Arts and Crafts

[pritchettzoo]

Gracie is 13 months and *gasp* has never fingerpainted. Apparently this is akin to child abuse (according to nutty BIL & SIL whose son has been fingerpainting since 8 weeks at daycare). Gracie colored for the first time (on her own--we've held her little paw and colored with her) last night on a kiddie menu and then proceeded to eat the crayon. In her defense, the crayon was "macaroni and cheese." ;)

So what do you all do about arts and crafts? Websites or books you can point me toward are appreciated, as are your personal experiences. I've seen the Crayola magic stuff; my concerns are what happens when the little booger gets ahold of a REAL marker and thinks it won't write all over her brother or the carpet (like that commercial). I'm also not sold on the need for an 8 week old to fingerpaint, but that's another topic for another day...

Thanks!

Anna

ETA to change adjective to nutty and then to remove the & from the subject line because it changes to &amp and drives me nutty! ;)

[deborah_r]

Well slap my hand and call CPS, because Kai did his first painting at just under 16 months old! I can't see any point to having an 8 week old fingerpaint, and really can't see the logistics of how one does that. And if it weren't for crayons in restaurants I would not have thought to give him crayons! He's still more interested in eating them too!

I have some bathtub paints, but haven't tried them yet. I liked the cleanliness factor involved!

[amp]

16 mths and counting and nary a touch of paint here! I used to work at a daycare, and honestly, the one-yr-olds didn't have much clue about finger paints, even though they were fascinated by the tactile sensation. Some of them had no interest in getting their hands in it, and based on my experience w/ DS eating food he doesn't like stuck to his hand and the hand waving that ensues, I think we'll do fine waiting until we can safely keep him in a confined area (ie - kitchen floor) or outside to try this. I guess CPS will be having a talk with me and our lack of craftiness!

[brigmaman]

Brig's a lot older but and we just started finger painting and brush painting recently. My mil, a preschool teacher, actually started with him. He's got two easels on their deck and a few of the non-spill paint containers that have a hole in the top for a brush. She has also brought home paint discs that only require a bit of water and obviously don't spill.
At our house I have covered one end of the dining room table with a disposable tablecloth and that's where he paints. I've also covered the upholstery with a towel and we keep the magic eraser handy.
We tried the magic markers that only draw on special paper but ds doesn't favor them. I think it's because there is a delay between when he draws and when the color shows up.
I saw this in a magazine last month and am thinking of buying it as a Christmas present for one of Brig's friends.
http://tinyurl.com/6d4z9

[lukkykatt]

My kids have crayons, water colors, the books where you just need water to paint them, markers, and colored pencils. We only do art projects in the kitchen and the supplies are in my hall closet, which has a child-proof doorknob cover.

I save finger painting for preschool though - to me, that is the best place for it :) So my boys never finger painted until 3 and 2, respectively. Neither seems to have suffered any permanent damage from the delay :)

[murpheyblue]

Maybe your nephew is the next Picasso. :) DD is almost 13 months and we've never done any arts and crafts with her. Finger painting sounds like a HUGE mess to me and frankly whlie i think she'd enjoy making a mess with the paint, she can make a mess with something that's easier to clean up.

[rrosen]

Aww CR**! Is there yet another thing that I am behind on?!?!? I just started giving Gabrielle a spoon and a fork (and letting her paint herself with yogurt) and now I am finding out she should be painting and coloring too? WTH, I am (was??) a teacher, you would think I would know these things.

WHERE IS MY GUIDE BOOK??? WHO HID IT???

My poor deprived child. Someone better keep me on track. Anna, I nominate you!

[deborah_r]

>Aww CR**! Is there yet another thing that I am behind
>on?!?!? I just started giving Gabrielle a spoon and a fork
>(and letting her paint herself with yogurt) and >
>

Oh, that's true - my DS has been painting for a long time now if you count creatively smearing food all over his high chair and himself!

[starrynight]

8 weeks old and painting?? Sounds like overkill to me ;).

The color wonder paints are awesome though!! My 2 year old loves to paint but it ends up everywhere so on days I don't want mess I give her those.

As long as you get non-toxic stuff you are ok. IME crayola markers are the only "washable" ones that really are washable.

