klc106 Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 Hi all We have a couple of new 2yr olds at our setting who keep drawing and painting on the walls. We have had 2yr olds before but they haven't done this- thankfully! We run from a village hall and the caretaker is not very happy with it- especially last week with purple felt pen in the hallway that wouldn't come off! There is only the 2 of us in one room with 2-5yr olds but we are within ratio. Any advice on how to stop them doing this- other than putting the felt pens away as I don't feel this is fair on the older children who like to use them. Thanks
Rea Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 Pin wallpaper to the walls for now or provide the washable pens from crayola, they really do wash off in my experience. Little monkies 2
Panders Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 I always think when we have done these sorts of activities at pre-school, some little bright spark will carry it on at home and to be fair they have occasionally. However, I agree with Rea, I would cover the wall with old wallpaper and keep explaining that it is ok to write on this but not anywhere else you don't want them to! One of my members of staff has a 18month old at home, she had just cleaned her new gleaming white shiny tiles in the kitchen when along came J with some washable pens he had found and used them to draw all over the tiles, then he walked across where he had been writing and spread his footprints everywhere, she did say she could wash it all away! You just can't take your eyes off of this age group for a moment! 1
Rea Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 If it can be mended, remade, washed, fixed, replaced with little or no cost I never stopped them doing anything at playgroup. If they carried it on at home, they had learnt a new skill, if mom and dad didnt like it, I was sorry, but what a wonderful experiences they were having. When I was 4/5 I used to take my dads burnt matches out of the ashtray, he smoked a pipe and there were always loads, and draw on any surface I could find. Mom and dad bought me a lovely box of charcoals, pointed me in the direction of the garage walls and left me to it, it was like manna from heaven! 3
klc106 Posted June 17, 2013 Author Posted June 17, 2013 If it can be mended, remade, washed, fixed, replaced with little or no cost I never stopped them doing anything at playgroup. If they carried it on at home, they had learnt a new skill, if mom and dad didnt like it, I was sorry, but what a wonderful experiences they were having. I agree Rea but the caretaker of the village hall doesn't! We find paint and whiteboard pens wash off quite well but not felt pens! She was not best pleased last week when we had purple felt scribbled over the wall- we repainted it and it still shown through!
Rea Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 Caretakers can be little jobs worths sometimes cant they. Just let her know now and then how busy the children have been and what wonderful experiences they have thanks to them being able to use the church hall. Get the children to make her a card at Christmas or end of term :1b 1
redjayne Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 (edited) When I was two my Grandad had just redecorated their hall stairs and landing in posh anaglypta wallpaper in lovely pastels - I found a pen and drew a line all the way down the stairs and hallway with it , its the only time my Grandad ever smacked me ! It's what children of this age do - we have chalkboards/whiteboards on the walls and washable/ paintable white paint in our setting, it's the only way really. I suggest you restrict the felt pens to lighter colours , swap them for washable ones or if the purple is still showing through, sand it off before the repainting, or block it with undercoat first. Sorry the caretaker is such a misery :1b Edited June 17, 2013 by redjayne 1
Inge Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 removing pen from walls... try hairspray .. spray it on , leave it a short while and wipe...worked at home for me, and it worked on a table top too.. and invest in some washable felt tips..they do clean off quite easily. we did not have felt tips out all the time.. while they love them, we found when they started to use pencils they did not apply any pressure and hence the drawing was so feint it could not be seen, so we decided to have them occasionally , which did help with them learning they needed to put some pressure on the pencils and once they improved they were available more frequently., 3
finleysmaid Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 the hairspray trick also works on biro on leather...as my daughter had to find out when babysitting the next door neighbours children! they drew all over the sofa. The first time i has friends over in my new house her 2 year old drew over my new walls....i was NOT happy! personally i would remove the felt tips for a while...if the others want to use them then they will have to be suervised or they have to return them to you when they have finished :rolleyes: 1
klc106 Posted June 17, 2013 Author Posted June 17, 2013 Thanks all. We might have felt pens out occasionally as Inge suggested and purchase washable ones too!
finleysmaid Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 good idea...sorry my post should have said suPERvised....! but maybe suer will come and supervise for you!! 1
Sox Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 Have you seen eraser blocks? Amazon uk - J M L Doktor Power Magic Eraser - Sponge Cleaning Block S 1
Guest Posted June 19, 2013 Posted June 19, 2013 Im not sure I agree with putting paper on the walls to draw on. I think this will just encourage them to draw on the walls. I put large paper tablecloths on the table for the children to draw/paint on.
catma Posted June 19, 2013 Posted June 19, 2013 I visited a really white walled nursery, but they had put chalk boards down very low on the walls and the 2yr olds were very careful to work just on the boards and not the walls!! I was watching them to see what they did with the really exciting white expanse but they never went near it!
klc106 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Posted June 19, 2013 We have 3 big chalkboards at children's level but they still like drawing on the walls with felts. We have taken them away for a little while now.
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