It’s the start of the week again, which means more Monday morning memo madness. This week’s topic: how to encourage the budding artist in your 9-24 month old without ruining your home in the process.
Through my husband’s oh-so-helpful humor (at my expense), I have come to realize and admit that I am. . . a craft addict. I think that is part of the reason I had kids: to have people with whom I could craft. Unfortunately, I managed to give birth to a personality that is as anti-craft as my husband. Undaunted, I set out to find a way to merge my love of painting, cutting, molding, and making things into a toddler-friendly version of the same. Here are the meeting points I found between crafting and toddler-hood:
1. The Power of Tape: The number one weapon in my crafting arsenal is sticky tape. Sticky tape turns six individual sheets of paper into a giant coloring mat that stays put on the floor or table. Its indefatiguable stickiness amuses fidgety toddlers when coloring and painting become boring. It fixes the rips and tears that those tempermental artist types sometimes inflict upon their work. And most importantly, it displays the finished product almost anywhere.
2. Markers v. Crayons: I buy the non-toxic, washable versions of both of these (don’t we live in the greatest age ever!?), which makes me feel somewhat better when wiping them out of his mouth or seeing them pass a few days later out of his stool. That right there lays out for you one of the major differences between them. Markers are easier for coloring your mouth or your tongue; crayons are easier to ingest. How to decide? Crayons are also harder to use, since they require some pressure to make a mark. Markers, like mommy and daddy’s ink pens and pencils, color with little pressure, but that also means they color on just about anything and everything. With younger toddlers, I use markers and supervise the entire time. Crayons are easier with older toddlers and do not require as much supervision.
3. Pots and Pans: Generous friends bought our son those fancy kid-sized musical instruments to encourage his love of piano, flutes, and percussions. I love these people and their well-intentioned gifts, but for the budding musician at our house, nothing captures his attention like a collection of pots, pans, strainers, and wooden spoons. The parental bonus? Music time can then be combined with cooking dinner time!
4. Take it Outside: For the really messy projects like finger painting (which you can make yourself with some yogurt and food coloring), I always take it outside. The key, however, is to find that primo spot within the reach of your water hose or big bucket but also situated on a gradual downhill slope so that clean up is not too painful for the parent. There are other great outdoor crafts as well. Sidewalk chalk is a classic as is sand-castle building, but those activities usually work better for preschoolers. For toddlers, finger painting in the clean-up friendly zone is a weekly favorite.
5. Nature Pails: The sleepy parent’s favorite craft project is the nature pail. Grab a bucket, go on a walk, and fill it. This activity combines some exercise with fine motor skill development (putting something in a container) as well as the benefits of fresh air. Once the pail is full, you can sit down and string the finds together with some coarse string, make a nice pile on the front step, or “gift” your findings to a neighbor or parent. The possibilities for sharing the bounty are endless, but the process of collecting it is a singular hit.
6. When in Doubt, Make it Edible: If you are not quite confident of your toddler’s attention span or ability to keep things out of his/her mouth when new objects are introduced, stick to edible craft projects. We often enjoy “gluing” goldfish to bread with the helpful stickiness of jelly. Bananas come with the glue already on them. Carrots and hummus make fun logs which stick to rafts of cheese. While an older child might take this as a green light to play with and not eat his/her food, I find that with toddlers, this helps make food more appealing. It is as if foods now have this previously undiscovered comical side to them. Broccolli isn’t just a vegetable, it’s a forest!
Do you have a craft project for toddlers you especially like? Tips for turning aspects of everyday life into a chance for artistic and fine motor skill development? Share it here!!
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