When I was a kids, my art smock was one of dad's old shirts. WHen my son was in preschool, they provided the smocks. Now that he is in Kindergarten, he was told to bring one it. We gave him one of daddy's old shirts, and he complained that most of the kids had real smocks. So, is this true? Is the recycling of an old shirt old fashioned? If so, where the heck to buy a good one? All i could find online was flimsy/ PVC which I do not want. Etsy has some but they are over $30!!!!! Help! I don't want him to be the only one without a real art smock. I know this is a silly question but he is having a tough transition.
PSHT! You get what you get and you don't get upset.
My kids tried telling me the same thing in preK, so to make it even, I donated enough old shirts for EVERY child in each classroom.
The school STILL uses those, years later :)
I'd stick with Daddy's old shirt.... good time to explain to your son about how being an "individual" is much cooler than following the crowd. I remember loving wearing my dad's shirt as my painting smock. It was one of his work shirts that had his name on it even.
We just had open house last night and the "smock bins" in the art room are full of everything you can imagine! It's fine to use dad's shirt.
I had a nice denim apron for my son but for the life of me cannot remember where I found it.....
Each of my kids used one of my old dress shirts. My wife cut the sleeves so they fit my kids arms. She just cut the sleeves off, but didn't hem them.
Giood luck to you and yours.
I think it is a nice gesture and a good lesson in recycling. I am envsioning an old dress shirt?? You could pretty easily tweak it with some trim or iron-on/sew-on patches or embroider his name or initials - something like that to make it more "his." Of ocurse if he is looking for shiney plastic and store bought, that won't cut it :)
I thought old shirts were "de rigeur" for every kindergarten in the world! I've never heard of buying a fancy cover-up that's going to get ruined before the end of the school year.
If I were you, I'd ask the teacher what a "real smock" is. It could be that your son saw a classmate wearing something or other he thought was cool, and decided that was a real smock.
I used to work in a 1hr photo lab and I would use my old lab coats. Do you know anyone with a job that requires a lab coat? Maybe they have some old ones you could snag?
Our school sent a note home with the Kindergartners asking them to bring in an old button down shirt for a paint smock. My twin girls were very excited about them. Maybe you can have your son decorate his shirt with fabric paint or patches and make a big deal about it and then he can "show it off" to his classmates.
We always used Dads old shirts. I even used them in college (art major). Way cooler than something that everyone can get. Have them help personalize it at home so it is extra cool.
I think that it is common to have a "storebought " whatever these days. Nothing wrong with Dad's shirt, but if you want a different smock, Crayola makes them, you could get an apron from Michael's and decorate it or you can see if your local IKEA sells them (where I got my DD's longsleeved one).
However, I also agree that it might be good to also explain that his Daddy's shirt is just as good as the others and more special because it was *Daddy's* shirt.
My daughter's preschool requested an oversized t-shirt so their whole outfit is covered.
Sounds like you can use the t-shirt but your son doesn't want to be different. I would check a craft store or a toy store and see what you can find.
