when to introduce crafts to the kids?

Stephanie - posted on 08/20/2009

My son is 4 years old and I introduced crayons at the age of 12 months.. I'd sit down with him and we'd color and scribble together. I than introduced playdough at the age of 15 months.. I was too afraid because of the mess he'd make and not sure if he'd try and eat it so that's why I waited until he was 15 months. Paints.. I waited until he was 2. I think you can introduce any kind of arts and crafts at any age you feel comfortable with. I don't there is a rule to when a child is allowed to paint, draw, etc.

Arwen - posted on 08/14/2009

Play-dough is a great idea. I'm going to see if my daughter can refrain from eating that. Yeah, my daughter likes markers better, too. I normally give her our little dry erase board to play with. She loves it.

Lyndsay - posted on 08/14/2009

I have a 2 year old and until recently he wasn't very interested in colouring. He'd scribble a line or two but that was it, now he really goes at it. I noticed that he doesn't like crayons so much as markers, which obviously requires some supervision. I've also got sidewalk paint, which is really bright and colourful and washes off when it rains, so we can paint outside too. It's made by Crayola, it's great! Another good outdoor medium is chalk.

Oh, also, play-dough! Even if he's too young to really make anything from it, it's still fun to squish around in your hands.

Arwen - posted on 08/12/2009

I let my daughter(19 months) color and stuff. I want to do handprint art, but all she wants to do is squish the paint! LOL I think I have a few months to wait.

Amanda, I really like your site! I have been wanting to do butterflies with my daughter.

Charlie - posted on 07/30/2009

i had my 3 month old in his jolly jumper , jumping up and down on a canvas .
he loved thetexture of the paint on his feet he would laugh so hard .
Now he uses hands as well i have a canvas painting from each month so far .
he has also played with clay , he pokes and squishes it !

Jessy - posted on 07/28/2009

now is a perfect time but you will have to help him with most everything. stay simple like chocolate pudding finger painting.

Amanda - posted on 07/25/2009

I love making crafts with my now 21 month old son. I got really into making handprint & footprint art with him & have started a blog. There are examples along with instructions. I update it weekly if not more. http://www.funhandprintart.blogspot.com/

Amy - posted on 05/05/2009

finger paint with frosting, pudding...ketchup, etc

Dawn - posted on 05/05/2009

thanks for the ideas. I'll try some next rainy day.

Janice - posted on 04/25/2009

Offer him different mediums: coloring books & crayons will build his motor control, blank paper & stickers will help him be creative w/o frustrations over not being able to draw what he wants

Ana - posted on 04/24/2009

Hi! I dont quite understand what kind of crafts are you thinking of,but I've started with art when my son was about 5 months. We started with painting with hands, then simple puzzles, painting with brush, and continued with more and more complicated stuff when we felt like we could do it. He is about to turn 4, and yesterday he made his first house out of small bricks that I made myself. It's never to early if you ajust everything to babys age. Good luck and enjoy :)