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Original poster

Children drawing in walls...do you paint over each time?

35 replies

heartbroken22 · 28/02/2025 09:45

What do you do? They don't do it a lot but my middle one is really creative and has had a go at the walls

OP posts:
parietal · 28/02/2025 09:47

scrub it off with cif even if that leaves a bit of a mess

if the child is over age 2, make them scrub it off as punishment

give them plenty of paper and other places where they can draw, and encourage their creativity in the right place.

EternalSunshine19 · 28/02/2025 10:04

I use CIF and a sponge.
also buy mess free markers (they're basically invisible until they touch the special paper) and buy washable markers now.

user2848502016 · 28/02/2025 10:13

My DD did this once when she was about 2.5, I made her help clean it and also took away the pens and only allowed her chalk for a few days (she'd used whiteboard pens luckily washable) - she never did it again

PenniesButton · 28/02/2025 10:14

No, because they won't get the opportunity to do it again? Put all drawing things up high and only let them use them when supervised?

TickingAlongNicely · 28/02/2025 10:14

Magic sponges.

ParrotParty · 28/02/2025 10:14

parietal · 28/02/2025 09:47

scrub it off with cif even if that leaves a bit of a mess

if the child is over age 2, make them scrub it off as punishment

give them plenty of paper and other places where they can draw, and encourage their creativity in the right place.

That backfired with our DC who kept drawing on the wall as she enjoyed wiping it off 🤦‍♀️

We ended up having to just take the pens away as soon as it happened each time and eventually she stopped.

Completelyjo · 28/02/2025 10:20

Children drawing in walls...do you paint over each time?

My children have just never done this. I don’t leave them with pens unsupervised unless they’re old enough to understand consequences.

AnAlpacaForChristmasPleaseSanta · 28/02/2025 10:21

TickingAlongNicely · 28/02/2025 10:14

Magic sponges.

I always find they take the paint off too 😬.

Savemefromwetdog · 28/02/2025 10:23

My DC have never drawn on the walls. But if anything will get marks off, CIF will.

ThePussy · 28/02/2025 10:25

Made her clean it off. She didn’t do it again. They can get creative on paper.

Notgivenuphope · 28/02/2025 10:25

This reply has been deleted

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changedusernameforthis1 · 28/02/2025 10:57

Just once.

DD desperately wanted glittery lilac painted walls in her room, so we did it. Re-painted the whites on her door and skirting boards too, made it look really lovely.

And she drew on it.

Scrubbing the pen off took a lot of the glitter effect with it, so we had to paint it again, which meant buying new paint as we'd given the last of our pot away.

We promised her that if she drew on her walls again, we'd paint her bedroom again. Dark blue. Her least favourite colour.

That was over a year ago and she hasn't done it since.

StMarie4me · 28/02/2025 12:18

I have had 4 children and 3 grandchildren.

None of them, not their friends (I was always the one with a house full) has ever, ever done this. I am so shocked that you're so blasé about it tbh.

Put a stop to it. It's not normal. Will you allow all bad behaviour as they get older? All flouting of the rules?

Then paint one more tine.

Parent, fgs.

Burntt · 28/02/2025 13:35

My son who does it used to get a firm telling off. Pens removed and had to help clean it off. The I would paint I et the patch we had essentially rubbed the paint off. But he started getting I to his older sisters art supplies. Pen paint stickers etc etc on the walls. Felt bad to punish my dd by taking all her stuff away too.

He's autistic so not exactly a normal situation. But now I basically give him a telling off have him promise not to d'obit again then I paint over it knowing in a week or two he will have done it again. It's part of my cleaning routine now 😂

PotteringAlonggotkickedoutandhadtoreregister · 28/02/2025 13:44

None of my 3 have ever done this:

I would have gone nuclear if they had and they knew it!

if they keep drawing on your wall, tell them off and take the pens off them!
buy chalk and let them draw on the floor outside.

