Safe Arts & Crafts for Babies

HI K., Paints and crayons are a bit advanced for a 8 month old. If you want to try arts and crafts try exploring textures, colors and music/movement. Playing with felt shapes, playdough, moonsand, exploring different types of muisc from classical to rock, and enjoying age appropriate toys (blocks, letters, rings, dolls, etc) is great for any child. Don't worry about 'tapping into her artistic side' until she is a bit older and can hold/manipulate paints, crayons etc. Let her be a baby a bit longer...they grow up quicker than you think!! Best wishes.

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Your baby is too young for the pudding painting because she is too young to eat sugar, chocolate, and other flavorings in pudding. The sugar free puddings have artificial sweeteners in them - I never let my kids (now 10 and 14) have artificial sweeteners all, I certainly wouldn't give them to an infant. Babies can chow down on crayons too. I think it's great to do creative things with children, but I feel that an infant is really too young for crafts. Tapping into the creative side is good - get her some musical instrument toys, play music and dance together and I would suggest leaving the coloring and painting til she's a bit older.

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I like the pudding finger paints, I would use sugar free and just anticipate there will be more eating than painting. What about water colors made from food coloring? Also, they make the big chunky crayons for little fingers.
S.

I agree about her being a little young. I let my girl start using crayons (with very close supervision) at 1 year old--and she still tried to chew on them. Now that she is 16 months, she knows how to use them (and only at her desk--not on the walls or furniture) and also finger paints and sidewalk chalk. From now (8 months) until she's a little more responsive to the direction "not in your mouth," I'd stick with paper and dry things--let her flip through magazines, tear out pages, wad them up, match colors of construction paper pieces, help her glue (you do the dots of glue) cottonballs to paper, make paper plate masks or paperbag puppets. "Tapping into her artistic side" doesn't just have to include making things, it could also be learning about colors and textures (read & touch books, go to the library or a kid-friendly museum), building something for her out of a cardboard box (cut out windows), etc.

Finally, my girl is in daycare and they make tons of art projects (I don't have the patience for some of the things they sit down and do with TEN kids). I hang up *almost* everything she makes in her room (out of reach). I want her to see all the awesome things that she's made and know that I am proud of what she's done! Keep that in mind when you and your girl do start making things--don't ever let her see you throw them away!

Oh, and I never liked the idea of playing with pudding or other edible things because I didn't want my girl to learn that it's okay to "play with her food"!!

Good luck and just have fun!

check out http://fun.familyeducation.com/baby/childrens-art-activit...

You can always put a little food coloring in pudding, yogurt or apple sauce. For when she is lots older my preschool age son loves finger paint and shaving cream mixed.

I like the pudding idea. I think I'm going to do that once my son is a smidgen bit older.

For edible/non-toxic paints, your best bet is actually a sex store.

We did shaving cream on mirrors (tastes awful, so it doesn't get eaten). Whipped cream would work as well.

What about letting him paint with plain ole baby food? You can put dye in it if you want to - use whatever kinds you want. I know that Gerber has some 'yogurt' that are safe for children under 12 months.

Shaving cream is a good idea - but I like the whip cream idea better!

If your baby takes a binky, give her that when you give her something you don't want to go into her mouth.

Look into making homemade play-do - I thought that I'd seen some edible kinds.

What about making gak? Messy but not so worrysome as it's cornstarch and water.

I love the pudding painting idea...I honestly wouldn't worry if my son ate a 'lttle' bit but 8 months is a bit young for a lot!

Chalk? Under supervision of course.

Use her foot and handprints dipped in paint (you can do this yourself) to not only capture the size of hand/feet but also to make different pictures (my son's class made a turkey where his foot was the body and toes were the 'feathers'.

Blow bubbles with her.

What about cutting up various fruits and sit her on some paper and let her eat the foods (try them) and maybe play with them and get the juices over the page?