My son, 2, seems like he should be old enough to do art like his older
cousins but I'm not sure where to start. What do you think? What's a good art project fot a toddler?-janekensam
A good art project for a toddler is one that follows a realllllly loose definition of the word "project." It's great that you've thought to introduce art to your child. At this age, the idea is just to let a child freely explore certain materials and practice basic motor skills — and not very fine motor skills, mostly things like gripping a crayon or moving their arm across a paper. They're not ready for the fine points of color theory or sticking inside the lines. But they're definitely ready to have fun with new materials.
Some tried-and-true favorites: Painting with water on construction paper or the sidewalk. (Cool marks! No mess!) Scribbling with crayons – provide just one or two of the fat or triangular beginner kind at a time – on an oversized piece of white paper, so the child can crouch down on the ground and put their whole body into it. (A toddler lacks the fine motor skills for tidier drawing, anyway.) Let them pound play-dough or make balls and "snakes," if the play clay is soft and easy to manipulate. Paste away; provide a small pot of glue and objects that can be pasted down onto a paper plate, such as cotton balls, scraps of felt, and torn paper. (Stay close for that one – toddlers do like to eat the paste.)
What budding artist toddlers don't need: Actual projects that involve little true creativity or encourage a child to create a finished product: dot-to-dot books, coloring books (unless you can bite your tongue about staying inside the lines), make-it-like-this step-by-step craft kits, "follow along with me" type activity books. Maybe later in childhood, but not yet.
One of my favorite kid-art quotes comes from a woman I interviewed years ago named Maryann Kohl, who's written a whole palette of books on children and art: "Art is a process, not a product." –Paula Spencer, WD "Momfidence" columnist