Leaving art supplies out

My boys will be 3 in July. They LOVE to do arts & crafts (one especially), but I always do them in a controlled setting. I keep all their art stuff at the top of their closet & out of reach, also, so they can only do those activities supervised by an adult.

We did a playdate at a friend's today & her little girl is 7 months younger than mine. She has a room with a little table that has tons of art stuff on it! Stickers, markers, crayons, paper, glue sticks, etc. Then there's an easel with paper & markers, too. I about flipped that her daughter has unlimited access to those things at all times...and was shocked when she said she's never used any of them inappropriately! (Side note: her daughter rarely plays independently, so my guess is that the parents are usually close by, if not in the room, when she's doing her art...whereas mine play independently quite well.)

Am I the paranoid mom who's depriving my budding artists? I have nightmares of marker on the wall, cat hair glued together, crayons down the heat vents, stickers on the windows, etc etc etc.

At what age are they fairly 'safe' to be allowed access to arts & crafts supplies unsupervised?

 

My boys have full access now and have since they started moving the furniture to open the flip lock on their closet door (just before 3 if I remember right). I put everything in a storage container in their closet so it isn't sitting out all of the time but they know where it is and will get things out to use. Plus, there are pens/pencils/scissors in the kitchen drawer so really they've had access to those things since they could reach the drawer which was ages ago. There is some difference, though, when you consider that it's harder to take supplies from the kitchen without being noticed... that might be why we never had any inappropriate use until age 3.

And yes, they have used their things inappropriately (and I wouldn't believe a parent who claimed their child NEVER has!) They've colored on walls, the backs of doors, and the wood stove. They've put stickers on the furniture and windows, cut their hair and one shirt with the scissors (I caught them before they did too much damage), and painted the kitchen floor blue. These things happen. Just make sure everything is washable and make them help clean it up. They'll learn.

Or, keep putting it up high until you're confident they can and will follow the rules. There is no law that says supplies must be made available at all times and if your kids can't handle it yet, then that's fine too.

 

My two only have access to crayons and pencils. :good: I couldn't imagine them having access to paints at all times. :faint: They are pretty good kids and listen very well BUT they are kids and i really don't think I could control my anger?? if I came in to find things painted. :nea: Written on with crayon I can handle though. :lol: I think it's one comfort level and also my two play alone alot.

 

We don't leave any art supplies out yet. With my two, it would just be asking for trouble. I am LAZY, I don't want to deal with it. They get to draw/color/paint/string beads/do Play Doh etc whenever they ask, and if they haven't asked in a while we'll suggest it to them. Works for us.

 

When I read your post i was honestly thinking that maybe when the kids are 8 I will leave art supplies out!! Gosh, I can't see anytime in the near future when I will be leaving them out (my kids 26months old), as for sure they would do everything possible with them that they are NOT suppose to do. If I leave my kids for 10 seconds with crayons by the time I come back they have colored somewhere they shouldn't have!

 

I did not have the foresight of most of you - I didn't think anything of leaving DS's coloring books and crayon box over on the table with by the rest of his toys. Also, sidewalk chalk right by the outside door, to grab on the way out. Well, when the twins were newborns, if he was quiet, I knew that he was using the chalk all over the sunroom. Truthfully, since it's washable, I was thankful he was occupied. It mostly came off, but white paint would sometimes wash off with the chalk.

So, my DH put his foot down and all the chalk was thrown out. Now, the crayons - I've learned to keep them put up, but every once in awhile one will be left out, and we now have a recliner in the living room that has crayon all over it. It's washable, so I think it will be fine - I just have to get in there and use the special dry cleaning stuff to get it off the fabric.

Anyway, all these stories are to say that our art supplies will stay put up for quite awhile longer, partly because DS does play independently so much - I don't want to worry about what he's doing in the playroom while I'm doing something with the twins.

 

We leave everything but paint and glue out. I'll probably pay for it someday, but so far my girls have been pretty good at asking if they can go get scissors and paper, and they usually only use crayons at the easel. I have had to clean up piles of pom poms and googly eyes, but no permanent stains or rips. I'm not courageous enough to leave paint out because I am certain my girls would attack the paint the first day and get paint everywhere, even if they were trying to be good and only paint at their craft table.

Edited to add: My girls play independently a lot, so it's not that I'm there watching all the time.

 

My girls have access to coloring books, paper, and crayons that I leave on their little plastic Ikea table. I only buy the washable crayons. They have colored on their table and on a couple of toys, but never the wall. It has come off easily with a Magic Eraser. They don't have access to anything else without my supervision, but they are only 28 months. Maybe when they are a little older they will get access to some other art supplies, but I'll have to see how it goes.

 

We have an art table and their supplies have been out in the table for probably a good year now. Maybe a little longer. They also have access to markers, crayons, and paper upstairs (their art table is in the basement playroom). It's never been an issue but mine have never been ones to write on walls, stick stickers to things they shouldn't, etc. If they were the art supplies may still be locked up.

 

A couple of months ago I started leaving their crayons, coloring books, color paper and stickers out on their craft table. But I don't let them play with paint or playdoh unattented because its too big of a mess.

 

My two have access to crayons & markers and paper & coloring books. No paints, play doh, stickers (I hate finding stickers stuck all over everything!) and definitely not scissors. I'm too afraid of unauthorized haircuts! :lol:

 

My boys got free access to markers, crayons, scissors, tape and glue when they were 4 years old. They would "slip up" a little from time to time (small pencil marks on furniture) but for the most part could handle the responsibility at that age. Now at 5 years old, they not only use art supplies properly, but they also keep a watchful eye on their little sister and scold her for drawing on furniture.

I did try giving them free access to markers when they were 3 years old and boy was I wrong to do that! They ended up drawing all over the walls of their bedroom to the extent it was impossible to erase. We finally just let them loose in their bedroom and had them do all artwork in there. When we moved out of the apartment, we hired a guy to paint over the walls for $200 so we could get our deposit back.

 

I just had to ban anything that writes after one of them got a marker and wrote on everything!!! I made them clean it up too! They usually have crayons and I would consistently tell them the only thing they should write on is paper and they always have paper, easel and coloring books available. From now on they are only going to be able to use writing utensils with supervision. And don't even get me going on the stickers all over the place!

On the other hand, they have friend who just turned 3. She has a little table in her room with all her art supplies and she uses them without causing trouble. But she is an only child and usually has 2 adults supervising her at all times.

 

All I have to say is:
Girls
Boys

 

Ok six years old here and markers/pens/pencils/paper, but only last couple of years. Even at four they would encourage each other and get up to mischief colouring in closets etc.. Paints, scissors, glue no way in a top cupboard they have to ask. If they have acess to scissors we have tiny bits of paper all over the house, has to be controlled for sure.

 

I think my kids were around 3 -- maybe earlier for less dangerous things like stickers.

They still don't have access to:
any non-washable markers except the white board ones (which they know must stay at the white board at all times)
glue
glitter
paint
playdoh
face paint

They do have free access to tape, scissors, stickers, markers, crayons, various crafty things like googly eyes and little pompoms, etc.

I wouldn't say they've never used anything inappropriately, but the worst they have done is write on their art table (which was covered with stray paint/marker marks anyway) and stick things to the furniture. This is against the rules, but at least it comes off. And Amy cut a tiny bit of her hair once, and then was so mad about losing access to the scissors for a whole week that I doubt she will ever do it again.

The things that I do keep out of reach, it's not because of intentional misuse, but just because proper use is so messy!

Of course they get stuff all over the floor when they create, but that's not inappropriate, just accidental.