[pritchettzoo]

You crack me up!

It will be all our fault if Elle and Gracie don't get into Harvard. :P Have you started the flashcards yet? Okay, actually we have done that. We saw those Baby Einstein cards at Costco and bought a couple different sets. Gracie *LOVES* them. She'll dig a box out and hand it to us, "Read, read, read, read!" We feel like the over-achiever parents in Parenthood though. We don't go through all the factoids, just the animal pictures. What the heck does a giraffe say? Ours are stuck with, "I'm tall!" She is so going to fail kindergarden...

We should write a manual--the SAHM's Guide to Carrot-Steaming.

Anna

[rrosen]

Flashcards? Are you kidding? I am too busy keeping my kid from digging in the diaper pail and chewing on the dog's raw hide! I am in trouble! Forget Harvard, at this rate I won't be able to get her into preschool. Who knew I could do some many things *wrong* in such a short amount of time.


Carrot-steaming I can handle. You do the chapter on teaching calculus.

[miki]

No fingerpainting here unless you count food on the face and tray. I wanted to show DD drawing without having her think she can draw everywhere in the house if she gets a hold of a writing implement. I bought a box of colored sidewalk chalk at Walmart and we scribbled on the driveway. I tried crayons on butcher paper but the crayons end up in the mouth so we're going to try that again later.

[new_mommy25]

LOL Anna. I guess I am "bad" because Noah has never fingerpainted either. I am terrified.

[ellies mom]

Well, that explains why every waitress offers DD crayons when we ask for a high chair. I always just kind of look at them funny, and mention that she'll just eat the crayons but maybe she can play with the placemat instead. DH bought those Einsten card at Costco too but they are still in the box. Yeah, I'm not too certain about art projects at this stage.

[MartiesMom2B]

I have a genious method of fingerpainting that we use in our house. I put applesauce in a little cup for Martie and strap her in the booster chair with the tray on. With Martie's recent bout of coxsackie we let her fingerpaint with chocolate pudding. Oh and we've gotten our early acceptance letter to Harvard just the other day. :P


ETA: Anna, I posted a question about arts & crafts on the Toddler board and someone posted a whole bunch of arts & crafts links that were great. A lot of the stuff is for kids a little older but it's good to have on hand for ideas when the kids are older.

-Sonia

[mattiew]

Well now that DD is close to 2 we have ventured into crayons, markers, and paint (she loves arts and crafts) but I still have to watch her or she will eat the crayons! We started with a Magnadoodle (I think they are Doodlepros now) around 13 months and then moved to "painting" with water on colored construction paper. Washable markers were next (around 19 months or so) but she liked to chew on the caps.

Good Luck!
Carrie

[Marisa6826]

Well, I must be a really bad parent because Sophie's never finger painted, nor played with Play Doh or Magic Markers.

She can play with crayons when we're out at restaurants, but I don't let her play with them here at home (we sit in the livingroom all day and I prefer to keep my Bali end tables in their original colour ;) ).

We are, however, HUGE advocates of the Magnadoodle. Pray to the Magnadoodle Gods!!!

I am really trying to reinforce that her highchair is a place for food and not fun, otherwise it's a total free for all at meals.

Perhaps once I've recovered from the trauma of a newborn and a toddler together in the same house we can revisit this scenario!

-m

[jubilee]

Boy you all are in trouble... tisk, tisk. Martha Stewart would come over to bail you out... but she needs to be bailed out herself :)

[momma_boo]

Oh man. Flog me as well. Sarah has never fingerpainted (unless yogurt and applesauce on the table counts).

BUT, she has gotten the hang of using her crayons. Thank goodness for the erasable crayons. So far, I've been able to wipe them off of everything (including my brand new tiled kitchen floor).

I did buy a pack of the crayola magic markers for a recent trip to use on the plane ride. She's been busy enough with the crayons that I don't bother leaving them out.

