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Artsy Toys for Toddlers
My son is 18 months and I'm looking into getting him some artsy stuff for Christmas and perhaps his birthday in half a year.
I have an aquadoodle in mind that uses all water, a magnetic one, some of the Crayola color magic markers that only write on special paper. Any other suggestions?
Do you think he might be too young for these? I never had anything like them as a child, so I'm really exciting about playing with them myself :-)
I have an aquadoodle in mind that uses all water, a magnetic one, some of the Crayola color magic markers that only write on special paper. Any other suggestions?
Do you think he might be too young for these? I never had anything like them as a child, so I'm really exciting about playing with them myself :-)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by 32flavors on -
You can start now with art play. My daughter used the aquadoodle before 18 mos and still does (at 4). They also have great crayons now that are made for little hands to grab easily so during supervised time he could color with those on a large sheet of paper.
I also recommend some Magic Erasers (Mr Clean) just incase anything gets written on say... a wall.
Sidewalk chalk is a huge hit at my house, she got those for her first B-day and of course play-doh.
Have fun!!!
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Permalink Reply by Herasmus B. Dragon on
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And a large T-shirt to put over their clothes. Or go naked.
mcglory13 said:I actually recommend against the crayons/markers/paints that only show up on special paper. There's a delay between making the mark and the color appearing that confuses the hell out of small people. There's no cause and effect whatsoever.
I'd go with washable and a Magic Eraser.
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Permalink Reply by wookie on -
Just to clarify, because obviously my week has been really long...
the magic eraser is NOT for the toddler. It is for adult cleaning toddler art.
In my experience, despite the mess, the art stuff that toddlers and preschoolers get the most out of seems to be those sensory things... finger paint, playdough, chalk, shaving foam, etc.
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Permalink Reply by DLBK on -
Hahaha! I know the Magic Eraser is for me to clean up after him, but thanks! :-)
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Permalink Reply by Meghan on -
Yay! Fun fun fun. For some reason the title of this post had me thinking of Melissa & Doug. They have those cool, but kinda pricey toys for tots. I totally want some for my little man, but most of them say they are for 3 and up.
On topic, I have played with the color wonder stuff with older kids and it is very cool, but I can see where mcg is coming from. I didn't even think about the aquadoodle yet, and I agree with the playdough and washable finger paints for sure. You could even do a crafty type thing making an arts t-shirt for him together with paint on it. Have fun!
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Permalink Reply by Boring User Name on -
My kid is not fond of finger paints yet. He doesn't really like being dirty and he doesn't like to sit still. I would like to get him an easel because I think he would do better with that, but we don't have room for it.
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Permalink Reply by kommishoner on -
We're still waiting for the little man to quit eating stuff before we get all art-happy. But once we get there, I think fingerpaints will be first. Love the fingerpaints.
Also the little man has art time at daycare, so we're not too worried about him developing those skills - they have a great station where you can glue scraps of construction paper to a bigger piece of construction paper, which could be fun. Maybe we'll try that.
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Permalink Reply by CJRW on
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Lisa has a blast with the large crayons for toddlers.
We cleaned out some old stuff and found my husband's old college art supplies. There was a large newsprint pad (24" x 36") that's big enough that we can open it and sit on the floor with her. She loves, loves, loves the huge paper.
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Permalink Reply by Tracy on -
Depends on your son :]
We had the aqua doodle and I hated it [Christmas gift from last year..] Paige always tried to suck on the pen even though she was not even into the oral fixation at that point, and it just grossed me out to the point where I was like okay fuck this thing! Some people love it, but I personally didn't.
I love stamp pads and stamp sets so those are always fun.
Most craft stores have little puppet sets and things like that and we stock up for winter because we can make 5 a day if we are snowed in. They are not too expensive, and are fun! I also like to buy wooden figures and paint them or sticker them.
Play-doh is awesome, and that clay stuff that dries is too. You can make your own glitter or scented play-doh, but that can be something you totally do together as an activity maybe?
I love doing things with sand, so I would buy some colored sand and make a little "beach" with toys. I have a rubber maid box with blue sand, some whales and shells in it and it's always a fun activity when boredom hits. I'm like DUDE< LETS BUST OUT THE OCEAN!
God, the possibilities are endless. I love craft supplies.
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Permalink Reply by MamatothaMax on -
My mom is the queen of arty fun. In her class room they are all about the shaving foam which is a good lead in to finger paints. She suggested chocolate pudding for Mo and it was awesome.
She also loves tempra paint (just mix it with a little dish soap for easier clean up). Painting with found objects like leaves. In general I've noticed that little ones like painting with paint brushes. The paint can be cold and icky to them, heck it's icky to me.
That said an interested one that she discovered via interwebs was freezing food dye into ice cubes and painting with those. But the kids were expecting the cold.
And the two of us third and fourth the special paper and markers. It's great for older kids but the delay is too much for the little ones. Basic crayola washable markers and big crayons have the instant gratification quality that kids like.
I'm going to say this and it'll make me a failure as a parent but I loathe play doh. Hate hate hate the stuff. It ended up in toys, the carpet, everywhere (and it was restricted to the table only). I hate that it dries out and gets crumbly.
Now that the boys are older we have the craft clay that doesn't dry out, ever. It's awesome.
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Permalink Reply by jenra on -
Generally I think toddlers are in it more for the sensory activity and less for the end results. Finger paints and color sense are a lot of fun! Just buy primary colors and help them make secondary colors, at the end, mix them all and make brown.
Pouring rice or beans from one container to another is quite entertaining for a toddler.
Mix a cup of corn starch with a cup of water, maybe add some food coloring.
Play-do is a great sensory tool. If you make it yourself, you can add kool-aid for color and scent. Often less is more for little kids; while there are a ton of awesome kits out there with textured rolling pins and shaped extruders, that may be overwhelming. A couple little cookie cutters and a flat rolling pin should be more than enough.
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Permalink Reply by Boring User Name on
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The Kid found a magna-doodle at the doctor's office and loved it. We might have to find one. It was sort of nice to get to try it out somewhere else...
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