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- At one time, I discouraged my children from drawing on their bodies with markers.Now, I allow them to do it as a form of creative expression. Washable markers make cleanup easy and the activity fosters independence and imaginative play.
My kids, 3 and 5, sometimes get a little wild with markers. They turn craft time into body art time, and honestly, I'm okay with that.
The first few times it happened, I was somewhat reluctant. I knew my husband wasn't a fan, especially when the kids drew glasses around their eyes (what if they poked their eyes?), and it just didn't seem like the best habit. But now, I allow it, as long as we're not about to leave the house.
Minor disaster turned into creative outlet
Coloring on themselves is a great activity to escape the summer heat or when it's too windy to play outside. It's simple, basic fun — no screens involved.
In a sense, it's not all that different from using face paints or when little girls sneak into their mom's makeup and are discovered looking like clowns. It's a way of dressing up and becoming an artistic character. When my kids drew circles around their eyes, I happily thought they could have fit into the pages of the classic children's book, "Where the Wild Things Are." And they're practicing drawing shapes, letters, and stick people, so it's semi-educational, right?
It's less messy than a lot of other activities
We have a few brands of kids' washable markers in our house, and they all wash off pretty easily. I prefer them over crayons or colored pencils in general because if they wind up on the table, the marker wipes right off.
I enjoy doing crafts and baking with my kids, which can cause quite the mess. Drawing on themselves only involves a bath or shower (which they probably needed anyway) for cleanup. It's even less messy than cutting with scissors, as my daughter will cut every piece of paper into tiny specks that wind up all over the floor.
Minimal prep is needed, so marker play is a tool in my back pocket for whenever we need an activity at a moment's notice.
It encourages sibling bonding
My children are really happy coloring each other, without bickering — maybe it's the feeling of being in cahoots or doing something vaguely "naughty." My daughter will ask my son to draw a rainbow on her back, or they'll both draw smiley faces on their feet. One day, my son drew lines on his arms and legs to make himself look like a skeleton.
I want to encourage imaginative play, and they use this activity as an outlet to create their own stories together. When we do other art projects, they tend to work more independently, but when they draw on themselves, they're almost always interacting with each other.
Courtesy of Anne James.
Sometimes it's best to say "yes" when the stakes are low
When our son was around nine months old, we visited friends who had recently had their third baby. They were getting ready to go to Costco after we left, and one of the boys was wearing a superhero costume. My husband thought it odd that they were allowing him to wear a costume out in public (it was not Halloween), but as a parent, some battles aren't worth fighting. Wearing costumes and drawing on their bodies are both imaginative story play, and they're both safe options for letting the kids express themselves. I'm down for both.
Marker play makes my children happy, the stakes are low, and I think that allowing my kids to make some of the decisions fosters independence and learning.
