Art Supplies for 2.5 year old

Baby #2 is due exactly one month today, and I am trying to stock up on some
things for Sophie (29 months in a couple of days) to have to (possibly) keep
her occupied in the first weeks when I don't have as much time to play with
her.


You are a brave woman. I don't let my 2.5 year old play with art supplies when
I can't supervise him pretty closely, because he'd draw on the walls. :-)

I *do* let him "paint" on the exterior walls in the backyard using plain water
colored with a little bit of food coloring, and he loves it. If your DD is
allowed outside on her own, try sidewalk chalk.

Mainly, I am wondering about art supplies that she can use. So far we have
the
basics, the washable crayons, markers, watercolors, along with plenty of
coloring books, paper, stickers, and some glue sticks. Right now, I just
give
her some various items and let her use them however she likes.

Any suggestions on what items I can add to the mix?


Play-doh or other forms of clay

A hole punch. Some of them take too much strength for a toddler to operate,
but it's safer than scissors and equally fascinating.

Rubber stamps, the pre-inked kind or with stamp pads

Glitter, if you don't mind the mess, or colored sand or salt.

Cotton balls, craft pompoms, cardboard tubes, cardboard boxes, scraps of fabric
or ribbon, scraps of wood, dry macaroni, whatever other "glue-able" stuff you
have around.

Also, for less mess, consider things like a MagnaDoodle and other "magic slate"
type toys.

Holly
Mom to Camden, 2.5 yrs

You are a brave woman. I don't let my 2.5 year old play with art supplies
when
I can't supervise him pretty closely, because he'd draw on the walls. :-)


If she is sitting at the table, I am usually in sight of her; if I am not right
there with her, I just put her in her booster seat with a tray so she is pretty
much stuck.

I *do* let him "paint" on the exterior walls in the backyard using plain
water
colored with a little bit of food coloring, and he loves it. If your DD is
allowed outside on her own, try sidewalk chalk.


She paints the patio with her brushes (just water) when she plays in a couple
of dishpans of water with various buckets and water toys.

Rubber stamps, the pre-inked kind or with stamp pads

Glitter, if you don't mind the mess, or colored sand or salt.

Cotton balls, craft pompoms, cardboard tubes, cardboard boxes, scraps of fabric
or ribbon, scraps of wood, dry macaroni, whatever other "glue-able" stuff you
have around.

Thanks--this is the type of suggestions I was hoping for!

Also, for less mess, consider things like a MagnaDoodle and other "magic
slate"
type toys...

She has a magnadoodle already, maybe I will put it away for a while so she is
extra-excited by it in a month or so.

Holly
Mom to Camden, 2.5 yrs



Thanks
Linda
Mommy to Sophie, 2 years
and girl #2, due Sept 7th

Scissors
Magazines to cut pictures out of
Playdough either bought or homemade.
Yarn.
Scraps of cloth
Tthe sunday comics (if she doesn't put them in her mouth)
Crepe paper rolls
Strig
Popsicle sticks
Peces of aluminum foil
Tracing paper
Cookie Cutters
Stencils of shapes
Finger Paints
Tempera Paints
Various objects to use as brushes, like
pine branches with needles, feathers, etc.
Marbles or small cars to dip into paint and
roll around a paper.
An Easel
Recyclable materials to create sculptures
like toilet paper rolls, plastic jars and lids, buttons,
cardboard from packages, styrofoam pieces, shoe
boxes, gift boxes, etc.
Small animals to use in dioramas and scenes in
shoeboxes.

Use your imagination and expand hers.

--
Dorothy


Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

To go along with this idea, if you think the yarn would be too hard for her
to manage, you could get some pipe cleaners and beads with bigger holes.
Then she can string the beads on something that's a little stiffer. She can
also make bracelets or necklaces with them that are easier (IMHO) to get on
and off than if they're tied with yarn.

--
Sandi
Abby (9/20/00)
Natalie (7/27/02)

"GoofeeGyrl" wrote in message
...
Beads to thread. Or even old buttons


This is one great idea, thanks. I saw some bead and yarn thing at the
store
when she was just turning two and knew she was not ready then, I'll have
to
check it out now.

Thanks
Linda
Mommy to Sophie, 2 years
and girl #2, due Sept 7th

On Thu, 7 Aug 2003 22:21:51 -0500, "Sandi" wrote:

To go along with this idea, if you think the yarn would be too hard for her
to manage, you could get some pipe cleaners and beads with bigger holes.
Then she can string the beads on something that's a little stiffer. She can
also make bracelets or necklaces with them that are easier (IMHO) to get on
and off than if they're tied with yarn.

Shoelaces work well too.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..
Outer Limits

To go along with this idea, if you think the yarn would be too hard for her
to manage, you could get some pipe cleaners and beads with bigger holes.
Then she can string the beads on something that's a little stiffer. She can
also make bracelets or necklaces with them that are easier (IMHO) to get on
and off than if they're tied with yarn.


