Encourage Toddlers Creativity : No More Drawing on the Walls

End Drawing On The Walls.You gave him his own little table, his own little bucket of crayons,with every hue in the natural and un-natural universe available. A huge pad of unlined paper, and a huge stack of coloring books. You "ohh" and "ahh" over the masterpieces he created. After each work of art is completed, he proudly holds it up for praise. He asks for a sippy cup. He looks so innocent, he is immersed in his artistic fury, so you take ten steps to the kitchen. You return 40 seconds later. He proudly beams, "Look Mommy! I drew you! On the wall!"

What can you do? Destroy your budding Picasso with a frown of disapproval, and a reprimand? No way! So you say, "Wow, that's really great, but you have to use the paper sweetie." Well guess what mom, no matter how much you remind him, there will be a next time.

A white wall is just begging to be decorated. The temptation is intense. Whether it is your caricature done in the medium of crayons, or a ketchup finger print, a white wall within reach of a toddler is a blank canvas. Want to know a few secrets that I have stumbled upon the 'hard way'? Here are a few ways to divert their attention back to the 'boring' paper.

In the areas that little Picasso is most tempted to express his creativity, add a chair rail, and paint the bottom half of the wall, and trim as well, with a high gloss paint. There are many variations of this toddler proofing technique. The whole point is do have any wall space in their reach painted with a paint that you can wipe clean with ease. The darker the color the better, obviously. I can tell you from first hand experience, high gloss is the easiest paint to wipe clean! By dark I do not mean dreary, there are so many options for colors in interior paint. Here is where you get to be creative!

You could also use a washable wallpaper. American Blinds is a great website where you can find every imaginable wallpaper. No matter what theme or style of wallpaper you have in mind, you will surely find it here. Remember washable is what you need! Make sure you cap this area off with trim molding, and finish it with a high gloss paint. You only need to wallpaper the bottom half the wall. No more white walls, no more 'blank canvas'. You can now proudly mean..."Look what I did!" and let your toddler know this is 'special' too, and you don't draw all over his artwork. He will understand. But in the meantime, you are one step ahead. You have a new additon to your decor, you have taught him a lesson in respecting others property, and you got to be creative too!

Before your toddler takes up this bad habit, start framing his best work. Hang it where it can be seen hanging proudly. You could either invest in a few cheap 8"x 10" frames, and create an 'art gallery'. This is way better than the old refridgerator magnet display! However they do make clear plastic frames, where you just slide the picture in, and the back of the see through frame had a strip of magnet.I found this in one of my dollar store frenzies. You could even pick up one special frame and keep the art displayed in rotation, changing the featured works weekly. Or daily if your kid is like mine!

There is a limit to the amount of paper one can keep in a dwelling. If you have an artistic child, and you kept every single piece of art the have created, your home would look like those you see on Oprah. Stacks of paper to the ceiling. Rooms full of file boxes containing papers to be sorted later. Next thing you know you have a camera crew at your door. Thats just crazy. But you can't just toss it right? Get out your digital camera. Every time they have a great picture, and they want you to 'keep it forever' you can. And you won't be lying! Take a photograph of it, and save a file just for so and so's artwork. When they are older, you can look back and see the progression over the years. This makes a great keepsake. I really wish I had the picture of my paper mache chicken I made in second grade...
Creativty is something to be encouraged. Give your children outlets of expression. Remember crayon can be wiped away, and children grow up all too fast. Enjoy these years, do what you can to foster creativity in your children.