Coaxing my boy to be creative, not going to well.

[Mamabearemma]

Hello there,
I have a nine month and a bit old son, I really want to encourage him to do something creative, I've already tried crayons but he doesn't seem interested at all, well only in the paper. Went we took part in baby group he did painting, sort of considering he can't stand and couldn't sit by himself then, I hand to hold him up.
From what I could tell he enjoyed it a lot but I was unsure of what paints to buy, also in a little concerned with the fact he might get some in his mouth.
Apart from that I'm having trouble finding activities to do with him, suggestions please?

He's 9 months old. Relax :) I wouldn't try to do stuff like painting etc just yet. He really won't have the dexterity. Look for other tactile experiences

Try making "gloop" from cornflour and water. Put it in a tray and let him play with it with his hands. Its funny stuff. He can make patterns on the tray with his fingers. as well as try to pick it up (and, as a bonus, it doesn't matter if he eats it and it's easy to clear up)
A tray with rice on it is fun too, or dried pasta, anything like that. With a deep tray you can hide animals in it or he can try to scoop it up in a cup.

Plenty of time yet. Just enjoy him as a baby :)

I'm no expert and my (only) DD is 13 so it's a long time ago now - but I think 9 months old is too young to expect DC to be able to hold crayon with any control.

Agree with all SoupDragon says, plus perhaps Sand and Water play. Encourage hand to eye co ordination - old fashioned building blocks brilliant for this (not Lego type - just square blocks - or DD used to pile up her books) DDs favourite game was opening a drawer and taking everything out - so we gave her a drawer in our living room at her level and she happily played foe ages - keep changing what's in there - so they learn to grip and hold different shape and textures. DD is very creative now and very good at Art.

He is only little there is plenty of time.:)

HTH

Thanks for the advice :)
I'm currently mixing that 'gloop' you talked of and we'll see how that goes!
As for water he LOVES water so I've put a small amount in our inflatable ball pit and I'm going to let him have a splash around.
Blocks and draws however he seems to have no interest in?

ds1 was never interested until he went to nursery, now he wants to draw every day. ds3 is 15months and desperate to draw because he sees his big brother doing it.
We have a messy activity baby/toddler group nearby, there might be something similar near you?

Yes we have a baby group near us but most of the time Tristan gets very grumpy and doesn't want to be there, I think it's too noisy and he gets stranger anxiety which we are still trying to tackle. I take him every two weeks or so but there usually isn't anything that he enjoys doing there apart from staring at other children playing. He seems to young for all the toys there apart from the sensory pit but even then he won't want to be playing there for long :/

At 9 months he is still very little, not to mention that usually babies haven't the longest attention span.

I agree with Soup, ime the best activities for children this age is playing with pasta shapes or rice or anything similar, pouring them from one a cup to another, etc. The children at the nursery where I volunteer love it (in different ways, obviously).

Staring at other children playing is good. He is a little sponge and is learning all the time through observation and simply absorbing his surroundings.

Don't get me wrong, I presented my PFB child with crayons, paper, fingerpaints and all sorts. However, the most creative child is the poor neglected thirdborn who just got carted about here there and everywhere :)

I'm thinking of easy stuff we've done.... When his dexterity is better, plastic animals with big feet make good marks if you dip them in a plate of paint. As do toy cars.

What, he's only painting at nine months? Not reading, and having his first dip into Kumon Maths?

He's 9 months old! Is this a joke?

Activities - crawling, smiling, eating, banging stuff together

He might enjoy a toy piano/keyboard.

There's no need to be mean.

This is a fabulous blog. Tons of practical ideas for pre-schoolers using stuff that is very easy to find. There are even recipes for home-made edible paint.

The Imagination Tree

I also agree that DS is still pretty young so try not to worry.

If DS is not enjoying baby groups maybe try one of the structured singing/music or baby gym/tumbletots or baby signing groups. I took both DS to Tiny Talk, a baby signing class. We would sing songs accompanied by signs and then we were taught a couple of signs each week. The end of the session the babies had a play whilst the grown ups had coffee & chat. 9 months is a good age to start baby signing.

At 9 months - DD was only intere4sted in eating the soil out of my house plants - don't worry about it.

She's now 2.5 and loves painting and drawing, you can get paints and pens that are baby safe, but really don't force him at this stage.

Have you tried making some home made play dough? DD loved it, and it didn't matter if she ate some of it.

1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
food dye (any color, be creative!)
newspaper to cover the surface you're working on

Let him play with anything. Give him saucepans and milk bottle lids to fill up the saucepans and tip out (or plastic bowls, lighter than saucepans)

Give him a bowl of water and a sponge (outside, when it is warm)

Give him strips of masking tape to play with.

You cants go wrong with a tray of shaving foam!!

Don't think even dd1 met crayons til she was 10-12 months. I found felt tips (only ever crayola-they actually are washable) were more satisfying to begin with because she didn't have to press hard. I did imagine you'd be talking about a preschooler. Lots are t interested at this age and boys often less so.