I first brought the stickers out the other day at the bakery when a friend and I were trying to have a conversation while both of our toddlers competed for our attention. I’m all for giving the kiddos attention, but I get to see my toddler all the time, whereas only get to see my friend once a week if I’m lucky. This time I was prepared, though, and we got to talk for a good hour (there may have been a few interruptions during that time) and our toddlers were perfectly happy with their simple art activity.
I gave both two year olds a piece of paper torn from a sketchbook as well as a couple sheets of stickers. Juniper was really into overlaying the white hole reinforcement stickers over the colorful dot stickers.
Daphne stuck to the dot stickers but added her own pen drawings on top of each sticker.
She then wanted to do the same on my hand… (The things I will allow my kids to do in the name of a few minutes to chat with a friend! Or a few minutes with a book.)
This sticker art project was engrossing for both toddlers and the finished result is fun and colorful. Here’s one of Daphne’s completed artworks.
Do you have any tricks up your sleeve for keeping your kids quietly occupied while you’re at a restaurant or coffee shop?
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22 Comments
molly
March 3, 2012 at 7:11 amI love the little tiny careful marks in each sticker. I’ll have to stick some stickers in my bag, lately the crayons have not been very interesting in time of need.
Erin aka Conscious Shopper
March 3, 2012 at 9:12 amLol on the arm drawing. I used to let my nephews and youngest son do that all the time in church. I had completely forgotten!
Dawn
March 3, 2012 at 9:12 amI have small Sesame Street books that my twin almost-three year-old boys have loved for a long time. They fit nicely into diaper bag pockets. But lately they’ve been much more interested in the pictures on my phone. I taught them how to scroll through the pictures (mostly ones of themselves), and that is now the foolproof way to entertain them when we’re waiting somewhere. I don’t have a nice phone, so maybe it’s easier for me. :) By the way, I discovered your blog the other day and I am SO excited about using your ideas for my boys!
auntielouisa
March 3, 2012 at 10:12 amI love the stickers! My nephew likes pirates, so I bought him the Safari Ltd Pirates Toob. He likes to make up stories about the little guys. He’s only allowed to play with them when they go out to dinner or something similar. They’re a big hit.
Jenn
March 3, 2012 at 10:40 amThat’s too funny, that was my exact experience yesterday, coffee with a friend I don’t see very often! I brought a yogurt container with a slot to put in an incomplete set of checkers. When sweet Finn was finished with that, it got a sticker treatment. Then a bit of colouring, and I got a (hot) coffee with a special friend! When Finn is a bit older, I’ll put a small jar of buttons for sorting, exploring etc. My big boys loved this, and they always looked for their favourite. If you look at my pinterest account (dynajenn), there is a link to velrco popsicle sticks which are going to be a huge hit with my three boys.
Lisa
March 3, 2012 at 12:57 pmGreat idea! My 2 year old, 4 year old and I like wikki sticks (nice that they don’t take up a lot of room) when we’re out and about. :)
KC
March 3, 2012 at 11:27 pmOh my goodness! Totally brilliant! Thank you for the great idea. My toddler loves stickers.
Jean Van't Hul
March 3, 2012 at 7:01 pmI can’t believe I still haven’t tried wikki stix! I guess it’s about time I add them to my shopping list.
Jean Van't Hul
March 3, 2012 at 7:02 pmWhat a great, DIY idea with multiple levels of interaction! I may give that a try next time. Thank you for sharing!
Jean Van't Hul
March 3, 2012 at 7:04 pmI like that idea of having a special toy or something that is only brought out for restaurant occasions or similar.
Jean Van't Hul
March 3, 2012 at 7:08 pmJust followed you and found those velcro popsicle sticks. Awesome!
Jean Van't Hul
March 3, 2012 at 7:10 pmWelcome, Dawn! So glad you like my blog! The photo idea sounds like it would be good at keeping their attention. Now, if I just took more pics with my phone…
Jean Van't Hul
March 3, 2012 at 7:13 pmI kept hoping she would keep the pen on the stickers rather than my arm, but I probably shouldn’t have minded.
Jean Van't Hul
March 3, 2012 at 7:13 pmI know! Maia never (or almost never) made those tiny careful marks when she was little. It’s interesting to see the differences.
Julie
March 3, 2012 at 8:01 pmHi! I use the round sticker labels as time killers too:) My seven year old paints them with water colors in big blocks of color and sticks them on everything. The hard part with the water colors, is to not let the labels get TOO wet or they will loose their stick. We have a blog entry we did with them on a candle jar.(https://honeybuttergranola.com/color-dots-candle-jar/) I love all your ideas and find you blog fun and inspiring:) Thanks so much for sharing your ideas with the world.
rosie
March 5, 2012 at 10:06 amHave you read the book TEN BLACK DOTS by Donald Crews? With my first grade class, I would read the book then give each child 10 round black stickers. They had to create something different than what was in the book. They came up with some incredible ideas!
Lisa
March 5, 2012 at 11:12 amLast weekend, I brought a small container of home made play dough (in a glad 4 oz. plastic container) out to a restaurant. It was plain (no glitter or color) because they would be eating and I didn’t want much to clean up while we were out.
It was a huge hit (kids are 4 and 2) even though they play with it at home too!
Also, it is so cheap, so wasn’t a problem to throw it away when it got filthy. :)
theatre guy
March 6, 2012 at 6:30 pmI have two young girls obsessed with stickers. Being and artist myself, I found your blog a great starting point, and reminder for ideas to do with my girls. I love that you are developing your kids imagination. You’ve helped inspire many great moments of art around our house, as of late. thanks Can’t wait to try this next time we are out.
Karen
March 6, 2012 at 9:49 pmLove the idea of using hole reinforcement stickers – must add those to my bag tomorrow! Lately, I’ve been taking nursery rhyme finger puppets for my two-year-old son. They are quiet – even when they’re dropped! – for church and school assembly, and it is possible to sing Humpty Dumpty under your breath in tune!
Krista
March 27, 2012 at 10:58 amI love saving the free address label stickers and movie offer stickers (only the appropriate ones of course) for my son to play with. He doesn’t know what the movies are or anything, but he likes peeling and sticking. I’ll have to keep an eye out for those Target stickers!
Eryn
October 1, 2012 at 7:42 pmGreat Idea. My son love stickers, this is a great way to create some artwork with them.
Iva
June 29, 2013 at 7:57 pmLove it. I’ll use this idea for our long airplane flight!