he was becoming a bit frustrated and offered to help.  "No mom I do NOT want help." was his quick reply. So I went back to my work with #1.  About two minutes after that #3 finally relented and asked for help.

 A quick lesson in "thumbs up" for scissors later and he was off and running...er...cutting.  Either way it was a total success. 

#2 offered to help hold the strips and provide moral support.

and now my floor is covered in little pieces of multicolored construction paper. The things I sacrifice to let my littles learn for themselves how to function in this big world...

 Maybe tomorrow I'll set out a blank piece of paper, a brush (with half the handle cut off for ease of use) and a little cup with some watered down elmer's glue. Maybe.

*there are many other blogs I could reference, but this gal has a huge archive and was one of the first places I looked for activities when #1 was almost 2.