When do you start with crayons/chalk?

[cinrein]

I think I probably should have done this already---oops

When did you start giving your child crayons and scribble paper? So far Anna has only had these things when we are in a restaurant. She doesn't seem to know that the crayon is for writing--she prefers peeling the paper off.

Would the large crayons be easier for her to handle? How about sidewalk chalk? I know I'd have to be vigilant to keep them out of her mouth.

Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

[August Mom]

It's not to late. :) Honestly, I just bought DS his first package of crayons for Easter (at 20 months). I'd just judge Anna's ability/interest with the restaurant crayons and go from there. DS kept wanting to eat the crayons for the longest time and then liked to throw them. At MILs, he actually "drew" so now we do it at home. And, I've found that cheap paper plates make a nice drawing surface. We are just using standard-size crayons.

We haven't tried chalk.

[Andrea S]

Andrew just got crayons for Easter too. He only plays with them for a few minutes at a time now.

Andrea
mom to Andrew 8/14/02

[brubeck]

I gave both kids crayons at about a year but it took them a few months to really get into it. Andrew is just now getting into drawing but he still stuffs everything in his mouth so it's a pain to watch him and then have him get upset when we take the crayon away because he's chewing on it. However he discovered his big sister's Magna Doodle (big size) and it is the perfect solution. He can chew on the 'pencil' and draw to his heart's content. He loves it.

[JElaineB]

DS has been using crayons for a few months. But he still likes to eat them a lot, so I have to watch him. We use the Crayola "first" crayons, which are a little thicker than the normal ones (though not as thick as I remember from growing up). DS actually likes pens better than crayons. He can scribble pretty well with them, I just have to make sure the right end is on the paper. He's written all over his face and neck a couple of times. I just bought him some sidewalk chalk at Walmart this week. It was 6 Easter egg shaped chalks from Crayola for 50 cents on clearance. He likes holding them and carrying them around outside, and has scribbled a few things on our sidewalk with them. They are non-toxic so I don't get too worried when he tries to "taste" them!

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[snp624]

Sarah is few weeks older than Anna...

Sarah still isn't ready for crayons. We have a box at home, but all she does is to put them in her mouth and bite... She does well with Magna Doodle, so she knows the concept of drawing, but just not ready for crayons. She does ok with magic markers (kinds that goes on special paper), but I feel most comfortable with Magna Doodle.

hth!

[Sarah1]

Audrey started using crayons a few weeks ago. I also bought her those "color wonder" markers/coloring books and she likes scribbling w/those, too. Fortunately, she generally doesn't put them in her mouth, but I have to watch her really closely so she doesn't write on something she shouldn't.

We started w/sidewalk chalk about a month ago...we keep it in the stroller and use it at the park...she doesn't put it in her mouth either, but she does love dumping the chalk out of the bucket and putting it back in. This goes on for a while, and it's a real mess. Don't wear black!

[BethinMass]

I think with Hannah I started around 15 months or so.

Since we went out to eat pretty often, I waited til she seemed to be interested in coloring with the crayons there, and less interested in eating them.

She seemed to like the larger crayons. One thing I've noticed though is that the washable crayons, break VERY easily. I finally just started buying the normal ones so that I wouldn't have to worry as much.

Chalk, was always really fun for her :) however I usually am stuck on the ground next to her when doing it, so I try to limit it.

Another cool thing out, however for a little bit older kids (and I'm a big WUSS when it comes to paint, markers, etc), is a paintbrush that has the paint in it. I've yet to use it with my daughter, however it looked really neat, trying to search online for a picture of it. I bought them at target and each pack came with 5 brushes, each with a different color.