You feel like you're behind because your 19 month old has never painted? That it would even be considered normal to make that statement is incredibly sad. Your child has a lifetime to do stuff like paint. I think mommy blogs and pinterest are ruining childhood and parenthood for everyone.

I get that a toddler might enjoy the experience "look I made a bunny" but it seems awfully forced. Why not just let them explore the world of color or even a single color?

We had a lot of fun painting around that age. I sat my son down at the table naked with lots of newspaper, tempera paints, and heavy paper. He always used so much paint that his creations would take HOURS to dry. So we took to folding the paper in half before he painted, and then smooshing the unpainted half onto the painted half (think Rorschach ink blots). He loved to see how his pic would change, and it spread the paint out more so it would dry faster!

I've been a silent reader for a long time, but this post made me register so I could comment.
As an artist and someone who has worked in art education with kids of all ages- I absolutely CRINGE when I see this "techinque". Sure, the outcome looks cute and deco-friendly. But does your kid learn anything from it? Apart from the fact that taking a readymade object and basically just stenciling it on is better than exploring and playing and learning how to draw / develop their OWN shapes, figures etc? What happens to imagination and self-confidence when it comes to being faced with a blank piece of paper / canvas/ wall? PLEASE resist resistance painting and let your kids play and develop their own visual language. Sorry for hating but I am passionate about art and all the different ways kids are able to express the things they see. To me resistance painting is not creative, it's like eating a microwaved frozen steak dinner. You wouldn't feed your kids that stuff either... or would you?

I agree with you to a point, but it depends on who's making the creative decisions. If the parent makes a bunny stencil, the kid slaps a layer of paint on it, and the parent says "You painted a bunny!" - no. If the kid makes the stencils and does whatever they want with them and then tells the parent what they just made - yes!

Wow. Since when are “impressive results” the goal of painting with a 19-month old?

At this age especially I think art should about the process, not the product. If you're looking for guidance for toddler art projects check out Maryann Kohls "First Art" (it might be out of print). Many of the ideas in it seem like common sense but it's a good compilation that emphasizes the experience of making rather than the end result.

I think this is a cute project! Giving parameters is not going to stifle the child's creativity. I would argue that if a child was given this same project to do over and over again that they would come up with something interesting and unique each time. They would continue to develop new methods of applying the paint and new color combinations.

Should kids get a chance to freestyle paint and draw too? Sure! But that doesn't mean there isn't room for a variety of other projects too.

Resist painting with your child is definitely something your child should experiment with in her lifetime but for her first experience with paint there really isn't anything wrong with simply handing her a paint brush and letting her go to town. Let her experiment with the medium and discover what happens when she mixes different colors together. Yes, the first few 'paintings' will look like blobs but the magical part will be her excitedly explaining the details of her painting. Print her description on the front or back of the painting and then frame or photograph it. Believe me, this type of art (one that comes from your child's imagination and not some pre-formed stencil) will have more meaning to you and your child later.

I have three children, 10, 7, and 18 months. Love all of them--and I homeschool them, so I'm not exactly of the "ship them off and don't let them bug me" mode. Feeling behind about a 19 month-old who's never painted is the position of a first-time parent. Crayons are a fine material for this age--there's no need to rush. Painting is such a lot of mess--and the child in question can be done so quickly--that I would encourage you to wait until they can actually remember doing it. You could easily wait until potty training to begin.

Wow, what passionate...and possibly over the top...comments! I think it's great to see parents getting out the paints, getting involved and having fun with their kids. Isn't that what it's all about? If you get too hoity toity about these kinds of things it becomes all too hard and no fun at all. Good on you for having rolling up your sleeves and getting paint under your nails.

But projects like these on blogs and pinterest aren't about parents just getting out paints and having fun with their kids - that's the point of these comments I think. So many of these mommy-blog projects are all about how awesome their kids are and what amazing talents/attention spans etc... their little snowflakes have. There was one amazing anonymous post by a blogger on a big parenting site where she admitted that most of her projects were 'faked' because her child hated doing art projects, so she would do them and pretend it was her really her child. Add in some photoshop and some clever 'staging' and she looked like parent of the year. Makes you wonder how many other bloggers are doing the same thing - I would wager most.

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Agreed :-) So much pressure to turn our 'photo ready' nursery, kids, cup cakes...

Wow, wow and wow. While there are many things I am apprehensive and feel somewhat inadequate about when it comes to parenting, painting is not one of them. Please please please do not read into my evidently poor choice of words when I said I 'felt like I was late getting to the game' with concerns to painting. Seriously, it is just a turn of phrase, a casual way of saying that after seeing a few painting projects on blogs, I thought to myself that it looked like me and my little girl would have some fun doing the same thing. I had the same revelation about bubbles some months back. I'm not trying to feverishly improve her skill set so she can get into an elite pre-K program, I'm just trying to have some fun with my daughter. I should know by now that the casual use of language can kick up a storm here.

And if anyone is interested, we had a blast! We did all types of painting--finger painting, 'free-form' painting (which I assume is a nice way of saying making a mess), and this resist style, specifically so we could make a card with a heart on it for my wife who was away on business for six days. I am happy to report she seems no worse for wear for giving it a shot and her mom really loved the welcome home card. The only one who did not come out so good was Sock Monkey, who took a big glob of red paint right on his leg which looks a bit gruesome, but he is recovering nicely.

I think these conversations/debates that take place in the comments section are oftentimes more interesting than the posts themselves, which sounds funny coming from a guy who writes some of these posts but c'est la vie. And while I do not always agree with what is being said, or the tone it is said in, the content is always insightful, and oftentimes entertaining. Happy painting everyone!

richard popovic I wouldn't take any thing said too much to heart. I did the whole play with paint and other crafts with my son, at two he actually did one on canvas that I really liked. he was more free just playing with color which is crazy interesting, and I enjoyed that time a lot. Now he's 6 and has moved on to creating stick figures and animals and of course words words words. which means a lot of space is wasted in the background since that concept he has yet to grasp, still fun still interesting but different. soak it all up because it's going to change so much no matter what method you use just letting her try a different material is a great thing, keep having fun with her that's a good dad/parent. and yes brace yourself for ALOT of messes.... mine is really into gluing anything he can to stuff which includes glitter, which NEVER goes away. I suggest keeping that from her for as long as you can ;)