My son didn't get his first tooth until around 15 months, but I had already introduced crayons and playdough by then. I got big, fat, non-toxic crayons and expected that he would put them in his mouth. I've always just told him no and taken them out of his mouth. I usually will start coloring with the crayon in his hand to help distract him and give him the idea of doing something else with the crayon. My son wasn't much interested in using the crayons until around the age he started teething, but even now any crayon time is short-lived and must be supervised.
It took him a while to enjoy playdough. He didn't like touching it. But now he pokes his fingers and other things into it with glee. Again, he must be supervised because he's started to taste test it.
I have not tried fingerpaints for two reasons: the hands in the mouth thing and his aversion to touching slimy things. He doesn't put his hands in his mouth so readily now, but I still think I would 'fingerpaint' with pudding rather than real paint. I don't think he would understand that paint was a toy, but other things that feel like it are food. He still doesn't care to touch slimy things. We have painted though: with water (colored with a few drops of food coloring) and a small paintbrush. He's been doing this for months. I showed (and told) him to put it in the water first then onto his paper, over and over again. As soon as he tries to paint the table or forgets to get water on his brush and is dry brushing I'm right there to redirect. I've only had to take it away once for eating violations.
When I did childcare, many of the two year olds did not like fingerpainting, although they loved a brush to paint with. By three years old they seemed to realize the fun in fingerpainting and almost universally enjoyed it.