Toddler Talk Thursday ~ Week 8 (Art)

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Welcome to the eighth week of Toddler Talk Thursday! Where Family and Life in Las Vegas, Crazy about my Baybah, and My Life as a Sippy Cup Mom talk all things Toddler! Thank you for your patience with last weeks “break”. As all of you know, sometimes life gets a little busy.

Toddler Talk Thursday was created as a place for moms and dads of toddlers to come together over a weekly topic and share ideas, go-to toys, or products. It is a great way to meet other bloggers of toddlers. Each week the topic will be different; we invite you to link up, share your weekly Toddler Talk!!

Each week the hosts will travel around to each blog that links up, and pick an idea, story, or picture they think was a great example of that weeks topic. In order to qualify for this you need to blog about this week's topic, and follow the hosts. Comments letting us know you are participating are always great too. If we choose your blog, we will link back to your post the following week.

Our highlighted blogs this week are:

http://liz-davismommy.blogspot.com/2010/09/toddler-talk-thursdays.html - Those airplane diaper changes are awful, but nothing to throw the baby in the trash over! LOL! Too funny!!

This week’s topic is Toddler ART!

I am a HUGE fan of doing art, projects, and letting them learn to express their creativity.

When I worked at the Daycare as an Infant Teacher, we did art projects weekly. Mostly it was finger-painting, which we then cut out into shapes for the theme of that week’s craft.

Recently I let Squish paint a terracotta pot that you can find pretty much anywhere. (Even Walgreens has them now.) I just put some of the paint on the pot, and let him smush it around everywhere. I did different colors, and didn’t wait until one as dry to do the other. I wish I would have taken a picture, because it came out super cute. This was Squishy’s present to his Grandmother for her birthday.

Your child is never too young for art. If you don’t want to work with the mess of paint (although the mess is half the fun) try non-toxic ink pads. This is a lot easier to work with than paint, and with littler children it is a great way to create fun art. Just think of things you can do with their hand-prints or footprints. When Squish was 3 months old, we did hand-print flowers for Grandparent's day. Just stamp the hand, and draw a stem!! How easy and cute is that?

We also try to go to a weekly Toddler Art time at a local library. They usually have crayons, paint, and clay set up for the toddlers to play with, and then have a toy area on the floor. That way your child can participate as they want to.

You would be surprise at all the Green ways you can create art. I recently came across Abbie’s blog, and was blown away by all the fun green crafts she does with her children. Check it out for some great ideas, and say hi while you are there.

Greening with Sam and Avery

Another great site I recently found is http://www.playfulcrafts.com/home.html. This is a monthly subscription that sends out a craft pack a month to your child. It is however for children 4+ so not Toddler friendly, but still wonderful!!

Starting in January I am planning on making a calendar with Squish. This would be one art project a month, themed towards that month, and then we would save them and turn them into a calendar for the next year.

I am just going to go with the flow, use what is around the house, and letting him go to town. Be creative. If you are afraid of being messy, invest in a big smock – or one of Daddy’s undershirts… Just have fun, your toddler will too!

Next weeks topic will be: Toddler Discipline (as Parents we are always looking for ideas that will help make everyone’s life easier. Please share what you do in the hope that it will help others!)

Link Up Requirements **NEW**

You must write a post that corresponds with the topic of the week. The goal of this meme is to share thoughts, ideas, and commiserate if need be with fellow Toddler Parents/Family/Caregivers. We love to have as many people participate, but if you are not linking up with a Toddler Talk Post, you may be deleted. :(

In order to make this easier for everyone, we will leave the link up open all week. While it will still be called Toddler Talk Thursday, if you want to participate, but don’t have time to post until later in the week, we will leave the linkup open for you. All posts must be in by Monday of the following week, so we can choose our highlighted blogs.

Link Up Suggestions

1. We ask that you follow all three hosts. That way you can keep up to date on future Toddler Talks.
2. Please link up with the URL of your Toddler Talk post, so we are looking through other posts to find it.
3. Please grab the Toddler Talk Button and display it in your post or on your blog.
4. Stop in to other blogs that are linking up. Leave a meaningful comment if you visit, and follow if you would like.
5. This link up is for families that have toddlers. Raising a toddler can be fun, crazy, exciting, and exhausting. Sharing what works for you could give other families another way to do things.
6. Have Fun!