Toddler Crafts

From LoveToKnow Baby

Toddler crafts are great for those rainy days when you're confined to the house. Maybe you run a daycare business, and you simply need a few more craft ideas to keep those active toddlers busy. Keep reading to find out about some great toddler crafts! Don't forget to add your own craft ideas to the article!

Creative Toddler Crafts: Collages

This activity is easy, inexpensive, and lots of fun. You can use any number of materials and come up with your own creative patterns. Depending upon the area you're working in, you may want to cover the surface with newspaper before you and your little one begin. Take some construction paper, and drizzle some glue on it. You can do a freehand pattern, or you can actually draw a picture of an animal or other object and outline it with glue, filling in the center, also. Now, give your toddler small handfuls of birdseed, glitter, small dried peas, sand, or even cornmeal, and let her cover the glue. You can even mix up the materials you are using.

Finger Painting

You'll definitely want to dress your little one in old clothes, and you'll probably need to do the same for this toddler craft! Again, cover any surface you are working on. Rolls of old printer paper or butcher paper works well, but you can use construction paper, too. Take a foam plate, and place drops of different colored paint on it. Now, let your little Picasso go to work. For even more fun, bring out some cookie cutters and let her make some shapes on the paper with the paint. You can get even more creative by giving her funny shaped sponges to use, or letting her drive small cars up and down and across paint that you've applied directly to the paper.

Pasta Necklaces

These are always a favorite to make. You'll want to use wide, tubular-shaped pasta that are easy for little fingers to thread yarn, or even shoelaces, through. You can make colored pasta by soaking it in water dyed from food coloring, or you can paint the pasta, too.

Animal Parades

You can let your child create his own animal parade with crayons and paper. You will probably need to draw the animals for him, though. Take several sheets of computer paper, and draw or trace a different animal on each one. Now, join those papers together with staples or tape, and let your toddler color each one. Once he's finished, he can pull his animal parade across the table, the floor, etc. See if he can make the animal sounds of each animal.

Homemade Christmas Stockings

All you need to do for this item is cut a stocking shape out of two pieces of felt in whatever color you choose. Take a hole punch and make holes along the edge of the stocking, then stitch up the sides by threading yard through the holes. Now, write your toddler's name in glue, and let her decorate her name with glitter. You can also draw shapes with glue on the stocking, and let her decorate those, too.

Classic Ornaments

These ornaments are easy and fun to make. Before your toddler can begin, you'll need to spray paint quite a few dried beans, such as pinto beans, kidney beans, or northern beans. While those are drying, cut out various Christmas shapes on cardstock paper. Working on a section at a time, place glue on the cardstock, and let your toddler apply her colored beans. Silver and gold look great, but you can use any color. Once she has completely covered the ornament, and it has had time to dry, make a loop out of a piece of yarn, and attach it to the back of the ornament. Be sure you put your child's name and the date on the back, too.