Art Box for 2 year old.

Gingham_Ribbon

My son will be 2 in December and I've been giving his Christmas present a lot of thought. I've decided to make him an art box as he loves painting and crayoning. My parents are getting him one of those stand things that has a blackboard, magnet and paper holder on it so he will have lots to do.

But I want to make him an art box too. My idea is that it'll be like the one on the Cbeebies art programme. One of the presenters makes pictures out of shapes of different sizes and colours and keeps them in a little box to reuse. It's a lovely idea and just what I want to make for him. But...

I'm not arty or talented in this way and I fear that I'll buy a load of coloured card and it'll be too thin, or too thick for me to cut. It'll have ragged lines and the circles will all look like deformed clouds...

Does anyone have any idea how to make this without it going in the composter?! I've emailed on the cbeebies website but got an email back saying not to expect a personal response.

Thanks for reading this!

pavlovs_dog

umm...only thing i can think of if you need a hand shapes wise, go to your local library and get a craft book on sewing projects for children. they always have a massive template section in the back - animals, vehicles, tress, flowers, weather symbols etc ahoy

photocopy them, enlarging them if necessary, and then use these as your template.


other things to consider:

an apron, to stop him getting messy paint down his best clothes (which will inevitably be a swine to get out)

toxin free/ child friendly paint/ pens/crayons etc.

fingerpaints/glitterglue

a nice box for storing empty loo rolls/ cereal packets, egg boxes, yoghurt pots (for modelling)

a big sheet to cover the floor so you dont have to worry about him making a mess


thats all i can think of for know, shall get back to you if i think of any more

bethom

I would suggest the best thing is invest in a nice thickness card, eg. one that isn't too flimsy, then invest in a nice sharp craft knife, and use various things from around the house as templates like a glass for a circle or a building block for a square etc. Actually cutting around an object with a sharp knife gives a better edge and you are less likely to go wobbly imo. I do a lot of crafting and this has suited me better than scissors.
And if you are thinking of smarteenies on cebeebies I have recently bought a chest like that from ikea which was quite reasonably priced and was made of card, but I don't know if they still sell them though.
Hope this helps.

stellagypsy

When my son was little, it didn't matter what we bought him he ALWAYS played best and longest with the art-based gifts - it's paid off as he is now at Uni doing art & design!

I used to look in those discount book shops and pound shops for stuff for him (still do!), they both have lots of good things of this type (just be careful that they are age-apprpropriate for a 2 year old). I used to be able to get plastic stencils / templates of animals and shapes. Another good place to look is stationers like Partners or Staples - they have things for shops like flourescent circle and star shaped cards (to stick on sale items). Just get him what looks interesting - his own natural creativity and curiosity will do the rest. Oh, and make sure any paint is WASHABLE so it comes out of clothes. (I used to put own an old sheet underneath him to keep it off the carpet - art can be a very messy business!). I also made him a little overall out of one of his dad's old shirts, which he loved wearing and it didn't matter how messy that got.

One thing I NEVER bought was colouring books. Encourage him to create his own pictures / images. Art isn't all about crayonning "between the lines"!!

Son carries all his art gear round in one of those plastic tool boxes (Wilko's - a fiver) and now I get him one and stuff it with charcoal / watercolour pencils, acryllic paints, brushes and glue sticks etc which I have collected over the year as an Xmas stocking filler every year.

You'll both have hours of fun and like my son, it can turn in to a life long pleasure / career.

HTH, Stella xx

Gingham_Ribbon

These replies are great! Do keep 'em coming! I KNEW I'd get like minded people with experience if I asked on here! xxxxx

Becles

Places like Woolies and WH Smiths sell kids craft packs with various shapes already cut out, and loads of types of paper/card in. It'll save you cutting things out! We've used them before and they're good value for money.

My two loved "lick it and stick it" shapes best. You can get themed packs of those for under £1, such as transport shapes, animal shapes etc.

Gingham_Ribbon

I think these packs will probably be fairly thin. The idea, hopefully, is that they'll last him a long time if I make them sturdy enough. Although I could look at the packs and possibly even use them as templates if need be. Thanks, Becles. (Love your avatar!)

rammy007

Some of the craft stuff was on bogof in woolies last week i got 2 craft boxes for £4.99 which i thought was a great offer and ther was other stuff,also is ther a home bargains near you theyre great i have had lots of stuff cheap from there especially card packs for about 59p

lilrowan

I remembered a freebie and offer posted a couple of weeks ago:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=21382

This was also posted as a freebie by someone, I can't take credit: http://www.thetoymaker.com/2Toys.html

There's lots of cute stuff on here:
http://www.sanrio.com/main/games/printouts/printouts.html

You may have already seen this but anyway:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/printables/

It's a really good idea, i think i will do the same!

sooz

always pay the extra for washable felt tips, crayons etc.

it will save your furniture and sanity, and your insurance company will thank you.

if your cutting out is wobbly...mine not much improved since i was 2...try to get some wobbly line scissors. maybe not so good for animals, but for cutting out postcard sized squares etc.

i make mine colour on a cheap high sided tray - now called his 'colour tray mum pleaseeeeeeeee'. everything stays in the same place, and the table does not get drawn on. stick paper down onto tray with blue tack. even a carboard box lid would do.

stellagypsy

Just been in stationery box - they have "3 for 2" on loads of art stuff. Got son 6 huge tubes of acryllic paint, a pack of oil pastels and 2 packs of water colour pencils for £10.00. The paints alone would have been £18 in WH Smiths. I also spotted some packs of stencils for younger kids and they had loads of those flourescent shapes / felt pens / poster paints / stickers etc.

Enjoy!!