Toddlers draw on walls. Find out why this happens and what you can do about it.
I was busy washing dishes when I heard my 6 year old gasp loudly in the bedroom.
“Mom come here, quick”
Without washing off my soapy hands, I rushed to the room. I stared in horror at the sight before me.
Dark blue doodles, distorted hearts and incoherent writing all over the white walls greeted me. My toddler gave me a cheeky grin and pointed in excitement at her art work.
Now that the third wall in our house has been massacred at the hands of my artistic little one, I’d like to share with you everything I’ve researched on WHY toddlers draw on walls and as a frustrated parent what can you do about it.
This post is about why toddlers draw on walls and what you can do about it
6 Reasons Toddlers Draw on Walls
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1. Expression of creativity
All humans, no matter how tiny, have an innate desire to express themselves. Your toddler is no exception.
She wants to show you her creativity and there’s nothing that comes more naturally than wanting to draw.
In your child’s eyes, she’s created a masterpiece and is expecting you to praise her for it. The doodles on the wall are not her idea of winding you up. They’re her idea of showing off her creative genius.
If it makes you feel any better, she’s actually following the footsteps of her ancestors who used to make inscriptions on the cave walls.
2. Development of skills
Being able to hold a crayon in the fist, put it against a surface and leave a mark requires multiple skills.
So if your toddler has made his first mark on the wall, then congratulations! He is developing and growing in terms of his cognitive development, gross motor skills and creative thinking.
Next time you’re staring in horror at a wall filled with hideous scribbles, try to focus on his ‘creation’ rather than the ‘destruction’.
3. An exploration of his environment
Toddlers are naturally curious and want to know how things work. They are eager to learn everything they can about their environment.
If you think of it from your toddler’s perspective, walls are everywhere. Each room he wanders into has the same huge walls staring back at him.
It’s almost natural that your child wonders to himself “Hmmm…. I wonder what would happen if I drag this red crayon across the wall…”
4. The vastness of the walls
The truth is, even if you give your child a paper to draw on, he still prefers coloring on the walls. Why?
To a toddler, there’s something irresistibly delicious about a vast, blank wall. It’s almost like the wall is calling out to him, begging to be drawn on.
The wall is stable and it doesn’t need to be held in place, unlike paper. In your toddler’s eyes, it’s a perfect canvas just waiting to be filled.
And so your child’s scribbles are not about him trying to provoke you. Rather, its about him simply not being able to resist the temptation.
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5. A method to get your attention
Having said that, if you’ve previously blown up at your toddler for drawing on the walls, then his persist coloring may have something to do with your reaction.
Your child has figured out that drawing on walls gets a big reaction from you. He doesn’t care that it’s not a pleasant reaction, he’s just interested in the attention (positive or negative).
So getting him to stop drawing on walls will require you to change the way you react.
6. Inability to understand consequences
A toddler’s half formed brain has a difficult time fathoming the consequences of his actions. He’s too busy caught up in the fascination of creating his masterpiece.
The thought has not entered his mind that his scribbling will result in the walls getting wrecked, his parents having to scrub the walls or having to spend money in getting them fixed.
How Do I Stop my Toddler From Drawing on the Wall?
Sure, drawing on walls is fun for your child and he’s learning a lot. But it can be extremely frustrating and stressful for you.
So how do you stop him from vandalizing your walls without smoldering the artist within him?
Here are some tips I’ve tried that actually work.
1. Set up a chalkboard wall
Rather than banning your child from expressing his creativity through wall art, a great idea is to give him an alternative.
Set up a chalkboard wall in the house where he’s free to let out his artist skills.
You can do this by getting chalkboard paint, painting a portion or all of a wall in your child’s room, letting it dry and then handing him chalk to let out his creativity.
Another idea is to get a chalkboard sheet. These are a kind of wall decal which recreates your wall into a blackboard. You can cut it to your desired size or shape, peel off the sticker and apply to the walls.
This one is great for kids – its a self adhesive, erasable chalkboard sheet which you can cut into the size you want and stick. Don’t worry, it won’t damage the wall and can be easily removed from the wall without leaving behind any marks.
Now hand your toddler the colored chalks and let him draw to his heart’s content.
Make sure to let your child know that this is a special wall you have set up for him and its the ONLY wall in the world where he’s allowed to draw. You don’t want him thinking it’s okay to draw on the walls at his friend’s house.
2. Use your fridge as an easel
If you’re not comfortable with dedicating an entire wall for your child to draw on, this could be a great substitute.
Get some craft paper, cut it up to fit the fridge door and using strong magnets or some glue tack, stick it to the fridge. Your child can scribble away as you work in the kitchen.
Once the paper is filled with his masterpieces, replace the paper with a new one.
To make it more interesting for your little one, you could even get a magnetic chart for kids that sticks to the refrigerator.
This one is simply brilliant and can be used in so many ways. It comes with 4 chalk markers that you can hand to your child and have him doodle away on the fridge as you work in the kitchen.
As they get older (of if you already have older kids in the house) you can use it as a chore chart. It can even be used to jot down grocery lists, meal plans, meetings, deadlines, doctor appointments or write out cute notes for your family members.
Easy to Clean Magnetic Chore Chart for Kids
3. Get washable art supplies
Every time your toddler draws on the walls, make it a point to explain to him why it’s not acceptable. Then redirect him to the places in the house where he is allowed to draw, scribble and paint.
It will take time for your child to learn to restrain his desire to wreak your walls.
And so in the meantime it’s best to keep washable crayons and paints in the house. That way even if there is a little misstep, you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars trying to fix it up.
For washable art supply, I ALWAYS get Crayola. Their quality is unmatched. Their washable crayons and washable paints have the most vibrant of colors that easily wipe away from surfaces.
4. Participate in clean up
It’s important to make sure that when toddlers draw on walls you include them in the cleaning up process. Even if you’re doing most of the cleaning, give them simple tasks to do such as holding a wet wipe and cleaning the wall with it.
When you do this, your child soon learns that his actions have consequences. Whenever he messes up the wall he will have to clean it up too.
The clean up should be seen by your child as a natural consequence of his actions and not as a punishment.
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5. Modify your reaction
If you keep telling your child that drawing on walls is unacceptable and he keeps doing it, chances are you will snap.
You will resort to threats and punishments in the hope that it will deter him from doing it again. But that will cause your feisty little toddler to become even more adamant to keep persisting in the act. Rather than expressing your anger, a more helpful solution would be to show your disappointment.
This post was about why toddlers draw on walls and what you can do about it
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