I have seen on here that alot of you guys allow your dcks free access to aet supplies. how do you do that and not have a constant mess with toddlers involved? were do you leave all the supplies? how does this work. we have tried this the past few days but have had a huge issue with the 17 month olds despite direct supervision. also the kids go through so much paper it seems like a waste after the 5th page.

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I absolutely do NOT allow free access to any art materials and if I did, it wouldn't be to children under the age of 3 so I'm not much help to you there.

I can't imagine allowing children under age two or three free access to any art supplies.

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I do allow free access to a limited amount of art supplies. Not paint of course but paper, crayons, scissors, tape, glue and markers. I have them all out on the table at all times and kids come, make something, then take it home at the end of the day.

I just expect the kids to respect the materials and they do. If they're doing something I don't allow we talk about what is allowed. But mostly I don't have any problem with it.

I had a mixed age group 1-5 year olds. The 1 year olds mostly liked to take the tops off of the markers and put them back on again ha ha! Everyone else just uses the materials appropriately. I keep an eye on everyone at all times of course and if the littles go to use the supplies I go supervise.

Materials stay on the table is the #1 rule and everyone seems to understand that just fine.

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Laurel

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I'm in the middle.

Crayons, colored pencils, watercolors, and paper are on the shelf available to all. The youngest that can realistically get at them is 19 months. I have a pretty young group.

When he goes for the art supplies, I tell him "we only color (paint) at the table. Let me help you".

Then, I help him get in his booster seat, he colors, eats a little crayon (alternative: he paints a little on the paper, then on his face), crumples some paper, and then he's done. I write his name on it with narration, and we move on.

Rinse and repeat....

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I have open access to most of the kids.
I can't pinpoint an age as all of my children have different personalities.

I have a 2 year old that can use it but a 4 year old who can't. The 4 year old still has not learned we only color on paper and scissors are for only cutting paper. So that 4 year old can only use the art supplies when I am there to 100% supervise.

I look for their ability to use the stuff appropriately. Once they show me that they can, I let them go for it.

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My group is mostly younger ones (19mo, 19mo, 2, 3, 4) but I have supplies out at all times because this group is really good about using them properly. I have paper (I cut in 1/2 or 1/3 so that it lasts longer, my kids also LOVE to color on the newspaper so I use that too and we recycle paper that they just color one or two lines on back into the bin to reuse), crayons, pencils, markers, glue, scissors, tissue paper, paint, brushes, q-tips, and mosaic pieces.

When the 19mo olds were a bit younger everything had lids (I use plastic containers for most supplies) so it took me to help them and we worked together on how we use the material and where. Just recently the lids came off most things (the mosaics and scissors we're still working on) and they have free access. The older kids can get the lids off themselves.

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I don't. I hate arts and crafts. They require too much adult for me.

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I limit the number of "creations" or sheets of paper each child can use. It's important to help kids learn to be thoughtful in their choices and not waste. They'd use a ream of paper each every day if I let them.

As for the art supplies being out... ALL my supplies are out and available at all times. I have an 11 month old walker and a new 1 yr old non-walker (one girl; one boy)

Neither touch the shelves or supplies on the shelves. I honestly don't know why it works for me but it does. I think it has a lot to do with the babies having both been with me since early infancy and they are both usually just super busy playing with other stuff.

I also have a rule that the furniture and shelving units in the kitchen/dining room area (which is where all art gets done at) is OFF limits to the babies to hang on to while learning to stand and walk ... I never allow them to use chairs/shelves or the table to pull themselves up or to hold onto while stepping.

So far I haven't had an issue with any of the kids having free access.

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All of my art supplies are in a closet. If the kids want to use them, all they have to do is ask. I could never allow free access.. it would be a disaster. And there is also a question of whether or not the time is right.. they do their projects at the kitchen table and sometimes the table is busy with kids doing other stuff.

