Should a just turned 12 month old be able to do/enjoy arts and crafts?

[LoveYouForeverMyBaby]

I took little one to a playgroup and they had an arts and crafts station making Xmas decorations - gluing and glittering onto polystyrene baubles. I always try and expose her to crafty things but to be honest, she just doesn't seem interested yet. I thought maybe she's a bit of young and will just keep exposing her to it but not expecting too much.

She prefers chewing on things, banging toys, musical instruments, rough and tumble play, peek a boo games that sort of thing.

Anyway a helper at the group told me she was surprised little one was disinterested in and that there were babies younger than her joining in and doing arts and crafts.

She also said it was probably because I was too stressed and not giving her enough time and should b sitting with her and getting crafty everyday.

Now like I said I do exposé her to arts and crafts (stickers, crayons, paints etc) but largely they end up in her mouth so obviously I have to be sensible as to how much I push artsy play when she seems to enjoy (at the moment) other types of play.

I feel a bit upset about being told I'm not doing enough.

What are everyone's thoughts? Thanks.

[Floggingmolly]

Daft mare. None of mine were given craft stuff at 12 months, because they would have eaten it.

[FredFredGeorge]

18mo DD is quite keen on making her own dinner - she appeared in the front room the other day with a 4" knife and was trying to job her strawberries up smaller. She can't reach the cooker yet though so I'm thinking a few more months until she can carry the stool in from the dining room...

Can barely wield a crayon though.

[CecilyP]

No, just no.

That helper sounds absolutely bonkers.

On a more serious note, with a baby that young you have to be careful them putting small objects in their mouths, so they need to be watched around materials more suitable for older children.

[Lucylucy57]

I used to run an under 5's art group at a gallery and all we aimed to do was help introduce little ones to colours, textures, shapes etc. We made a lot of mess and noise and generally allowed the children to explore these things in an environment which they might not be able to do at home (e.g no carpets, curtains and furniture to ruin and we did the cleaning up!!) The play leader who told you this clearly has very little experience and you shouldn't pay attention. You sound like you and your child are having plenty of fun. If you want to add to your home 'arty' time, perhaps collect a box of ribbons, different fabrics, papers, feathers ( from a shop) that you can both play with together for some imaginative stories etc.

[rrreow]

I think that's too young to have a concept of crafty things. My DS is 18mo and just starting to grasp painting/drawing as a concept (mostly because they have an easel with crayons permanently set up at his nursery). I'd say give your DD some months yet to show interest/understanding, but keep exposing her if its something you want to encourage her with.

[SamSmalaidh]

My 27 month old has just started enjoying crafty things - he would do a bit of finger painting from 18 months but has only just stopped eating playdough (still eats crayons!). He's very normal.

[Fuzzymum1]

At 12 months the closest my boys got to was chewing on using a crayon to make a few marks on paper. They definitely weren't interested in much properly crafty until closer to two years old.

[narmada]

Of course she should be interested in crafts at her age. I would be worried if she hasn't show any natural talent for origami, papier mache modelling, or calligraphy or similar by now. Both my DCs were selling their artwork by that age ....

What a fruit loop the play worker sounds. Perhaps she is stressed and out of her depth and that's why she feels the need to make snide digs, or maybe she is completely insensitive to other human beings and has no sense of social appropriacy. Or maybe both.

It ain't you or your baby, that's for sure!

[PerchanceToDream]

No way did DD have the attention span to do anything like that at 12 months, now at 21 months - just about.

[LoveYouForeverMyBaby]

She didn't strike me as stressed in any way narmada, I didn't even ak her opinion she just butted in looking very concerned and expressin her surprise at dd not joining in at the crafts station and when I said "oh she's probably just a at too young" she was very insistent on telling me "no no there were babies much younger than her joining in the projects". Dd is my only child so even though my gut instinct was that at just turned 12 months it as too young to be showing an interest in gluing glitter too baubles (in my opinion that seems like a pretty intricate project as well, I would expect her to start off showing an interest in something like finger painting perhaps?), I still doubted myself in case I was treating dd too baby-like and wondered if she indeed should be showing an interest. So glad mners confirmed my initial thoughts, was starting to feel like I was doing something wrong!

[TheEnthusiasticTroll]

Bonkers, my dd from an early age was very much into arts and crafts but at 1 the best we managed was a whole lot of mess with glue water and glitter on paper most ended up on her siting and sticking with Preston on a bauble would be way beyond most children that age, they just would not grasp the whole point.

[TheEnthusiasticTroll]

Not glue that should be water flour and glitter

[RandallPinkFloyd]

Blimey, another parenting fail for me then.

DS is 15mo and it's never even occurred to me to even give him a crayon let alone crafty time.

Here was I all smug with his progress with his stacking cups

Bugger me. I don't have a clue what I'm doing I really don't. He just sort of bumbles around playing with toys.

op you clearly have more of an idea than I do so carry on as you are!

[narmada]

PS all this stuff about doing improving developmentally-appropriate things with kids - ballet, craft, baby signing, whatever: my mum is horrified and claims it's completely unnecessary and often about the parents. I have this sneaking suspicion she is at least partly right. Left to their own devices a bit, kids can find their own interests - even quite little kids at that. It is quite nice to take your lead as a parent from the child and their interests rather than forcing them into a developmentally-'appropriate' activity.

[DoIgetastickerforthat]

I'm laughing at the notion of 'much younger babies' doing craft. A newborn doing a paint-by-numbers Mona Lisa, here... a 4 month old decoupaging a picture frame, there...a 6 month old attempting a Tracy Emin inspired installation with their pushchair and favourite blanky!

The woman is a fruit-loop and needs to be totally ignored.

[NapaCab]

If I put my 13 month old at an arts and crafts table, he would eat the crayons, rip up the sparkly paper, throw the felt pieces on the ground and then proceed to try and drink the glitter - so, no, your 12 month old sounds totally normal and the play she enjoys sounds normal too.

The playgroup assistant you spoke to, on the other hand, sounds totally nuts! Even she had noticed your DD was different to the other kids then it would be rude of her to comment, especially on a personal level. It sounded like she was trying to needle you from what she said. It also sounds like she was lying as there's no way I could imagine a 12 month old or any younger doing arts and crafts! At the playgroup I go to, the assistants think it's a big deal if the 1 year olds manage to sit on their chairs without falling off...

Just ignore, ignore, ignore and don't take your DD there again unless she enjoys it or the rest of the staff aren't so bad.

[CecilyP]

Actually, though we have all seen the funny side of this, the helper was really overstepping the mark in what she said, and you might wish to complain to whoever runs the playgroup.