[vpalmer]

You can add me to the list of bad moms when you are calling CPS. Eva has not finger-painted yet and she is 16 months old. She does well with crayons and markers but I have been leery of the mess finger painting will make. Also, I am afraid she will just want to eat it considering her only previous finger painting experience is with yogurt and applesauce! I say you go first Anna and let us all know how it goes. :-)

Veronica
Mom to Eva

[calebsmama03]

OMG, we are all such BAD mommies here! While C gets crayons occasionally at home (praise God for the magic eraser!) and often at restaurants, he tends to eat them so we don't like to use them too much. Same with markers. My ped told me at 12 months (!?!) that he should be using these things, so I promptly went out and bought those color wonder markers and washable crayons, then promptly put the markers away when the only place he wanted to color was his mouth ;) I can' even IMAGINE finger painting!! Though he did have fun paini=ting a pumpkin at the pumpkin farm a few weeks ago! I'll have to attach a pic when I get home!

Trish, does MIL have info on where to buy those paint disks and cups? Are the disks just those little trays of water colors we all had as kids, or is this something different?
Lynne
Mommy to Caleb 3/3/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif[/img][/url]
Oh my!! #2 5/05

[alkagift]

You KNOW those people are nuts--are they the inventors of "opposite day?" As in, whatever they do, do the opposite??

Matthew has washable crayons and has just learned that they go on the paper, primarily, although a few have blunt tips where he's chewed it off. I concur with the magnadoodle. He LOVES erasing. I also have heard about the fingerpainting with pudding. I like that idea--you can put food coloring in it, I suppose, but that might stain.

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, 5/03

[jk3]

Finger-painting at 8 weeks...that's a new one! My DS is 16 months old and has not held a brush. He is starting to understand that a crayon is for drawing not eating but he prefers to take out + put the crayons back in the box rather than drawing. There is still time so don't fret! I would like to make some playdough for my DS since I love homemade playdough but I think he'd try to eat it at this point.

Jenn
DS 6/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030603/2/5/1/-5/.png

[cinrein]

No fingerpainting here and Anna is 20 mos old. I have all the supplies, but she freaked over the playdough so I decided against fingerpainting. (Really, she just poked the blob of dough with her finger and looked alarmed. The the wails started.) I guess no Ivy League schools will want my girl. :)

We do color and draw in the high chair and Anna asks for her crayons maybe 3 times a day. She can only draw snakes. :) I picked up a cheapo Halloween coloring book from CVS and showed her how to color in pumpkins, so now she loves to color in her book. I tried to get other coloring books, but only the Halloween one will do. Anna is not usually a crayon eater, though when she does eat them it's always the purple one!

I think we started with the crayons when Anna was about 14 mos. She's gradually shown more and more interest.

Cindy and Anna February 2003

[houseof3boys]

LOL at carrot steaming!!!!!

How about the "Parents Secret Guide to Wheat Germ?"

[Jen in Chicago]

Just bought just the Animals ones like his DVD and he loves them. I would have never guessed, but daycare told me once he enjoys the Flash Cards they have, so I looked for some.

[brigmaman]

The disks are different. They are about 2 inches in diameter and don't come in a tray. I'll find out who makes them for you!

[jamsmu]

We've been doing crayons for a month or so now, and while he'd still prefer to eat them, he does make a few marks on paper. I usually let DS sit on my lap and we do it together.

As for painting, I DREAD the mess!! But I have noticed that Carson enjoys picking up my make-up brush and brushing the bathroom, so maybe its time to start. A friend has an easel and put a foam/rubber mat underneath it (one of the mats you get at BRU that has the numbers and letters in it that will pop out. I guess its a puzzle mat.)

We LOVE playdough!! Its a going out treat that I only take out at restaurants. DS doesn't put it in his mouth, and we all play together.

What are Magnadoodles?? I have to look for those!

[calebsmama03]

thanks Trish!! I'd like to get some for C. After all, I need to get started with painting since we're so far behind ;)

Here are the pics from his pumpkin patch first painting experience :)
Lynne
Mommy to Caleb 3/3/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif[/img][/url]
Oh my!! #2 5/05

[brigmaman]

Great pictures! It looks as though Caleb had a great time!
The disks are apparently from a teacher supply catalog (MIL couldn't recall which one) and are somewhat hard to get (according to her).
I have a few catalogs around here, so I'll check it out later tonight and see if any of them carry that type of paint.