Expert: MaryAnn F. Kohl - 3/18/2009

Question
So how should art begin with a 9 mo old? Can they do fingerpaints and play dough? What else?

Answer
Some nine month olds are much like one year olds, while others are still like a six month old, so my answer is based on a child who is ready to understand painting "fun" and exploration.

You can try fingerpainting with chocolate pudding, if you wish, though some people think this might encourage playing with food. I think kids can paint with regular paints, but just give them a little. use a Q-tip they can dip in a jar lid with some paint in it and then make dots and marks on paper. You might check my book, "First Art: Art for Toddlers and Twos". My website has a whole bunch of free ideas for you. Go to:
  http://www.brightring.com/fridge.html
  http://www.brightring.com/bubble.html
  http://www.brightring.com/colorbottle.html
  http://www.brightring.com/playclay.html
  http://www.brightring.com/stretchy.html
  http://www.brightring.com/sitdown.html

If your child is not allergic to peanuts, make some peanut butter playdough to explore. At this age, kids tend to eat dough, and other playdoughs are very (VERY!!) salty. So that's why I say to try the edible dough made with peanut better. Here are two recipes for you:
This is a good recipe for playing, exploring, just ike regular dough, but tastes good too.

PEANUT BUTTER PLAYDOUGH    
1 C peanut butter
2/3-1 C  nonfat dry milk
2 T  honey
Mix ingredients. Add enough powdered milk to make playdough dry enough to handle. Shape into balls. Add raisins to make a face. Or stir in chow mein noodles and make a bird's nest. Or stir in Cheerios or chocolate chips for fun. Eat and enjoy!

PEANUT BUTTER PLAYDOUGH FOR LACTOSE INTOLERANT    
1/2 C peanut butter
1/4 C honey
4-6 oz. corn flour or corn meal (instead of using dry milk)
Combine together peanut butter and honey. Add the corn flour until it reaches the desired consistency. Corn muffin mix (like Jiffy-Mix) can be substituted for corn meal. (from Tricia Dalaba)

That should get you started.

MaryAnn Kohl
www.brightring.com