Ya'll are some very creative moms and I am not. I would love to hear some ideas for crafts that I can do with a 16 month old, an almost 2 yr old, and a 3 year old. They like to color with those color wonder books, but thats all I can think of for them to do and I would love to have a mixture of things for them to do. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
I have been working on a blog designed specifically for toddlers 1 - 4yrs. I update everyday with a new craft project or activity. I was also looking for things to do with my kids (a 1yr old and 3yr old) and didn't really find any good websites out there, so I made my own! Hope it helps - http://toddlerplaylearn.blogspot.com/
I do a lot of foam art with my daughter. We cut crowns out of it staple them shut and glue other pieces to it to decorate. We've also decorated visors. Water color is fun but maybe too hard for the youngest. Sidewalk chalk. Felt is our newest thing. You can cut out shapes, like a bunny, 2 of each, punch holes in it around the edge, let the kids use yarn to string the sides together to make a puppet. They can glue on the eyes, nose, etc. I also bought a felt board but they are easy to make. You can then cut out shapes from felt and let the kids make pictures on the board; the felt will stick together a little but the art is not permanent, they can do it over and over again. I use cookie cutters to trace out the shapes and add to collection from time to time. You can google it for ideas. I hope to try finger painting soon!
Looks like you've got a lot of great ideas for crafting with little ones.
I wanted to add a couple of notes about supplies & clean-up. I agree with the mom that mentioned crafting outside... we do that whenever we can. If you need to stay inside, a plastic cloth on the table or floor really helps. Years ago, we received one of those mats that you put under a high chair and never used it - perfect size for the kitchen table. A shower curtain would probably work well, too.
The only other suggestion I have is to always keep some basic supplies on hand:
* Crayons, Markers, & Colored Pencils
* Glue (sticks and bottles)
* Scissors
* Paint, Brushes, and Sponges
* Lots of Scrap Paper
* Colored Paper
* Felt
* Stickers
* Beads & Jewels
* Pipe Cleaners
* Clay & Playdoh
* String and Yarn
* Cookie Cutters
* "Stuffing"
* "Wiggly" eyes
* Uncooked Pasta & Beans
* Toothpicks
* Coffee Filters
Consider keeping items you might otherwise recycle:
* Empty Cereal Boxes
* Plastic Bottles
* Cardboard Tubes from paper towels, toilet paper, gift wrap
* Scraps of Leftover Gift Wrap
* Old Yogurt and Butter Tubs
* Egg Cartons
* Old Buttons
* Old Fabric (socks & old clothes work well)
Obviously, you'll tweak this for your child as they grow.
This will encourage creativity... whether the kids play with the supplies or craft with them, they'll find something fun to do!
Good luck!
www.familyeguide.com Your free guide to affordable family activities in Denton County.
Just an FYI, most of my art projects are completed outside...it helps with the clean up and I don't stress about the mess. I bought one of those plastic tables for $2 at Goodwill and it stays outside as a craft table. Since our back porch is covered and has a fan it's usually cool enough.
It can be a little messy, but finger paints and side walk chalk are fun.
I also used to pour glue into a bowl and give my son a big bowl of cotton bowls. He could dip the cotton ball in to the glue and stick it to paper. At Christmas time I printed Santa pictures and he glued beards. At Easter it was the Easter bunny's tail. When it's cold snowmen...you get the idea. It was messy but lots of fun!
I also keep dyed pasta on hand.You use alcohol and food coloring and dye pasta. It can be used for stringing which helps with hand eye coordination (the larger the hole the better). It can also be used to glue on to paper.
A salad spinner can double as spin art. I bought a super cheap one at Target, you don't need or want anything fancy. I put a coffee filter in the bowl. The kids pick the colors and you put little dabs of it on the paper. The kids spin it and it makes the colors spread. Sometimes we stop, check it and add more colors. I have used a bunch of different paints, but I always make sure they are washable, so clothes don't get ruined.
Play dough is fun. We make our own...that's a craft project in and of itself. We just refill the commercial play doh containers with our home made stuff. It's cheap and easy. I always cover the kitchen counter with newspaper. My son measures the flour and it helps keep the clean up easier.'
Stamps...we have had a lot of fun with stamps.
We also enjoy doing impressions. When we go for walks, we look for "treasures". We come home and put the leaves and flowers under the paper. Using the side of a crayon you color and it leaves an impression of what's underneath.
HTH! Have fun!
I love this website. They have alot of great ideals for all ages.
I tape down a large garbage bag on our table and spray a bunch of shaving cream in front of each child. They can make shapes, letters, designs, etc. in it with their fingers. You can even add a few drops of food coloring, and press a piece of paper over their designs and it makes a print you can save.
Stamps and stamp pads are always fun too.
Tape a piece of paper in the bottom of a box, put in some dabs of paint and roll a golf ball through the paint.
Just a few ideas I can think of right now!
I have a 20 month old and I keep 2 18 month old kids. We go by the theme of the week. This week it's the "big sky" so today we (I) cut out some stars and moons and they had fun glueing them to the black paper to make a moon and stars picture to take home. They loved it!
Stickers are always a big hit too.
Great suggestions already.....but wanted to add my girls LOVE stickers......
I cut simple shapes out of colored paper and have them glue them on another peice of paper- someitmes we do themes like halloween- a circle for a pumpkin and triangles for the eyes and mouth- or we've done a christmas wreath with green squares and red circle. Other times it just fun to watch them glue them on in thier own patterns. We also glue feathers and sequins to paper making giant letters out of them(this would be for your 2&3 year old)
We made homemade playdough yesterday and I made some shapes to dry so they can paint them today then we will glue a magnenet on back and hang them on the fridge. Don't be afraid to let them get a little messy! Old t-shirts from you or your husband work well to keep thier clothes clean and newspaper on the table or a plastic table cloth work great for keeping your area clean.
My kids also really liked making paper plate masks. I cut out eye holes and they glued feathers and sequins on them or they colored them or cut out stripes of colored paper to glue on, then we attached string to the sides using a hole punch to make some holes. They don't last really long, but it's fun to do!
Have fun!
~C.
A group of friends and I did a preschool activity bag swap. My son now has lots of fun things he can play with independently. Although I do play with him sometimes. You can do these alone and not swap with friends.
When googling for the website to give to you, I saw this:
http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/preschool_activities.htm#...
HTH!
My 2 and 5 year old can play with Play Dough for almost an hour. This isn't really a craft, but my oldest and I love to take turns acting out different animals and the other person has to guess what animal it is-we laugh a lot!
you got a lot of great ideas, but one thing that my son loved to do at that age was string beads on pipe cleaners. Stringing beads on string is a little hard at that age, but doing it on a pipe cleaner is a lot of fun. Keep in mind that you ABSOLUTELY have to do this WITH them as beads are a choke hazard. I bought large beads, but I stayed RIGHT there with him and put them away in a high spot when we were done.
-L.
Here's a really easy one...I printed out a sheep coloring sheet I found online. My girls (toddler and preschool) colored it and then glued googly eyes and cotton balls on it. Super easy and not a huge mess!
