How to Introduce the Very First Art Activity to Your Toddler
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Did you know that you can introduce the first art activity to your 12 month old? Or rather 15 months old if you procrastinate because you like your white walls.
Before children learn to write, they scribble. Scribbling is not only fun. It’s important activity that helps children to develop their pre-writing skills.
How to set up the activity?
You’ll need:
chunky non toxic crayons (start with 1-2 crayons)
paper (start with white paper. Later on, you can add color paper, paper of different sizes and textures. Only put out limited amount of paper your child can use in a day.)
tray (to keep everything contained)
Tips to get started
First, show your toddler how to carry a tray if you’re using it. Demonstrate with slow hands and let him have a turn.
Show him how to hold a crayon.
If necessary, demonstrate using the crayon by drawing a small line. Avoid drawing elaborate pictures. This is about his art expression - not ours.
Supervise your toddler when doing this activity. The crayons could be a choking hazard. Stay close and make sure your child doesn’t put them in his mouth.
Put aside any expectations. Don’t expect what your child should do. We want to avoid the child feeling pressured. When I introduced this activity to Emma, I did have some expectations. I thought she will scribble. But all she was interested in was carrying the tray. It was her first time having an activity on the tray. And she was just enjoying carrying it. When we got to the actual activity, she couldn’t figure out how to press strong enough to make her scribble show up. She was using the crayon in a very gentle way. You could barely see any color. I realized I needed to step back and let her explore. It wasn’t until the next time when she was able to scribble with confidence and make her artwork visible.
For me this activity is a great exercise of using positive language with my daughter.
Yesterday, she started scribbling. First on the paper. Then she took the blue crayon and walked towards her shelf with Montessori toys. She held the crayon above the shelf and looked straight into my eyes to see what I'm going to do. Inside, I was screaming "no no no no no." But I managed to say: "On the paper. We draw on the paper." She did the same with our hardwood floors. Will your child draw on the paper only? Most likely not. But they still need our kind guidance (no matter how exhausting it sometimes feels ).
What was your child’s first art experience?
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