Toddler Crafts

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Mom Looking for Toddler Craft Ideas

I need some help. I have a 2 year old that likes to help me when I am doing crafts such as sewing. Does anybody have any suggestions for crafts that a child this age can do without my having to spend a fortune? Thanks in advance.
Malissa V

editor's note: Please make sure that you ONLY attempt activities that are save for your child's age and abilities.

Crafts for Toddlers From Popsicle Sticks

Here is my suggestions for a simple toddler craft. I have experience! I have 6 children! All of my kids could spend hours doing "crafts" with me. Buy washable markers (go cheap, because they often leave the tops off) Let them color popsicle sticks. You can glue them into a square and put a picture in them, cut out of a magazine, or a photograph. Tie a string on two sides to hang it like a picture. A favorite of my kids 6 down to 1 1/2 yrs. old let them color with a marker on a sheet of paper towel. Paper towels have different, fun prints nowadays. You can even get holiday themes. You probably have a roll on hand. The markers give a soft, watercolor look on the paper towels. Markers color easily, with just a touch for the littlest ones, and the older ones can make designs my marking along the raised texture of the towels. They will get a kick making it look like a quilt. Try it!
Sue

Toddler Crafting Macaroni!

Macaroni necklaces, bracelets, anklets. Put straight macaroni in a jar, drop in a few drops of food coloring and shake gently until you get the desired color. You may need to add more food coloring and keep shaking. Make several different colors. Spread on newspaper or papertowels to dry. Put each color into an old butter tub or other plastic container with a lid. Again, provide child with shoestring or yarn with end taped and let her/him make necklaces. This is also a good way to teach sorting and order after a while. In the beginning let him/her string whatever appeals, later you might suggest a pattern.
Mary

Web Craft Resource

Please check out theideabox.com. This is the most awesome site I have found for crafts. Not only do they give ages and tools required on each kids craft, but also offer a "craft of the day" and the complete archives are available. I am a homeschooling Mom and use this site a great deal for ideas for my 3 crafters!
Debra P.

Sock Puppets

When my daughter was young she loved to do the same thing as I did (oh, how times have changed now that she is a teenager!). To occupy her while I sewed I gave her a couple of old wool socks, a selection of large buttons (too large to swallow), a plastic needle (purchased in the toy dept) threaded with a length of colorful yarn. As she became more able to work with small articles we added felt pieces too. She turned out many, many puppets and had the benefit of playing with them and giving them to friends as gifts. When she started school the teacher was amazed at her hand co-ordination. And today, she does her own mending! Big bonus!
R.

Shrinky Dinks

Take the Styrofoam meat trays cut (big) shapes (smiley faces, Christmas trees, etc.) , color with markers (poke hole if you want to hang anywhere) and put into micro-wave for a few seconds. Voila! Shrinky dinks! Simple and inexpensive crafts for a young child!
Christine

Me Too, Mommy!

There are some really fun ideas I've come up with or found over the years. I have a five year old. When you are sewing, try giving your toddler a piece of plastic canvas and a plastic needle. These are cheap, and with a threaded needle, she can "sew" on her card. As she gets older, you can draw dop to dots on the canvas with fabric paints, using numbers or colors or anything that is age appropriate. You can draw paths to have the thread make a picture or just to make random designs with more than one color.

During crafts with clay or similar product, give your toddler Playdough. I never had any trouble with my toddler eating it. Show her the basic things she can make, all time favorite is making "snakes" Even inexperienced hands can roll out long stings of Playdough although at first they may be flat and "ugly". If your child ever comes up with something REALLY interesting, you CAN dry playdo to keep the art project.

If you are painting, with fabric paints or the like, give your child an old T-shirt and a marker. Make sure you use washable markers and put down newspaper or cardboard to work on. They LOVE drawing on clothes. Make sure ALL markers are put away after this project or they may decide to decorate their Christmas outfit!
Carol O.

Collages

One thing that my Preschooler/Toddler loves to do is to is make collages out of my scraps, torn clothing pieces or ugly fabric. All I do is cut the fabric into different shapes. Now that my daughter is 3 1/2 yo. she can use scissors and cut the fabric herself. I then let her glue the shapes onto a piece of scrap paper. Her favorite thing to do is make people but you can do other things as well. She also likes to color the picture with crayons for an added touch. (to add a background or faces etc.)

If your child is young they may need help, but it is an activity that they enjoy without putting more than a dent in the old pocket book.
Sandy G

Simple 'Sewing'

How about taking some old greeting card pictures and using a hole punch to put holes around it. Colorful shoelaces can be used in place of needle and thread, and your toddler can "sew" when you do.

If you don't have any old greeting cards, take pictures out of a magazine and glue it on some cardboard.
S.

Dribble Drabble

There is a book entitled "Dribble Drabble" that a lot of ocupational therapists use in hospitals to help kids. There are projects that include making placemats from clear contact paper and various other materials like the child's own art work. The child can also splatter paint make sandpaper prints, shaving cream prints, frozen pea sculptures, spaghetti designs, bubble blowing painting, marble-golf ball roll painting and cotton ball art.
Cathy S

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