Crafts with a 20 month old

[gibbinator]

Any suggestions? I feel like I'm constantly underestimating his abilities/interests and would like to branch out from bath crayons.
If you do messy stuff like finger painting, how do you contain it to one area?

[speckledfrog]

For finger paints I strip him to a diaper, lay down a mat, and put the paper on a cookie sheet. I usually do it on the floor.

[sonrisa]

We only paint outside.

Washable crayons, washable pens, glitter glue, tissue paper, cut outs, etc.

[matildasun]

I do anything messy with him strapped into his booster seat.

[DarcyLongfellow]

I used to do finger paints on our tile floor. I'd cover a big area with one of those vinyl tablecloths, then let her sit in the middle and finger paint.

You can "paint" with shaving cream, and form shapes/letters in it using your fingers. You can also fill a tray with baking soda, color water with food coloring, and let the kid use a medicine dropper to color (might need more manual dexterity than a 20 month old has, but it's worth a try).

Ripping paper is, surprisingly, a skill that preschools work on. Cut paper in to long strips, and have him practice ripping it up.

Whatever you do, try to focus on the activity and not the end result because that's the best way to develop creativity :-)

[Brie]

At daycare they do a lot of crafts that involve bingo daubers.  C loves dotting them on the paper and they dry very quickly, unlike paint.

[water*drop]

We fingerpaint at the table. I put her in her high chair (FP space saver, so it fits under the table) so she can be strapped in, but I don't recall her ever actually trying to get down (*knock on wood*). I have a huge roll of brown packing paper that I tape down to the table under her paper. I also use a shower curtain liner as a tarp under her chair just in case. DD is pretty good about keeping her painting on the paper, though, because they fingerpaint all the time at daycare.

She likes gluing cotton balls to paper (I put down the glue; she sticks the cotton balls to it) - we made snowmen for the grandparents at Christmas.

Stickers are a HUGE hit with her.

Regular crayons are fun, too. She likes to trace our hands.

[jr009j]

We do a lot of painting in the tub. I strip her down to a diaper (always leave the diaper on unless you want to risk fingerprinting with poop) and let her paint with her fingers and brushes. She loves running water so I usually wipe the tub down with her in there and then let her take a real bath.

Stickers, bingo dotters, washable markers are also all huge hits.

[Deleted]

Bath paint: kojo-designs.com/2013/05/homemade-bath-paint-recipe/

Playdough: www.the36thavenue.com/2013/03/kool-aid-playdough-recipe.html

The Melissa & Doug reusable stickers are GREAT: well.ca/products/melissa-doug-habitats-reusable_60453.html (they'll work on a window, the fridge, a door or wall, etc.)

[undecidedowl]

We do messy activities either in the highchair with an ikea long sleeve bib and a shower curtain under the chair or in a diaper sitting on the shower curtain on the floor. I hate messes and have actually had good luck with painting etc. so far

[Deleted]

Fun side note: a 50/50 mixture of Elmer's Glue and shaving cream results in puffy paint.

[Deleted]

Feb 12, 2014 16:45:37 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

The Melissa & Doug reusable stickers are GREAT: well.ca/products/melissa-doug-habitats-reusable_60453.html (they'll work on a window, the fridge, a door or wall, etc.)

I second this! I got it for DS when he was 21 months and it's his favorite thing in the history of EVER. He will gladly sit for 30+ plus, moving the "stickers" from scene to scene. I'm so glad I got it.

[magdala]

www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Other/Cinnamon-Ornaments

I made these with my 2 year old nephew last weekend We used heart cookie cutters in different sizes. And the house still smells of cinnamon...yum! I can't wait to do these with my baby when he/she is old enough.

[gibbinator]

@tokenhoser and @supergreen, thanks for the rec. I bought ds one this weekend and he loves it!

Got some paints too and look forward to experimenting with those.

Thanks everyone for the great ideas. I'll definitely be trying most of them.

[livinitup]

DD loved shaving cream at that age. She'd sit at the kitchen counter and I'd squirt it into one of the deep lipped trays. Or she'd use her high chair with tray. I could hide stuff into it, too for high intensity fun. We did most if our crafts off of trays in the kitchen or the high chair.

[Ashley&Scott]

Feb 12, 2014 16:34:07 GMT -5 Brie said:

At daycare they do a lot of crafts that involve bingo daubers.  C loves dotting them on the paper and they dry very quickly, unlike paint.

M's class uses these too, he loves them. At home we do crayons, markers, chalk & stickers.

We have an kitchen table set ip in our basement, I covered it in wrapping paper do markers don't damage it. If we fix paints down there I would use a vinyl tablecloth.

[Deleted]

Feb 16, 2014 8:25:29 GMT -5 gibbinator said:

@tokenhoser and @supergreen, thanks for the rec. I bought ds one this weekend and he loves it!

Yay! Glad to hear it. Which set did you get? I got planes & trains. DS excitedly brings me each sticker and tells me what it is. Shocker, they are all "brub brub brub", his generic word for any mechanized vehicle. OH except a fire truck or ambulance, that's a "wa-doo wa-doo wa-doo" siren sound.

[gibbinator]

Feb 16, 2014 9:50:59 GMT -5 @supergreen said:

Feb 16, 2014 8:25:29 GMT -5 gibbinator said:

@tokenhoser and @supergreen, thanks for the rec. I bought ds one this weekend and he loves it!

Yay! Glad to hear it. Which set did you get? I got planes & trains. DS excitedly brings me each sticker and tells me what it is. Shocker, they are all "brub brub brub", his generic word for any mechanized vehicle. OH except a fire truck or ambulance, that's a "wa-doo wa-doo wa-doo" siren sound.

Same one. He loves making siren noises too!

[Deleted]

They do a ton of painting at daycare so I don't do a lot of that at home. At home we do a ton of stickers, he loves them. I buy some at the dollar bins at Target and let him stick them all over a.dollar bin coloring book. I also just got him some stamps that I gave him for Valentines day and he is having fun with those. He also enjoys ripping paper so I will let him tear up advertisements etc and then put them in the recycling bin.

[dulcemariamar]

At what age did your kids stop putting every little thing in their mouth. My LO is almost 14 months and that is all she does.

[gibbinator]

Feb 16, 2014 13:01:28 GMT -5 dulcemariamar said:

At what age did your kids stop putting every little thing in their mouth. My LO is almost 14 months and that is all she does.

Soon! It's been awhile for us, probably since 16 months he's been about 95% trustworthy.

[turtlegirl]

We did washable finger paint on a giant coloring book on our laminate floors in the kitchen. Some got on the floor, but washed up quickly.

Also in the bathtub in just a diaper.