First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos

What an excellent idea for a book! I have only used 2 of the recipes in here, the feely goop and the stretchy dough. But, my 2 year old loved both of them. They were easy to make-with things I usually have around the house. Although, I have since begun buying things that are used in some of the other recipes in here. The stretchy dough is similar to playdough-I think it's better, myself. But, the author says kids won't eat it once they have one bite because it's SOOOO salty. My daughter, however, tried to eat it several times-and said yummy after her first bite. So, to each his/her own I guess. Nevertheless a great resource for parents of the toddlers and twos set.

I love this book. I checked book after book of toddler crafts and toddler play out of the library, but most of them made me think, "hmm, anyone could have thought of that." This is not one of those books. I know this sounds ridiculous, but this book is helping me be a better parent. There is nothing like the total absorption of an art project to help me be fully present with my daughter. Other times I might physically be with her, but my mind is at least partly elsewhere, thinking adult thoughts, worrying mostly, I suppose, but while doing these art projects, I truly am with her in the moment, and smiling and laughing more than I have in ages. The author encourages the parent or teacher to present the art materials to the child and accept whatever way the child chooses to use them. That was a very helpful suggestion. It reminded me that there is no goal except exploration here. The first project we did was finger- and sponge- painting. My daughter (19 months) made paintings, and I showed her that she could make prints of them by putting another piece of paper over them and pressing. I also provided her with some circular objects from around the house for printing on her art. Although it wasn't the goal, it's helping her learn her colors, and now she knows the shape "circle." The little paintings are also lovely, much freer and more asymmetric than I would do as an adult. Yesterday, I was inspired for us to make "rubbery flubbery dough." It involves cooking salt and water on the stove and adding a cornstarch/water mixture, and then cooking some more. I didn't have enough salt, and I didn't have food coloring, either, but I had read the recipe for "feelie goop," made with jell-o, so I added a packet of sugar-free green jell-o for color and extra goopiness. Oh my gosh, the stuff was SO goopy, stretchy, sticky, green, funny, and fun. My 19-month-old daughter felt it, smeared it, stretched it, flung it, rubbed it on her dress, and wiped it on my back. (We did the whole project outside on a hot summer day so we could hose off after). My husband took a video of us, and I must say, I haven't seen a happier video of ME in a long time. Oh, my daughter liked it, too. We were so excited that we went to the discount store and bought 25 lbs of salt, a couple pounds of cornstarch, 25 lbs of flour, 4 big bottles of food coloring, and ran right home to make the "rubbery flubbery dough" properly, including coloring it and scenting it as the author suggests. I can't wait to pick my daughter up at preschool today to play with it.

This book is a great resource for grownup-type people who spend a lot of time with little people. In my case, they're my own kids (18-month-old twins), but daycare providers and other early childhood professionals could also put these ideas to good use. The author provides ideas for a wide range of art experiences that help very young children develop skills and learn about the world. They're realistic suggestions in that one- and two-year-olds can have success and enjoy themselves, and the author also gives tips on sufficient preparation, art clothes, and other ways that YOU can help the child(ren) succeed. I've been able to choose what activities I'm up for on a given day based on the notations about prep time, cleanup, active vs. quieter activity, etc. That said, you HAVE to expect a mess with kids this age; it's all relative. :) It's a major challenge of my day to keep my kids entertained (i.e. not running amok) without singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" a billion times. This book has been a helpful source of ideas and, on occasion, a reality check that helped me keep my expectations in some reasonable realm. Great book, very useful, used fairly frequently.

I have most of Kohl's books. This one is VERY specific to working with the youngest kids...hints for adults and hints for kids. I work with the youngest kids, so this helps me quite a bit. I like the last chapter with ideas of things you can make to use with kids, like a pizza box easel. I found these ideas to be fresh and unique. Though I have used Kohl's other books with the youngest kids, this one brings art into clear focus and I don't have to think at all!!!

The secret of this book is that these art experiences are safe, fun and easy for toddlers but if you have older kids they will love them too. If you are a parent like me, you want to set up art projects that will be fun for all your kids. You also want projects that capture their interest and curiosity for a long time. I currently have twin 7 year olds and a 3 year old who have tried almost every project in this book. If you want to dive right into my top 10 favorite projects, here they are with comments based on our personal family experience:Playclay - This is way better than the commercial playdough products you buy in the store. It sounds like a lot of effort to make your own, but this cooked playclay is so luxurious, wonderful and lasts for weeks. It is much better for toddlers than the store bought stuff since it is super soft and easier for tiny hands to roll, mold, and squeeze.Waterpaint - Too easy to be true! Tips on taking a bucket of water and brushes and "painting" outdoors on a summer day.Feelie Goop - A recipe of cornstarch and water with bizzare properties that fascinates toddlers, kids and adults alike. First Color Mixing - This is such a favorite that I bought four ice cube trays and lots of food coloring and I bring this out often when my kids have friends over. I fill the trays with water, squeeze some red, blue and yellow in three of the compartments, and let them use pipettes (like easy eye droppers) from ...to drip the colors together in each compartment. This is an older toddler variation from the book. Great ideas for the youngest toddlers are in the book.Early Scissors - My kids loved cutting playclay worms with plastic scissors and cutting strips of paper as they mastered the use of scissors. There are lots of great tips on getting toddlers started safely with scissors.Buckets of Bubbles - My kids love to play in this stuff. It is like an outdoor bubble bath.Scribble Book - Toddlers are fascinated with books. Make tiny homemade books that are OK to scribble in. The book has lots of great variations and ideas for this simple art experience.Foil Squeeze - Foil paper is fun to make into shapes. I recently gave all my kids one sheet of foil paper on a long drive to Yosemite and the 3 year old made bowls and the 7 year olds created Half Domes.Tabletop Fingerpainting - Here's a great recipe for homemade fingerpaint to do right on you table! My toddlers were fascinated and used their fingers to make endless patterns.Color Tube - This takes a lot of time to set up, but I saw a huge version at a preschool carnival and it was such a hit. I tied lots of tubes and funnels to a board with twists and turns in the tubes. My kids and their playmates loved pouring colored water to see what would happen and what end it would stream out of.I hope you enjoy these and the other projects as much as we have and still do. One tip that would have helped me when it started out is where to get inexpensive great art materials.