Activities with young group

[5 Little Monkeys]

I don't do a ton with younger kids but I do start once they show an interest and can sit with me and follow direction. My 18 mos old colours, does stickers and paints but she is also a second child so she does a lot of things earlier then most. What about art that they can eat e.g. paint with pudding, homemade finger paint (food based) or one idea I've heard on here but haven't tried is a piece of paper in a freezer bag with some squirts of paint inside that they can mush around on top, take the paper out and voila. Clean and they can't eat it.

Mess free painting is a favourite around here for the under 18 mos! So is pudding paint!!

[Lee-Bee]

Mess free painting is a favourite around here for the under 18 mos! So is pudding paint!!

I tried water painting with paint brushes outside the other day. With 2 of the older girls (16 and 19months). Makes me laugh, again. they painted the ground...which got the brushes dirty, which got the water dirty...which they continued to slurp off the brushes...over and over. I spent the whole time trying to keep the water container from being dumped (or drank) and to show them how it was done...but they were just so darn excited about the brushes they kept slurping. Yet another activity that went on the shelf for just a little bit longer.

I did the mess free painting a while back too...in the ziplocks. They tried to eat the bags. Hahahahahaha okay my group is starting to sound really bad. They are an amazing group of kids. They play tea parties, and feed and change their dolls and heck 3 of them were holding hands playing ring-a-round the rosie yesterday (initiated by one of them (16,17,19months old). They play great...they just are soooo young and inexperienced when it comes to anything art related they just assume it is meant to be eaten :-)

No way I would attempt pudding painting. They would 'paint' with any and all food for the next month lol.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I hung up paper in the tub on the far wall and gave them paint filled water guns before....maybe they could do that?