Dragonfly909 · 28/02/2025 13:51

I had a look at this thread just to see how many children repeatedly draw on walls! My four year old (who goes to school, not a pre schooler) still does this at every opportunity. Needless to say all pens, pencils etc are kept up high but occasionally one is left out by mistake and she is straight away drawing on something (wall, furniture etc). She has lots of opportunities to draw on paper, colour, paint etc while supervised. But she has very little impulse control in other ways too. Hoping she will grow out of this at some point. Interesting to read that some children don't do this!

To answer the question - no I don't paint over it every time but I occasionally go round and do a big chunk of painting over!

coxesorangepippin · 28/02/2025 13:53

Bit of parenting wouldn't go amiss??

DrunkPuppy · 28/02/2025 13:55

StMarie4me · 28/02/2025 12:18

I have had 4 children and 3 grandchildren.

None of them, not their friends (I was always the one with a house full) has ever, ever done this. I am so shocked that you're so blasé about it tbh.

Put a stop to it. It's not normal. Will you allow all bad behaviour as they get older? All flouting of the rules?

Then paint one more tine.

Parent, fgs.

Are you for real? It's a very common and normal thing for children to do either testing boundaries or because a wall is a big blank canvas they can't resist.

By all means make sure it doesn't happen again, but you're acting like it is abnormal and it's really not.

PuttingouttheFirewithGasoline · 28/02/2025 17:04

I enjoyed it as a rights of passage I used to enjoy seeing my drawing in our hall growing up. I left the few marks in place for about 8 years and then painted over them when the whole room had a freshen up. Obviously it depends where and how etc but it's not neccasrily a henious awful crime.

Loveduppenguin · 28/02/2025 17:14

Yeah mine never drew on a wall…it’s not a given I suppose. But yeah cif. If mine did to be honest they wouldn’t do it again

Floralnomad · 28/02/2025 17:16

Neither of mine drew on walls and I certainly wouldn’t have been encouraging it , plenty of ways to be creative without the need to deface property .

Floralnomad · 28/02/2025 17:18

Dragonfly909 · 28/02/2025 13:51

I had a look at this thread just to see how many children repeatedly draw on walls! My four year old (who goes to school, not a pre schooler) still does this at every opportunity. Needless to say all pens, pencils etc are kept up high but occasionally one is left out by mistake and she is straight away drawing on something (wall, furniture etc). She has lots of opportunities to draw on paper, colour, paint etc while supervised. But she has very little impulse control in other ways too. Hoping she will grow out of this at some point. Interesting to read that some children don't do this!

To answer the question - no I don't paint over it every time but I occasionally go round and do a big chunk of painting over!

So what is your strategy to stop her other than moving pens ?

theboffinsarecoming · 28/02/2025 17:41

DrunkPuppy · 28/02/2025 13:55

Are you for real? It's a very common and normal thing for children to do either testing boundaries or because a wall is a big blank canvas they can't resist.

By all means make sure it doesn't happen again, but you're acting like it is abnormal and it's really not.

Show quote history

It is fairly common for kids to draw on the walls. Once. It is also a very common and normal thing for parents to give their dc the bollocking of a lifetime for doing it, and to take their art supplies away until they can be trusted to not do it any more.

Bbq1 · 28/02/2025 17:41

DrunkPuppy · 28/02/2025 13:55

Are you for real? It's a very common and normal thing for children to do either testing boundaries or because a wall is a big blank canvas they can't resist.

By all means make sure it doesn't happen again, but you're acting like it is abnormal and it's really not.

Show quote history

I agree.
Load of rubbish about the wall being a big blank, irresistible canvas and how 4 year olds are drawing on furniture. It's not normal or a rite of passage. It's unacceptable, wilful behaviour that needs nipping in the bud and shouldn't happen period, never mind once. If kids are old enough to have oens unsupervised, they are old enough to not draw on walls or furniture. Maybe they need tu be provided with more creative opportunities by parents.

DeclutteringJane · 28/02/2025 17:42

I had one child who would have found a pen in an empty room! We were constantly finding art on the walls for about 3 months. Windolene and a damp cloth gets most of it off the most effectively, IMO.