Baby Art Activities
Our children's arts and crafts project galleries don't usually begin until they're toddlers, but with a little imagination (and mess) you will have treasures of baby art for yourself and all those adoring family members and friends.
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"Modern Mess" Art at an Early Age
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The first art activities can begin once your baby has some hand dexterity, can sit up alone and enjoys mimicking your motions. The time is right for your little one to create the works of art and fun.
"Modern Mess" is the only appropriate term for what will result from introducing your baby to paper, paints and glue. Free-form creations are all your youngster will provide now. Recognizable shapes and objects are a few years in the future. Think color and texture--and plenty of soap and water!
Begin With Finger Paints
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For this baby art activity you need:
Paper and nontoxic finger paints -- this is not a one-time thing, so go ahead a buy finger painting supplies
Masking tape
A washable work area like the kitchen floor
Old clothes for you
One stripped down baby
Someone with a camera to memorialize the eventTape a large sheet of paper to the floor and sit your baby on one end of the paper. Choose one bright color and put two globs of paint on the paper -- a small amount near the corner for you and a larger one near your baby.
Gently guide baby's hands into the larger paint glob to get the lovely, gooey feel. Now begin smearing your glob around in your corner to show how it's done. Don't be shy about making those goofy noises and faces your baby enjoys. It may take a little encouragement and guiding those wee hands at first, but very soon the baby art activity will have begun.
Use your own judgment about adding another color, but don't let this baby art activity get too far into paper and paint eating. It may be nontoxic, but it's not particularly nourishing. Once you have several adorable photos taken and the baby art fun becomes snack time, head for the bathtub!
Finally, treat your baby's art as the treasure it is -- trim it to size and frame it. Don't forget to note the date and your baby's age when it was created. Imagine how valuable Picasso's first scribblings would be worth had his parents preserved them.
More Baby Art Suggestions
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"Dribble, Drabble: Art Experiences for Young Children" by Deya Brashears offers clever ideas for baby art activities such as marble or golf ball rolling paintings and frozen pea sculptures.
As you look ahead to future gifting opportunities for eager relatives, consider these suggestions:
Play dough sculptures -- weird and wonderfully shaped objects made by your baby's learning to squish and squash lumps of non-toxic homemade or store-bought play dough. Let dry, preserve with a coat of shellac and mount on a wood base for a stunning modern art piece.
Fiber arts -- smear water soluble, nontoxic & clear drying white glue on a piece of paper. Demonstrate arranging (and smearing) different lengths of bright-colors of yarn or scraps of cloth. Pat all the bits of pieces into the glue. Once dry, you'll have another keepsake baby art creation.
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