Arts and Crafts Pt. 2: New Discoveries

I previously posted an article on arts and crafts with little ones, which my 2.5 year old absolutely loves. He draws with his markers and crayons every day. The other night he stayed with his grandma and I actually had time to clean up the house (*gasp*) and organize Josiah's art stash! By the time he got home the next afternoon he had his own "Art Station" in the corner of the living room. He was so excited to see it that one of the first things he said to me was,"Thank you Mama for cleaning up for me and making art!" Such a sweetheart! I don't ever want him to grow up! Really, I don't mind the diapers that much! Here are some pics of the new and improved art station:

<----Note the little feet sprouted from the easel!

I put all of Josiah's Playdoh in the blue bin underneath the table. The mat on the floor is now his designated Playdoh area. We previously had an issue of finding Playdoh everywhere- in the laundry basket, on our clothes, in the chair, etc. This will hopefully eliminated the problem. So far it seems to be working! The storage bin over to the right is full of all his arts and crafts supplies. Since he can't read yet, I labeled each of the drawers with symbols so he could remember what was in each one. The first drawer has a circle and holds all of his paper and coloring books, the second drawer has a heart and contains all of his crayons, markers, paintbrushes, and colored pencils, and the third drawer with a star holds all of our future craft projects and extra art materials like crayons and markers. (I stock up on them at the beginning of the school year when they only cost about .25! Considering how many we go through, it's worth doing!) The easel actually has a place to hold the art paper underneath and also has a tray to hold the chalk and dry-erase markers, too.

3 out of 5 pieces of furniture and accessories came from Ikea for very cheap! I had originally bought a little blue table to go there for only $8, but I decided to put it where that wooden table was. The wooden table originally cost me about $25, I believe, the easel was $15, and the car rug was $4. I also have another storage area on the other side of the room with baskets for books and toys. The baskets come 3 to a pack at Ikea and were $4. You can get all different colors and designs, too, so you really can't beat that! Plus, their furniture is pretty easy to put together, minus futons! I love Ikea, in case you can't tell! :)

This little stinker seems to like Ikea, too!                 I also took Josiah's artwork and taped it to the wall. He really got a big kick out of his artwork being up for everyone to see! Since his station is in the corner, we have plenty of wall space to add future drawings and paintings, too!

I wasn't so sure how the art projects would work out, especially the messier ones, but I've come to learn that when dealing with art supplies, it is best to be as organized as possible! Things get easily lost in the mix so, having a good place to put them and teaching your little one to put things back when finished helps out so much. We are still in the process of learning to pick up after ourselves... Yes, I include myself in that comment!

The most important thing to remember when playing with your children is to let their imaginations soar! I told Josiah that his art corner was all his and he could do whatever he wanted, paint whatever he wanted, and to just have fun. He wanted to paint the plastic storage bin last night so, we colored it purple! He wanted to put stickers on the wooden table so, we did that, too. Why not? They are only material possessions and, overall, pretty much meaningless until your little ones do something to make them priceless like painting them purple!

What are your favorite art projects? What do you think some good ideas would be? I'm up for putting any and everything to the test with my little ones!