Moms of Toddlers or Caregivers

PrimRoseMama

This is a crayon/craft question. 

So DD loves to color etc. Our trouble is that her crayons somehow make it all over the house and its hard to keep them all together. What do you do to help minimize the travel of craft items?  

valstulas

We keep all of our DSs' craft things in our computer cabinet, which is downstairs by the table. That is the only place that they are allowed to draw, color, write, bead, sculpt, etc. Idk if this is truly an answer to the problem, but we've never had an issue with crayons, markers, etc. making their way around the house.

thegoodpotato

That's a toughie. Our daughter is naturally inclined to put things away, and has always been that way.  She gets it from her father and my mother, who are both anal about that stuff...

We got a little kid-sized desk and chair at Ikea, and keep all her stuff in there. She usually puts it all away when she's done, although sometimes she needs a reminder.

My mom always had all our colouring stuff in a 4L ice cream pail on our drawing table, and we had to use it at the table, exclusively.  It wasn't allowed to leave the drawing area.  But my mom was 1950's neat and tidy, so we were in big trouble if we made a mess.  Rules were strictly adhered to.... I lived in a very traditional and rules-oriented household.

Do you keep it all in containers?  Putting things into containers seems to come naturally to toddlers, so maybe make a game of one being for crayons, one being for markers, and seeing if she can put them all into the right ones when she's finished? 

Sorry I can't offer more. We lucked out with our neat freak.  She'll even take dirty dishes she finds and put them in the kitchen by the sink (weirdo).   

cwhitloc

We call her little IKEA table the coloring table, so she knows that's where she should go for her books and coloring.  For the most part this works.  I also have tupperware container to put the crayons in to encourage her to clean up and put away.  The boxes require too much dexterity to fit all the crayons.

 For crafts, i've got everything shoved into a big tupperware like container (got something on clearance at Target), and we only do crafts or painting on the dining table where I am supervising.  She will get into her high chair and ask for craft time. Since we've always done this in a designated spot, she will only go there for that.  Of course, at this stage, she has given up creativity, so now craft time is me sitting down with her and her barking out orders on what to make for her instead of trying to do it herself.  

thefuturemrschase

We have a craft shelf/drawer system.  I'm an educator and stole this idea from a classroom organization book:

 

Each item (crayons, markers, beads etc.) has its own bin or container.  I take a picture of that bin/container or draw a picture of what it looks like and tape the picture to the shelf/drawer.  I also put a label on the bin/container and a label on the picture so that those match as well (and it's a great way to promote literacy).  This makes cleanup a breeze even for the smallest of children.  

As the other poster said we have a rule about where the craft supplies can be used and in my house I say "choose it, use it and clean it up."  That way each item is put away before another is taken out, relieving the overwhelming dread children having of cleaning up huge messes.   

equinus

thefuturemrschase:

We have a craft shelf/drawer system.  I'm an educator and stole this idea from a classroom organization book:

 

Each item (crayons, markers, beads etc.) has its own bin or container.  I take a picture of that bin/container or draw a picture of what it looks like and tape the picture to the shelf/drawer.  I also put a label on the bin/container and a label on the picture so that those match as well (and it's a great way to promote literacy).  This makes cleanup a breeze even for the smallest of children.  

As the other poster said we have a rule about where the craft supplies can be used and in my house I say "choose it, use it and clean it up."  That way each item is put away before another is taken out, relieving the overwhelming dread children having of cleaning up huge messes.   

this is such a good idea, I have the same problem as you Prim, crafty stuff everywhere! I need to organize all DD's stuff better. I do have a little plastic kids picnic type table that is the designated coloring area, but stuff still ends up all over the house lol. 

jeska511

PrimRoseMama:

This is a crayon/craft question.nbsp;So DD loves to color etc. Our trouble is that her crayons somehow make it all over the house and its hard to keep them all together. What do you do to help minimize the travel of craft items? nbsp;

I have the same issue with my 2 year old's crayons.

jemasa33

Ds started eating crayons so we only give them to him with direct supervision lol. when sd was a toddler i kept them in a plastic pencil box inside of a drawer.

missyjg

We keep all her crayons in old wipe containers. She seems to keep them in one spot. She also has a "coloring chair" that she has to be in to color. This happened after DD decided to color all over the walls with her crayons.

Guillerma

Similar answer here. We only color when we are both at the table and it is supervised, and the crayons and pencils stay there. When we're done we put them away and leave them by the "coloring table." It also makes them more special because she has to ask t do "colors" and she gets really excited.

jegoffin

We have a small child's size table and next to it we have one of those 3 drawer plastic sterilite containers. We keep all the coloring books, paper, crayons, markers and play doh in there. That's not at all saying they don't ever escape, but I've found that if something has a "place" she is pretty good about putting it back.

SplashingFishy

I found a crayola ton at target. DS just has a set of 8 crayons in there, and the tin lives in a closet. He asks for it, plays with supervision, then I can inventory before the tin goes away. I don't like how anal this feels, but at the same time, DS hasn't shown me that he can use crayons properly of left out at his disposal.

Abeille

We keep them in a bin and bring them out when she wants to color. Then we clean up before moving on to something else. We can't leave them out...if she gets bored, she'll get creative on the walls.

klyann

crayons/colored pencils must stay at her little table in the kitchen.  Or I strap her into her booster seat at the table if I'm doing other things.   Also I started limiting her to one or two colors at a time. 

eggymaye

We have a cube organizer so DS gets his own cube that holds his art supplies, paper and coloring books. He can only use them on the table and then he has to put them all away. His crayons and markers have their own separate plastic boxes. Eventually when we get a larger place he will have an art desk to put everything in but this system works for now.

Edit: I can't type today... 

ellewoodsSC

I got the washable crayons which actually seem to mark everything including body parts and clothes, but do come out easily.  We actually only do coloring time under supervision and then the crayon box gets put up. 

cooperme2871

My DD is older (3.5), but we keep her crayons in a container on her ikea table. She knows tats where she colors and that's it. We only let her have markers if we are coloring with her. Luckily she is very good about cleaning up and keeping her things organized.