Got a basket full of Crayola stuff! eeek!

My SIL, who is an elementary school art teacher, gave the girls a basket full of Crayola goodies. It all looks very nice and fun, but it scares me to death! She said she made sure everything was age appropriate and would not be above their skill level, also included was a book about Preschool Art. All I have ever done with A&B is crayons and paper. I don't know why, but this stuff makes me nervous. I picture one running off with a loaded paintbrush, stuff all over the place, you get the idea. Tell me how you do this without it becoming chaos!

 

My two are too young...but set the ground rules with them....is all I can think to say.

 

I'm waiting until the weather warms and then it will be outdoors on their plastic picnic table for painting 101. I can't imagine mine using art supplies in the house yet either. I'm not scared of them getting messy but I am scared of spattered paint all over the house.

 

We are just begging our "art" phase and totally can relate!

Most of the time we do art work outside or in the garage. If it is too cold then I cover my dinning room table (on the tile) with wax paper or a drop cloth and put the boys in their booster seats.

For finger paint & water colors: I put just a dab of finger paint in some ramikins so the boys each get their own and don't fight over the colors. With the water colors, I give each boys their own tray of paint and wet the whole tray before I give it to them so I don't have cups of water on the table.

With playdough: we pull chairs up to the island in the kitchen and I give the boys bowls and kitchen ustensils so they can pretend they are making dinner. Just make sure they don't eat the playdough.

With crayons: They boys have a table in their play room and that is the only place crayons are allowed. I usually let them color for about 15 mnutes and color with them. It is fun for me and the boys and I can make sure that no crayons make it out of the playroom to my walls!

If paints and markers make you nervous, try using just a paint brush or a sponge cut into shapes and a cup of water. The water will make a picture on the paper or sidewalk and you don't have to worry about colored mess.

I usally buy cheap printer paper or rolls of white paper for the boys to use. I just watch for it go on sale.

I try not to structure what they are coloring/painting. Sometimes we will use a coloring book but most of the time I just coll out words and they draw the picture (usually scribbles).

The best thing you can do is to try to relax and just let them scribble. They will be perfectly happy with that. My boys are usually intrested in the project for about 15 min and then ready to move onto something else.

Hope this helps!

 

My grandmother gave us an easel with a tarp...dh and I agreed it is going in the garage for now. WE don't want to add to our overgrown mess.

oh easy recipe for edible playdough:
1 part flour
2 parts oatmeal
1 part water
And it doesn't have any food coloring in it, so it won't stain.

 

put a plastic sheet down, and just have fun! Seriously, it's all washable and they're only young once. Only advice, don't let playdoh near carpet Really, it'll be fun if you jsut relax and see what they can do. My kids are nearing 4 and we've done it all...markers, glue, crayons, playdoh, moon sand, paint, watercolors, etc. The "worst" thing that happens is they color themselves w/ markers but again...it's washable! Take some pics!!!

 

We do it both indoors and outdoors. If you use the stuff indoors, here are some tips:

1) Have everything ready to go ahead of time. Get it all set up so that the kids don't lose interest before you have even started.
2) Put a vinyl tablecloth or placemats down on the table. That way you don't have to worry about ruining the table.
3) Keep a box of wipes handy. It wipes markers and paint off right away. In fact, we usually just use these for cleanup and rarely have to even go wash up at the sink.
4) Wear bibs or smocks.
5) Keep it simple. Don't try to do too much at once!!!
6) Use your Dustbuster! It picks up loose playdough, scraps of paper from projects, etc. It makes for faster cleanup!

 

Your kids are a little bit older than mine but right now, we do art at our kitchen table. It is a round glass table so EVERYTHING washes right off with a wet paper towel or as pp said, wet wipes. (If you don't have glass table, just use vinyl tablecloth as pp suggested.) I only let them do art when they are strapped into their booster seats. Absolutely no crayons or markers EVER leave the table. If they want to get down, then their art time is over and all supplies stay on the table. This has prevented any annoying messes. My girls also wear art smocks that I bought for them at TRU. They were only around 5 dollars each. But you could even put a large t-shirt or longsleeve shirt over whatever they are wearing. When it comes to using glue, we do not use the regular elmers glue yet. I have a bunch of glue sticks I bought at Staples (non-toxic). I usually will put the glue on and then give them the item to put down on their paper where ever they want. I also recently bought some of those foam shapes that are peel offs. Just peel off the paper and then they can stick it where ever they want. They are sometimes a pain in the butt to peel but no there's no mess.

As pp said, they are only young once. Kids are suppose to be messy and make mess. Just let them have fun and explore with all the various art materials. Who knows, you may have the next Monet in your hands GL and let us know how it turns out.

 

We usually contain it to the table/floor.

Playdoh: We just started using this recently. We do it on the kitchen table

Fingerpainting: I put newspapers down on the floor and we all get down and paint. I use the little take and toss bowls or paper plates/bowls to put the paint in and let them go to town. I usually keep a bowl of water nearby, too.

Painting: We recently did some painting with paintbrushes and did it on the table. It really cleaned up pretty easily.

Coloring: Is usually contained to either their little table or the kitchen table. I do have random crayon marks around the house when someone finds a crayon. Last week they colored all over one of my kitchen chairs, baby wipes took it right off (good thing, it was my grandmother's set).

Buy some smocks or big t-shirts to use as smocks. My kids have some that they have "decorated" and those are their painting shirts.

Oh....and we just got some Color Wonder Markers/books! Those are great. They will only color on the special Color Wonder paper.