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I have free access however, you must be a certain height to ride that ride my school agers have free access, my toddlers don't ever grab anything but paper, and that doesn't even really happen, the only ones who play with the art stuff tend to be my school age girls, and I think since my art supplies have always been there, there is no novelty to them. My preschoolers can grab the markers and paper, I have small craft containers of sequins, jewels, feather, foam stickers, and most they can all reach but no one EVER takes them out, unless they are actually taking them out to use them for a project. My big paint bottles are out of reach, but I have smaller ones within reach, little containers with screw off lids, that just hold a small amount, and I always keep a vinyl tablecloth on my kitchen table, so they can always paint on it. And again that paint is just out of reach of the littler ones.

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I do not have free access to art supplies but they get a wide variety of experiences at various times during the day. I probably could leave items available except I have twin boys (2) that I have a hard time leaving toys open and available with. I am praying that sometime this winter they settle down a little bit more. When I got them in the spring they were wild boys that seriously one bucket of toys was too much. THey just ate crayons. It really wasn't their fault. The previous provider always kept them in something. Mom works with them and really tries. She is young and has another son (5). But, they are starting to play better. But art supplies out.. eek no. I am good for 5-10 minutes with them buckeled into booster and constant supervision and usually an extra set of hands.
That said, I think my kids get a lot of time to paint, color, write, play with play doh etc. And this time of year, a lot of sensory stuff outside.

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I had free access when I had all 3-4 yr olds. Truth is I think my two's could handle this, my under two's maybe.

I just don't have the desire to deal with it with this group, so I don't!

The two's and up have free access to paper, oil pastels, and playdoh. They still ask if they can use these, except my almost five yr old-she uses whenever she feels like it. She also has markers, scissors & glue.

I get out lots of open-ended supplies each week. I feel they get lots of opportunities!

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Depends on my group. Over the years I have had groups who are fine with things being out. With others...total disaster every day and nothing could change it. So I just go with the flow...

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Ours is up on the kitchen counters, so only older twos and threes can get to it. I only let the toddlers work supervised because they just destroy everything.

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I have supplies out, but in a 5 drawer plastic container in the kitchen. The only kids allowed to play in the kitchen (right beside the play room) are those 3 and older according to my supervision plan. ("3 and older can play in a separate room within hearing distance, depending on maturity of child"). My younger ones can use the supplies when we are in there as a group and I can supervise them.

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Yeah, I am thinking about having limited supplies too. With a 9 year old I used to watch I would have coloring books and crayons to give her something to do after homework, I sometimes watched her up to 8 days straight (and I was in school full time) so she needed something to do besides watch tv.

My mom once bought one of those nice $10 coloring/sticker book (I didn't tell her to buy it, she just baught it; I got most of mine at the $1 store) and on the first day she got it would only color some parts of a page (like tinkerbells dress) before jumping to the next one and had almost every page colored and 1/2 the stickers were gone on it in the first 1/2 hour! I looked at the other pages and told her not to color any more pages until she went back and finished coloring the previous pages (and no more stickers). She has always had very little patience and always acted carelessly with things that didn't belong to her. So I had to set up some limits.

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The ones I have now do fine with it.

But my old ones, who were younger at the time, also handled it. Even paint and play dough. I was always checking on them, but as far as misusing the materials or making too big of a mess, I had (and still have) a "one and done" policy about it. Seems to nip most issues in the bud.

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I allow free access to my art supplies except for paint and most of my collage materials. My DH recently made me a little child size writing desk so for now (due to lack of space) our "writing center" also houses a lot of my art supplies.

My age groups for my regular FT and PT children (including my own children) are 12 months (walking), 2yo, two 3yo's, two 4yo's, and an 8yo and they all do just fine with the materials out all of the time. Even my occasional drop-in children do alright, even my very occasions drop-in ADHD 5yo twins.