Sandi
Abby (9/20/00)
Natalie (7/27/02)

That's a good idea. Thanks

(GoofeeGyrl) wrote in message ...
Baby #2 is due exactly one month today, and I am trying to stock up on some
things for Sophie (29 months in a couple of days) to have to (possibly) keep
her occupied in the first weeks when I don't have as much time to play with
her.

Mainly, I am wondering about art supplies that she can use. So far we have the
basics, the washable crayons, markers, watercolors, along with plenty of
coloring books, paper, stickers, and some glue sticks. Right now, I just give
her some various items and let her use them however she likes.

Any suggestions on what items I can add to the mix?

Thanks in advance
Linda
Mommy to Sophie, 2 years
and girl #2, due Sept 7th

I am not sure about this, since it is not yet tested by my 2.5 yo. But
we just bought playdough with the accessories, rolling pin, cookie
cutter shapes, scissors (really dull) and knife (such as it is). *I*
cannot wait to play with it tonight!

S

In article ,
(Stephanie) wrote:

Is it only me? My son ONLY plays with cars. Oh and trucks. And an
occaisonal ariplane or space ship. He will do a puzzle with me, or
color... it seems to humor me. When he gets a choice, he chooses cars
and trucks. OOOOh or trains. We have a million other kids of toys, for
no apparent reason.

No, I've got one of those too :-) 2.5 years old. Trains, cars, trucks.
All the time.

What I find amazing is that he keeps coming up with new ways to play
with them. We built yet another brio track, and the best part was the
track that dead-ended. He played "the train fell in the ditch!" over and
over. Or he makes up other scenarios, like the trains are going to a
party, or this engine is broken so the other engine is pushing it. Or
yesterday, he had a bunch of cars and trucks on the coffee table he
plays on, and most of them were on one side together, and the motorcycle
was on the other side. He told me, all those other cars are at the
motorcycle's house and they're waiting for him. They're lonely. He has
to go visit them.

He also loves duplo. And the duplo trains are wonderful, because you can
take them apart and put them together in different ways, put the people
inside, etc.

- Lynn

In article , lynn
says...

In article ,
(Stephanie) wrote:

Is it only me? My son ONLY plays with cars. Oh and trucks. And an
occaisonal ariplane or space ship. He will do a puzzle with me, or
color... it seems to humor me. When he gets a choice, he chooses cars
and trucks. OOOOh or trains. We have a million other kids of toys, for
no apparent reason.

No, I've got one of those too :-) 2.5 years old. Trains, cars, trucks.
All the time.

I took my son, at 9 months old, to a beautiful farm in Vermont which has lots of
cute animals to pet. He immediately crawled up to and pet - the front wheel of
a tractor. Then he pointed excitedly to wagon wheels mounted on the ceiling of
the barn.

At two, I got him a video about road building. I felt silly watching it with
him the first time, as I thought it was waaay too technical, starting with
surveying, etc. He sat transfixed. When it finished, he suddenly cried
horribly. The great dissappointment to him was that the tape didn't go on
forever.

When he was two and a half, we had our septic tank replaced. I had to serve
dinner on the deck so that he can watch. (Heh - I'd like to see that on a
dinner party invitation ;-)

Nothing much has changed in the 10 years since then, except now that he *builds*
model trains, planes, and cars. From every kind of kit, and from scractch.


What I find amazing is that he keeps coming up with new ways to play
with them. We built yet another brio track, and the best part was the
track that dead-ended. He played "the train fell in the ditch!" over and
over. Or he makes up other scenarios, like the trains are going to a
party, or this engine is broken so the other engine is pushing it. Or
yesterday, he had a bunch of cars and trucks on the coffee table he
plays on, and most of them were on one side together, and the motorcycle
was on the other side. He told me, all those other cars are at the
motorcycle's house and they're waiting for him. They're lonely. He has
to go visit them.

He also loves duplo. And the duplo trains are wonderful, because you can
take them apart and put them together in different ways, put the people
inside, etc.


Be prepared for a house filled with planes, cars, trains, and trucks for the
next decade or so.

Banty

In article ,
Banty wrote:

I took my son, at 9 months old, to a beautiful farm in Vermont which has lots
of
cute animals to pet. He immediately crawled up to and pet - the front wheel
of
a tractor. Then he pointed excitedly to wagon wheels mounted on the ceiling
of
the barn.

Oh yes. We once visited a farm with a tractor he could sit on. He would
have happily spent all day sitting there; we had to pry him off.

While I'm at it, I also should throw in a couple of book recommendations
for this kind of kid.

- The Pop-up Book of Big Trucks, by Chuck Murphy (Illustrator), Peter S.
Seymour. Great for age 2+. The pop-ups are sturdy and well-chosen to
illustrate the trucks - you make the fireman go up and down in the
bucket lift, you lift up the garbage bin and dump it into the garbage
truck, and you look inside the cab of the moving truck to see what's
inside.

- Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, by Richard Scarry. Just got it
and it's a big hit at 2.5. He loves to look at the pages and talk about
what's going on in all the pictures.

- Lynn