 

My kids all love art projects as well (babies included). It takes supervision and participation with them, and they LOVE it.

 

Ditto on the Color Wonder. We have the markers and paper and they work great. My only gripe is that the stuff fades so don't expect anything made with them to be a keepsake. Also, Aquadoodle is fun and totally mess-free. You don't have to just use the special pens for it either -- paintbrushes and sponges with a bit of water work great too.

I didn't mean to sound like we don't do art time at all to avoid the mess... I'm just not allowing certain items in the house until I feel that they can control themselves a bit. They're not "sit and play" kids so our projects are very quick and as simple to clean up as possible (yogurt makes a fine fingerpaint, BTW). I don't believe I have to sacrifice my carpet, drapes, couches, and upholstered chairs in the name of letting them be young.

 

QUOTE(debid @ Dec 27 2007, 06:51 AM) [snapback]547374[/snapback]
Ditto on the Color Wonder. We have the markers and paper and they work great. My only gripe is that the stuff fades so don't expect anything made with them to be a keepsake. Also, Aquadoodle is fun and totally mess-free. You don't have to just use the special pens for it either -- paintbrushes and sponges with a bit of water work great too.

I didn't mean to sound like we don't do art time at all to avoid the mess... I'm just not allowing certain items in the house until I feel that they can control themselves a bit. They're not "sit and play" kids so our projects are very quick and as simple to clean up as possible (yogurt makes a fine fingerpaint, BTW). I don't believe I have to sacrifice my carpet, drapes, couches, and upholstered chairs in the name of letting them be young.


Couldn't have said it better myself. We are also color wonder/aquadoodle fans. Have fun, strap 'em in, but don't let them ruin the house.

 

Recently we've been doing art while they're strapped into their Stokke chairs. Also, I cover the dining room table with newspaper first (and tape it down). Sometimes it doesn't seem worth the trouble -- 10 minutes of setup and 10 minutes of cleanup for 10 minutes of real art time -- but they do enjoy it.

I also like the idea of keeping a box of wipes handy. And when it's warm enough, we'll definitely be doing the painting outside...

 

Not sure if this was said yet or not but when i worked at a preschool we would mix the paint with a little dish soap
makes it a bit easier to clean up.
i would only paint outside!

 

QUOTE(debid @ Dec 27 2007, 09:51 AM) [snapback]547374[/snapback]
I didn't mean to sound like we don't do art time at all to avoid the mess... I'm just not allowing certain items in the house until I feel that they can control themselves a bit. They're not "sit and play" kids so our projects are very quick and as simple to clean up as possible (yogurt makes a fine fingerpaint, BTW). I don't believe I have to sacrifice my carpet, drapes, couches, and upholstered chairs in the name of letting them be young.


I've been told that pudding makes a great fingerpaint, too.

 

Thank you for all the suggestions. I think I'll do this in the dining room (no carpet, just a rug I don't like anyway) and I can put a vinyl tablecloth down. This sounds like a good thing to do out on the deck when it gets warmer, too. The whole basket of stuff just scared me.

 

QUOTE(moski @ Dec 27 2007, 11:07 AM) [snapback]547685[/snapback]
I've been told that pudding makes a great fingerpaint, too.



We use pudding as finger paint all the time. If you want to be really artsy you can get vanilla and add food coloring for more variety (though plain 'ol chocolate gets nothing but smiles from my boys).

 

We don't do a lot of markers/crayon time as much anymore... watch your kids carefully they can be sneaky little farts! LOL I turned my head, and I guess Zack stuck a marker in his diaper... well after we were done coloring, I cleaned everything up and came in the living room to sit. They went to their room to play. Things were awful quiet, which means... they are up to something. I got in there, and they had marked all over their bedroom walls! I had to paint the entire room over!!

 

Kelly, look for some of that large paper that comes on a roll. They love it and it will protect your table cover too. Have fun!

 

Kelly!! YAY!! FUN! STUFF!!!

I only do it when I have patience and time!! I have a picnic table that I can bring in sometimes and I cover it with butcher paper and let em' rip!!! I have to watch to make sure they don't leave the hardwood floor with a pen or something and all the stuff is washable!!!

I put dollops of paint on paper plates and roll their sleeves up or get em' in their diaper and hand them the brush, but sooner rather than later they are using their hands and fingers for the paints.

I'm not a HUGE fan of finger paints because the "special paper" never dries. They put too much on and it stays gooey. Other than that, just get the camera out and DO IT!!!

Have FUN!!!

 

smocks!! they are great... set up the rules...only do it in a good location, not around carpet or couches! I have mine sit at the kitchen table for really messy stuff. I do prefer washable crayons. They can use those in the living room at their little table. Your twins are definitely old enough to be having fun with this stuff!

 

Ok Kelly, we'll be needing proof that you are putting that basket full of Crayola to good use!! C'mon! Pics!

 

QUOTE(~* dfaut *~ @ Jan 1 2008, 06:39 PM) [snapback]553471[/snapback]
Ok Kelly, we'll be needing proof that you are putting that basket full of Crayola to good use!! C'mon! Pics!

So far, we did one little project, we made birthday cards for the twin boys' birthday we went to from our Mom's Club. They painted on construction paper with their little chickie paints. I need to get a vinyl tablecloth to put under their desks before we do more. I think I'll break out the Color Wonder stuff tomorrow since that is non-messy.

 

We have been doing art for a few weeks now... its not all that scary! Since your are older, they won't put the items in their mouth as much but they really do have a blast. And remember wet wipes can get anything out of anything!