I keep all of the supplies and materials organized in the the little desk and it holds the less messy items lowers and the messier items are put up the highest. I keep everything from foam stickers, stamps and ink-pads, crayons (regular, rubbing and jumbo, each kept separately), colored pencils, markers (thin and broad tip, each kept separately), glue (school and stick), scissors, drawing paper, writing paper, construction paper, index cards, dry erase boards/markers/erasers, pencils (regular and wide), pencil erasers, pencil sharpener (with shaving catcher), stickers, scotch tape, mini stapler and a small box of collage materials. That's what I have right now that's accessible.

Out of reach I keep the play-dough and the play-dough tools (cookie cutters and other tools) but only because they take up a lot of space in one of those plastic Steralite 3 drawer bins which I keep on top of the desk. The paints and paint supplies I keep out of reach inside a closet in another plastic Steralite 3 drawer bin which is kept on a high shelf. My watercolors, tempera paint and finger-paints are all kept there along with the brushes, paint cups/trays, paint rollers, paint stamps, etc. but that's because of lack of room also.

What I do is limit the desk to one "worker" at a time and I limit the amount of paper that I keep there. I refill as I need to but each child gets 5 sheets of paper a day or so depending on what they are doing. They can ask for more and I will sometimes okay that for example like when they want to create restaurant menus for the dramatic play area so even if they have used up their paper already I will go ahead and give them more since they will be using it for a purpose. The only time that I allow more than one child to use these materials is when I set them out on the table. At that point any child that wants to participate can do so and they can do it until they have used up all of the materials that I have set out or until they get bored and move on to next activity.

One thing that I do is that I start off with VERY minimal amounts of materials and one by one I begin to introduce them by having a lesson on how to properly use the supplies and how to clean them up. I start with the "less messy" supplies such as play-dough and tools and if they do well we move up to crayons and paper, colored pencils and paper, markers and paper, paper and scissors, paper and paint, ink and ink stamps, then add glue sticks, then add school glue etc. If they do well with one material but get really messy or misuse another material I will remove the material until they can respectfully use it. Eventually you have a fully stocked art supply area that's accessible. If one child is already using the art supplies and another child or children want to use the supplies and if they have been "good" and are known to respect the daycare supplies then I will allow them to take the supplies to the table (child-size large table) and use them but they have to clean up after themselves and out everything away.

That's another thing, all materials have their set of rules of how to use them and if they are not followed then they cannot use the materials. So far the only trouble I have had was with my own 2yo son and the markers/crayons when he would draw on surfaces. I put them up higher and out of his reach but still within the reach of the other children but I have since reintroduced them again and he is doing well but requires direct supervision.

One way that I prevent waste is by recycling items. They get "junk mail" and old newspapers/magazines to cut up and glue with until they get the hang of things and for drawing paper I have DK clients and my mom bring me scratch paper from their work (like paper that has been printed on one side only etc). This paper is kept in a box and can be used all up if they want to. They quickly learn to use the materials wisely (and color on an entire page instead of just scribbling some little doodles and then getting another page) because they learn that they run out.

Start small, and then add. HTH

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I am still figuring this out. I don't like wastefulness and I dont like messes. I am talking about the dumping out and other non-art related messes. But I do have a mix of ages and some special needs kids and not everyone can handle open access, in fact most of my group can not. I do do some limited access where we will have art time and I would put out a variety of supplies and let the kids go at it. I rarely do specific crafts unless the child is actually completing the craft (and not me assembling things!). so dont feel bad if it doesnt work for you. I am going to be revamping my playroom and creating an art area that is off limits to the babies and toddlers and give the older kids a bit more freedom but again, I am sure I will have limits on it. I dont have the funds to be buying art supplies all the time and I have a few kids here that would be blasting thru supplies if I let them have free reign.

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thank you for all of the imput it was all very interesting and help. I think we will keep the free access to something and introduce the kittle one to a smaller amount first to contain the mess. I will also limit the amount of supplies they can use in one day.

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I see you magoo :-)

One of the smartest women I have ever had the pleasure to know... for a long time.

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This!!!

For me its a real pain in the you know what!

My kids play all day! I sit and I watch!

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Ummm...did you forget the

???

Based on all your other postings I've read, I'm thinking this does not sound like you.

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