What's the least destructive item

[greencrayon]

My daughter can use to draw or color. She's obsessed with pens, and I can't even keep them unclicked because she knows how to click them again. And if they have the cap on, she knows and comes over to me signing "more" and "please". So what are my choices? Colored pencils maybe?

[momin2013]

At that age I got washable crayons for DS. They're a bit thicker, so they're easy to grasp, and they really are washable.

[redheadk]

You can try one of those boards that use a water pen. Those satisfy DD and she can be left completely alone with them.

[Deleted]

Crayola Color Wonder markers only work on special Crayola paper. I recently picked up some for my nephew.

[humpforfree]

We use crayons. He has a giant pad of paper that somehow he still misses and colors on the coffee table. It wipes right off of the table.

[lurknomore]

Jul 1, 2015 8:04:52 GMT -5 redheadk said:

You can try one of those boards that use a water pen. Those satisfy DD and she can be left completely alone with them.

This!  My kids LOVED this thing.  I've heard the travel one isn't as good as the full size one. There is a stencil kit that you can buy for it too. 

[biogirl21]

So cute! J does the same thing, he loves pens and 'drawing' but will eat crayons. The Crayola Color Magic or something like that only draws on special paper. I've been thinking of getting some.

[countthestars]

Crayola Color Wonder markers!

[lurknomore]

Jul 1, 2015 8:06:14 GMT -5 sju1982 said:

Crayola Color Wonder markers only work on special Crayola paper. I recently picked up some for my nephew.

I would skip these.  They take a while to develop....that is you draw and it takes the color a few moments to appear.  My kids were always bored stiff with them since they couldn't see what they were coloring immediately.  The colors also aren't that great.  Esp at the your daughter's age, I'm guessing these wouldn't be much fun. 

[gibbinator]

I've found washable markers to be very washable.

[Ashley&Scott]

For unsupervised drawing I would get some sort of Aqua Doodle, there are a few different versions. It's just a water pen so it's not going to hurt anything if she gets it on the floor/wall/table. 
www.target.com/p/crayola-doodle-magic-color-mat-blue/-/A-16450407#prodSlot=medium_1_48

Magna Doodles are also fun & mess free.

Crayola crayons & washable markers for when you're sitting next to her.

I've tried the Color Wonder mess free markers but M isn't a big fan. There is a delay from when you draw & when the color shows up & he doesn't like that.

[kategm]

Washable crayons. We have the exact same issue regarding pens, unfortunately. She can do pencils fairly well, but I do have to erase it off stuff.

Really though, she has to be very very very closely supervised any time she colors, no matter what she uses.

[loskadoodle]

Color wonder markets?

[MadamePresident]

Washable crayons, but I still insist crayons are used at a table

[thatgirl2478]

Washable Crayons or Washable Markers. DH thought I was crazy the first time I gave her markers (she was young) but they were washable so she got them EVERYWHERE and we still managed to clean up easily. The Crayons washed up nicely when they got on the floor (un like traditional crayons...)

[Deleted]

Jul 1, 2015 8:04:52 GMT -5 redheadk said:

You can try one of those boards that use a water pen. Those satisfy DD and she can be left completely alone with them.

We have every single on these things M&D makes. We all love them. 

The Dollar Spot always has those magic ink ones too. Pretty safe. 

My kids do well with just plain old crayons. They get destructive with other stuff, but do okay with plain crayons.

[kategm]

Jul 1, 2015 8:34:05 GMT -5 swizz said:

We have color wonder markers, she's never seemed phased by the lag in coloring to showing up.

We have the washable crayons too but she doesn't get the concept of the edge of the page and I've been magic erasering all kinds of surfaces, lol. It does come out, just a pain to clean.

My washable crayons come up sooooo easily. Just a little water and it's gone. I actually have DD wipe it up herself. No magic eraser necessary!

[greencrayon]

Thanks guys! I need something for semi unsupervised (her drawing while I'm doing homework or studying) so I'll look into the water markers.

[aspentosh]

Washable crayons and markers are what we used. Easily wiped off any surface.

[bazinga]

We have a cardboard box that DD colors in. It is big enough that she fits inside of it and then she can color all over the walls of the box and there is a coloring book in there too. All the coloring is contained. Is this bad parenting?

[momin2013]

Jul 1, 2015 9:20:01 GMT -5 bazinga said:

We have a cardboard box that DD colors in. It is big enough that she fits inside of it and then she can color all over the walls of the box and there is a coloring book in there too. All the coloring is contained. Is this bad parenting?

No, I'd say that is both smart and hilarious at the same time!

[greencrayon]

Jul 1, 2015 9:20:01 GMT -5 bazinga said:

We have a cardboard box that DD colors in. It is big enough that she fits inside of it and then she can color all over the walls of the box and there is a coloring book in there too. All the coloring is contained. Is this bad parenting?

Um. That's an amazing idea.

[blueberry10]

Jul 1, 2015 9:20:01 GMT -5 bazinga said:

We have a cardboard box that DD colors in. It is big enough that she fits inside of it and then she can color all over the walls of the box and there is a coloring book in there too. All the coloring is contained. Is this bad parenting?

That is brilliant!

[redheadk]

Jul 1, 2015 9:20:01 GMT -5 bazinga said:

We have a cardboard box that DD colors in. It is big enough that she fits inside of it and then she can color all over the walls of the box and there is a coloring book in there too. All the coloring is contained. Is this bad parenting?

This is genius. I'm saving my next giant box just for this.