Sixteen months is a tricky age to start arts and crafts. As much as I long to display Sam’s masterpieces on our refrigerator, I have to admit that he’s still a bit young for crayons and markers and paints.
Unless he is highly supervised. And only if I can accept the guaranteed mess.
So last week we took out a few small tubs of finger paints and a set of watercolors and taped newspapers to the kitchen table. At first Sam very reluctantly dipped his brushes into the paints. But it didn’t take long until he was grabbing fistfuls and smearing it onto the paper.
He wasn’t so happy about his blue and green fingers, however. And within about five minutes, he was ready to wash his hands and move onto the next activity.
Verdict? Not quite ready for finger paints. But I can’t wait to try again in a few weeks.
Does your toddler enjoy arts and crafts? And do you have recommendations for finger paints? Because I was not entirely pleased with the watery nature of the Melissa and Doug set.
Don’t forget to share your favorite toddler toys and activities below!
So cute! And I so love that bib! I showed my husband and he told me she has waaay too many bibs already…maybe for Easter 🙂
I’d like to know of some good finger paints too! Scarlett has gotten really good with holding a crayon…she holds the right way and even knows to use the pointy side 🙂 She loves drawing “circles” and says “round, round!” lol. I’m not sure she’d do the finger paints but I’d like to try…she freaks out when she has a speck of dirt on her hands…such a girl! I can totally see her making that “Sam face”!
so fun! Kay and I have colored with crayons, but we definitely haven’t attempted paint yet. We’ve also done sidewalk chalk
Ha – my Sam has the exact same reaction anytime painting is introduced. Prior to having babies, I never could have imagined a toddler NOT wanting to get his hands dirty!! We bought some Crayola-brand washable finger paint from Target, and they seemed to be decent quality though, for next time you’re ready to try.
Crayons are a bit touch and go with us at this point as well. He’ll make a few marks, then get bored. He much prefers taking the crayons out of a jar and putting them back in – over and over and over. Perhaps arts and crafts is more appropriate for two-year-olds?
I used to own a day care and at this stage, I would either let them mess around with shaving cream (just squire a blob on the table and let them have at it) or at snack time we would finger paint with pudding and the kids could like there fingers! Big hit with both!
I let Lucas paint with big marshmallows. I take a small amount of water and put a drop of food coloring in it. Then he can dip the marshmellows in the colored water. It’s edible and I don’t have to worry if he tries to eat it. It’s still a mess though. We’ve also done the mess free version by putting paint in a Baggie. Both ideas I sound on pinterest! I need to link up but have been horrible about blogging lately.