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Original poster

Painting with a nearly 2 year old

18 replies

Zerub · 10/02/2004 18:06

I need some ideas so that I don't get very bored while painting with dd (22 months). She loves splodging the paint onto the paper, although what she really likes is getting me to paint stick animals for her - and I'm bored after 2 minutes. What can we do? We've tried splodging on half the paper and then folding it in half to make a butterfly, and we've got some shaped sponges to splodge with. What else?

Or other crafty stuff? Have some glue and glitter but haven't been brave enough to try it yet...

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batey · 10/02/2004 18:10

Potato printing,sponge shapes (ELC), glitter glue tubes, marble paiting..

Sorry have to go, being yelled at by dds.

mummysurfer · 10/02/2004 18:37

running cars thro' the paint

mumbojumbo · 10/02/2004 18:42

Try finger painting, and hand prints - ds1 loves printing his hand onto the paper (very messy tho) ELC do great finger paints which aren't runny - less mess......in theory!

twiglett · 10/02/2004 18:44

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fisil · 10/02/2004 18:45

ds did rolling around in paint wearing just a nappy at nursery - sounded like great fun!

roisin · 10/02/2004 18:54

Cut out shapes from the back of cereal packets, then paint these: red hearts for valentines day; orange pumpkins at halloween; yellow chicks at Easter ... etc.

If you want you can focus on colours and just have one colour paint out for a week, and do lots of 'red' activities - painting, colouring, sticking, modelling.

At this age I often used to invite a friend round too, as the preparation and clearing up takes as long for two as it does for one, and they often don't want to stick at it for long.

Lisa78 · 10/02/2004 18:55

The next mumsnet book - 101 things to do with your child

twiglett · 10/02/2004 18:57

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suzywong · 10/02/2004 18:57

zerub
my ds1 was the same at that age, but I used to have to paint Woody and Buzz in a Taxi.
Thank fully he grew out of it by 2.5
It is a bit dull isn't it?

SoupDragon · 10/02/2004 20:53

Glitter? 2 year old? NO NO NO! Don't do it!

Finger paints are brilliant. They are not, however, less messy since your child can actually get a good handful of the stuff out of the pot in one go. It then has to go somewhere and it's not necessarily on the paper.

Lisa78 · 10/02/2004 20:54

Lets be honest - isn't painting etc, the reason nurseries, childminders and so on exist?

Hulababy · 10/02/2004 20:59

ELC do some good tubes of paint with little sponges on the end - easy painters I think. A bit less messy.

DD is 22 months and loves painting and arty stuff. I do it occasionally at home and she does it loads at nursery - the girls there are mad I think as they love doing it with them!

I love the glitter and glue stuff but it is messy. Also you can use cotton wool, little pasta shapes, rice, tissue paper, bits of cloth, sequins, etc.

Sponge painting or prints. Also ELC and places like that have paint rollers and special effect brushes which can be fun.

Hand and feet painting - again very messy!

I usually get DD stripped off to paint in just her nappy, and sometimes an old top with a painting apron on. I then have a mess mat on the floor and on the table too. If doing especially messy stuff I also have a small bath run to put her straight in.

Have you tried Playdoh too? DD loves that and it is a bit less messy.

Enjoy yourself

helenmc · 10/02/2004 21:01

cut out a circle the size of a baking tin, then roll a marble in paint, and let dd shake the tin to roll the marble around.

draw a picture with white wax crayon, when they paint over with thin poster paints, the picture 'magically' appears

do lots of green handprints , then cuts then out and make a tree.

a fantastic site for arty things to do with kids not just painting is have fun

Original poster
Zerub · 10/02/2004 22:27

Oh, excellent! Loads of ideas. I love the white crayon idea - she gets a real picture but it might feel like she's doing it herself.

As for mess - we paint in the kitchen with door shut. DD is naked apart from nappy and oversized ELC painting overall. And I have a washing-up bowl of soapy water ready to dunk her in / clean the walls with as necessary!

OK, why the panic about glitter? What can she do with glitter apart from decorate my kitchen floor with it?

And yes, I'm hoping she can go to our local pre-school for a couple of mornings a week but it won't be till May. Also I kind of feel that getting to play with paints ought to be one of the side-benefits of parenthood!

OP posts:
twiglett · 10/02/2004 22:30

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lydialemon · 10/02/2004 22:31

glitter is like pine needles, it doesn't matter how well you think you've cleared it up more mysteriously appears. It doesn't hoover out of carpets, and will not shampoo out of hair.

We still do it though as I am a masochist, and I like having sparkly kids/ carpets/dinner.

popsycal · 10/02/2004 22:33

glitter gets places that you would never dream it could reach!!

stupidgirl · 10/02/2004 22:35

I love painting with mine - it's just the clearing up afterwards that I hate. I dream of having a garage that I can convert into an art studio...

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