Art up to 2 years
Children need to be stimulated from an early age to be creative, to be able to find solutions to problems, to become independent, to have a high self-esteem and to improve their communication with others. Last but not least, in this whole process it is possible for the little ones to discover a certain talent or maybe more. Here's how you can stimulate your little one's creativity, especially at home! The recommendations below include products that we have used and tested so far. There are activities that Patrick prefers, but not all children have the same preferences, so it is a 100% subjective list, with activities that work for us.
I discovered this site in Romania micostore.ro, from where I ordered them all for painting.
1. Waxed pencils
I started drawing around 10 months old, but without success. Then I resumed the process at 16 months, giving him wax crayons, another story this time, drawing almost every day. (wax crayons from Carioca Baby, link here, were received as a gift from grandparents along with several toys).
2. Markers
I found markers suitable for babies so small the Carioca brand Baby, water based and non toxic dye.There are many types of markers for different types of art (normal markers, washable markers, felt-tip pen type brush, dotted pens, markers fine tip, tip thick, etc.).We started with short and round-tipped markers suitable for the age of one year (link here), then I switched to washable markers for two years (link here). Recently I started with the DO A DOT type also washable (link here), these are crayons with a round, large cushion tip, which leave huge dots on paper, come with 20 pages printed with various shapes and special patterns.
3. Watercolors
As for painting, I started with Carioca Baby's finger painting (link here), but what I noticed is that we use them less often, because the little one draws everywhere, but we try to do this type of activity in the country in the yard.
4. Drawing blocks and notebooks
We generally draw / color / write on drawing blocks (link here) and notebooks, but for painting we use paper rolls that we buy from Ikea (link here).
5. Reusable coloring pages
Reusable silicone boards, which can be colored with markers and then washed under running water. Most of the time we use only washable markers, which go immediately under water or with a damp napkin. It is interesting that they have many models of drawings, suitable for both small children (with large drawings easy to color) and for older ones (with letters, with the multiplication / addition / subtraction board, with the human body, with the solar system, etc.), link here. Patrick is still not very attracted to drawing on them, he is not attracted to drawing on something that has drawings on them, he wants blank sheets on which he can draw freely. We try a little later, after 2 years.
6. Water coloring book
Water coloring books help us when we visit relatives, in the car and sometimes even at the restaurant. (link here)
7. Chalk
Outside is always a must have. I found a thicker chalk, easier to hold for small children. (link here)
8. Stickers
It would stick non-stop everywhere and still not get bored. We take them from anywhere we find interesting stickers (Lidl, Jumbo etc.), but we also order online, link here.
9. Reusable stickers
Books or boards with reusable stickers are a miracle, they have very glossy pages and can be glued and peeled off very easily. We have the book with reusable stickers with the farm (link here) and boards with different themes just waiting to be animated with reusable stickers (link here)
10. Writing and drawing tablet
New purchase for the beach holiday, a real success, I only used it non-stop, at the cottage, on the beach, at the restaurant, wherever I had a short stop. (link here)
We hope you find it useful and if you have other interesting recommendations, we look forward to completing the list 🙂
XOXO
Bebe P. & Mami R.