My Two Year Old Colors on Everything!

having the same problem... my kids are 5 and 2 1/2. They are coloring on EVERYTHING. The color on toys, doors, walls EVERYTHING!!! We had to take away their crayons, markers, paints and we had to put the pens and stuff up high where they cant get ahold of them!!! We also went and bought magic erasers and they work WONDERS!! very nice

I've got a 17 month old who knows better. I tell him it's bad and he stops, shakes his head no and goes off to play with something else. I taught him this by telling him the rules and then reacting immediately to disappline him when he breaks them. He gets put in his playpen with no toys for 2 minutes when he breaks a rule.

You've got to get her under control while she's still young or you'll have bigger problems later. I give my son opportunity's to break the rules by not putting everything out of his reach. When I catch him being good he gets lots of hugs and kisses. My son is a happy and relaxed kid but he does have days where he's constantly testing me.

Thank God I'm not the only one!! TRying to get my son to understand on the paper only has been a chore!! Still we have times where I find little crayon marks on the wall by his room. I don't let him color without me now.

Until our son was 2.5, we put all pens/pencils either up high on the fridge (magnet basket thingy), in the office (with doorknob lock thingy so he couldn't go in there) and crayons were kept in a box on top of the mantel -- well out of his reach. It just wasn't worth the frustration of cleaning up and telling him 'no' all the time. Once he turned 3 we started leaving the crayons down low and he could use them when he wanted but we have a very strict crayons/markers-only-at-kitchen-table policy. Since we've enforced it from day one, it's easy to get him to follow. Now he's 4 and has color wonder books/markers in his bedroom. We sometimes have to remind him to keep the crayons out of the 1 year old's reach (she can climb on the kitchen chair and get stuff that's left on the table) and to put them away when he's done.

That said.. Magic Eraser is a godsend... takes all marks - pens, pencils, crayons, markers - off the walls instantly.

I don't really have any advice I have a soon to be 19th month old Little girl, and she does the same exact thing. I have just put the crayons up until Coloring Time. Everyday I let her color, but she has to sit at the table and color, when she is finished we put them back up. And she is getting now that she understands that when we are finished with our "Craft Time" we put it up, and get it back out the next day. Good Luck

I am a mom of 2 kids (10 & 12). This is what I did when my then 2 year old daughter colored on my brand new end tables and couch with magic marker (this was the second day we had this stuff). I went out and bought the really neat crayons that only marked on certain paper. I put all our pen's, pencil's, and markers up in a decrotive nice box (matched my decor of the room) with a lid. Then everyone seen it as a nice touch in the room and my daughter didnt know where all the pen's went. Then you have to let your daughter know she cannot mark on the walls and add "you don't want mom and dad to write on your toys". I hope whatever advice you get will work. Good luck!

oh my gosh, I feel your pain. My 2 year old son is the same way. He is my 3rd and I don't remember having this problem with the other 2. Maybe once or twice but not like this. I too have taken all crayons away and put them up high but with 2 others in the house leaving writing things around it is close to impossible. Just yesturday I came in the basement and found more writing on the closet doors. He writes on himself too. I am anxous to hear what everyone has to say. I'm with you HELP!!

Have you tried the colorwonder products from crayola? The markers will not work on anything but the color wonder paper. I use it for my 15 month old and she loves them and they even have coloring book that use the markers.

That's normal toddler behavior. I'm pretty well certain that you did the same when you were a child. Keep all pens, pencils, and crayons out of reach unless you are there to supervise the child with them and direct her to the paper. If she colors where she shouldn't, hand her a Mr. Clean Magic Sponge (it works wonders) and make her clean it up. When she gets sick of having to scrub away her art work then she'll stop.

i have the same problem with my two year old, and i've found that making her clean it up herself helps with the problem some.

Yes, great advice...don't let her do it. She is not the one in control, you are, you are the parent. It's up to you to teach her what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not allowed. When she colors on something she's not allowed to color on, you just have to tell her, "no, you don't color on the wall, you color on paper. Now no more crayons" Then you take them away. When she wants to color, designate a spot for her to color at, my kids are only allowed to color at the kitchen table. As for you saying she finds pens and pencils,....go around and find them all and put them out of reach.

Kids only do what they're taught and what they're allowed. If you don't try to enforce consequences on her for things she does that aren't acceptable, then you're not teaching her about what's right and wrong at your house. If you don't stop letting her get away with things, it's only going to get worse.

Be consistent, and don't forget that you're the parent. There should never be the words "she won't stop....." coming out of a parent's mouth of a small child.

I put all of ours up very high and I never get them down unless it is coloring time. If she colors on something she is not supposed to I explain that they are gone for a week. In a week I try again and if she does it again they are gone for another week. She is three now and there are no more problems. Children at that age just don't understand that a tv is not a place we color so you need to let them know.

I have a newly 6yo girl and a 3.5yo boy. It's a normal stage they go through, testing limits and just coloring on things because it seems like an interesting thing to do.

We keep pens and pencils up high and buy only washable crayons, markers and paints (I've found Crayola to be the best in regards to true washability). They are to sit at the table to color or paint.

Let her know the rules and stick to them... she will need help remembering, she's only 2yo. In time she learn the rules. If our kids decide to run around with the markers/crayons, the markers/crayons are put up for the day. :o)

In the past when they've colored on walls etc, I have them clean it up... it helps them understand why it's not a good thing to color on things.

And ditto to the Magic Eraser... it even took permanent marker out of our new wood floors!

It's pretty normal. My kids have all done it. I get magic eraser - either the true mr clean kind or the generics from home depot - take off anything. And I buy washable crayons and markers. We also tell our kids that drawing is for paper. My first would color on the couch in green marker - but luckily there is oxy clean and it came out. This too shall pass!!

My daughter does that sometimes and I've found that making her help clean the walls off has limited her use of the wall as paper. I also make sure that I always have paper within her reach. When you see her with crayons, pens, or pencils put a sheet a paper in front of her and color with her. Hang up her artwork on the refrigerator and walls(if you want) Soon she should realize that paper is for coloring on and not walls.

im 24 years ols and have a daughter that is 6 and one that is 3 it is hard but sometimes if you take away more than just her crayons or markers mine had a favorite toy or my youngest who liked her dressup cloths so i would take them away because she is so young only for a few days but every time she ask to play with them i would tell her why she cant sometimes when they are little they forget why the are in trouble and let others know not to let her play with them because when others dont help it doesnt help she once drew on her eye lids and even though i wanted to laugh i couldnt

I have a 2 year old son that thinks he's Picasso. We had to paint our living room and hallway because the walls were so bad. We tried putting anything you could write or color with in a tub with a lid on it and putting it up where he couldn't get into but somehow he always managed to find a pencil or something. I think he has a secret stash that i've yet to find. He even found a blue permanent marker and colored on my new stove and microwave. Anyway i feel your pain and good luck.