No wonder that she often hands me stuff she's made at preschool saying "they made me do that". She hates being told how to do things, and having to follow a proscribed method; she much prefers experimenting and getting creative.
Which is not to say that doesn't want help, but it's better to give her ideas and options and then let her loose!
The other day she got a very belated Christmas present from Auntie George, of plastic beads and coloured elastics, so as I'm still not very mobile (you can read all about me at www.beyondbunions.blogspot.com) I decided to do some jewellery making with her on the sofa.
This will eventually feature on my crafting blog (www.frettychervil.blogspot.com) but that's very much a work in progress at the moment and only has a couple of things on it right now although there are lots of projects waiting to be written up!
So I offered Lilia the option of making bracelets, necklaces or a tiara-style headband and she chose to make one necklace and one tiara.
So that we didn't spill the beads, and to help her see them all easily, I put them into the plastic trays from some chocolate selection boxes, which worked really well.
She has great fine motor skills, so threading them on was no problem.
With a bit of help from Mummy to tie the knots, she made a necklace with beads all along, and a tiara with a small section of beads held in place with knots, to be born at the front of the head.
And once they're made, it's important to throw some model shapes for the camera.
She spent about an hour making both of those, and there are plenty of beads and elastic left for some more sessions, too.
