A Toddler’s First Attempts at Art
Babies and toddlers love experimenting. Their first efforts at ‘drawing’ and ‘painting’ may well not be immediately obvious to you. Your toddler may be sitting in his high chair and, as far as you can see, be smearing food onto his tray. But he is probably having a lovely time mixing the colours and consistencies of the various ingredients.
If you are prepared for this, you will think of your precious little one as an artist in the making and you won’t mind having to clear up the mess . Once you realize what he is doing, you can encourage him by giving him food that lends itself to ‘painting’, e.g. porridge with a bit of strawberry jam on the side. You can show him how to stir the jam into the porridge, you can dab on the jam and make a face. And all the while you can be talking to him telling him that you are drawing his eyes, his nose, his mouth and then point to HIS eyes, nose and mouth. If he is old enough, you can ask him to point to his own. Activities like this are also great to get him to try different foods.
The Craft Treasure Box
Next time you get a box, don’t put it in the recycling bin, but use it as a craft treasure box. Any potential treasure – a piece of ribbon, old buttons, stickers, bits of gift wrapping paper, bits of wool, empty toilet rolls and kitchen paper rolls, empty plastic cups from water dispensers, old birthday or Christmas cards can all go in the box.