Crafts are so good for kids. They can keep them productively occupied while you’re doing work around the house, or give you something to do together. Crafting helps kids learn new skills and gives them a wonderful sense of accomplishment.
Crafting is especially good for smaller children. Crafts help them gain fluent hand-eye coordination, helps them to learn about shapes and colors, and so much more. My kids love crafting so much, we have an entire shelf in our kitchen dedicated to the storage of crafting and the multitude of supplies we have gathered for our various projects.
In the summer, we schedule our craft time for right after breakfast, before outside play time because they love it so much. We have a very Waldorf based home learning, and believe in using hands for creativity and well being. It brings me joy to see them delighting in their own creativity.
And if you have a toddler, there’s no doubt about it – toddlers can be a bundle of energy. And if you add rain to the mix, they may drive a poor mom, dad or babysitter crazy. Try out some of these fun rainy day craft ideas for toddlers. These crafts may help keep your toddler happy and you sane.
It helps if you have a box of craft items you can use with your toddler. Glue, glitter, feathers, construction paper, yarn, pony beads, finger paints, google eyes, pieces of felt, unmatched socks, old magazines and safety scissors are a few of the items you may want to have on hand. If you have things available, a rainy day or a moment of declared boredom won’t catch you by surprise.
Create An Alphabet Collage
Go through old magazines and have them cut out letters from the titles of articles. These will generally be much larger and will be easier for your toddler to cut out. Glue the same letter on a sheet of paper, and then go back through the magazine looking for pictures of items starting with that letter. For instance, A – apple, alligator, adding machine, etc. You’ll end up with 26 pages, one for each letter, as well as a front cover and back cover. Your toddler will begin to learn their letters and the sounds the letters make.
Make A Sock Puppet
Make a sock puppet with a couple of the unmatched socks you have lying around. Your child can glue pieces of yarn on top for hair, glue googly eyes on if you have them, and cut out shapes for the mouth. Be sure to let the puppet dry completely before your toddler begins playing with it or the pieces may come apart and end up where they don’t belong. You can do a similar craft using paper bags.
It’s quite possible your toddler has started a collection of rocks; many toddlers do. If they have some larger smooth rocks, they could make paperweights out of them. Let them paint and decorate the rock however they’d like. When it’s dry, they can give it as a gift or keep it for themselves.
Pipe Cleaner Crafts
Making things out of pipe cleaners is lots of fun, and it doesn’t require any scissors. And it’s not messy, either. Pipe cleaners are the only supplies needed. Your child can make people, animals, flowers and more out of colorful pipe cleaners.
Finger Painting
Finger painting can be very messy, but kids love it and it doesn’t require scissors or anything else that could be dangerous. It also provides parents with some nice art for the wall or refrigerator. Just outfit your child with a smock, cover the area with newspapers, and let him create a masterpiece. In case you are like me and prefer eco-friendly craft products, it is possible to find eco-friendly finger paints now.
Give them several sheets of paper and finger paint, and let them loose. However, you may want to teach them to “write” their name with finger paint or show them different shapes. Of course, they may have so much fun feeling the squishy paint between their fingers they may not want to stop once the sun comes back out.
Get Collecting & Creative With Stickers
Kids love stickers, so why not let them make their own? You can find stickers with outlines that your child can color in at discount stores, or you can buy blank ones and let your child decorate them as he wishes. In a pinch, you could even give your child blank printer labels to decorate for use as stickers. Washable markers and glitter glue will minimize the mess factor. Melissa & Doug make a wonderful (and popular!) reusable sticker pad, and there are some great color-by-number sets (these are not many with stickers, but I thought they were worth mentioning for toddlers).
Inspire Young Minds With Sculpting
Sculpture is a wonderful art for kids. They can make figurines, paperweights and more using only their hands and some Play-Doh. There’s no baking required, and Play-Doh is non-toxic. You can even find eco-friendly modeling dough, which simply adds to the list of fabulous finds in the great-stuff-for-great-kids department.
Magnets Are Magic For Toddlers!
Refrigerator magnets are both fun to make and useful. There are all sorts of ways your child can make them without using scissors. Clothespin magnets are great for holding shopping lists and other important notes.
To make them, simply let your child decorate clothespins with magic markers. Then attach a self-adhesive magnet to the back. Magnets can also be created with Play-Doh, modeling clay, seashells, or inkjet business cards. Virtually anything that is not too heavy will work. There are all kinds of imagination inspiring magnetic toys on the market, too.
Also, if you haven’t tried Green Kid Crafts, they have great products, and free shipping. All are eco-friendly, and you can find such incredibly fun things such as their award-winning packages in Ocean Science, Space, Safari, Volcanoes, and Music. There are even sample discovery boxes in Robot Workshop and Safari Science! It is well worth it to give it a go. Try Green Kid Crafts here!
These are just a few fun craft ideas for toddlers you may want to try. The internet is also a great resource for more fun ideas you can use, as well as your local public library. Your greatest resource, however, is your toddler’s own creativity and having someone to share that creativity with.
This sounds like a fun kit. I think most kids enjoy crafts and when there are not restrictions for them during the activity it makes it more enjoyable I think!
Love this post because I do have a toddler and would prefer if she doesn’t use a scissors. I am going to be actually doing a few of these with her. Thanks for sharing.