Toddlers are continually looking for new ways to learn, explore, and discover. Toddler crafts are an excellent way to keep their minds engaged while they have new learning experiences and opportunities. When tiny tots have an interest in discovering new things, these crafts will open the door to opportunities for them. Parents can provide their children with a wealth of opportunities without spending too much. Often, many of these projects can be completed using materials you already have around the home.
What Are Toddler Crafts?
Toddler crafts provide opportunities for children to express their feelings, develop gross motor skills, and learn about shape, color, and texture. They don’t have to finish the project to have a sense of fulfillment and happiness. It’s the act of working on it that brings them joy and encourages learning.
These projects inspire confidence and a lifelong love of learning. Examples of toddler crafts include origami for kids, learning how to make a candle, or projects involving animals to draw. Under most circumstances, these crafts are simple and involve few materials. They don’t take up much time, but they’re long enough to keep the toddler busy.
Is There a Need for Toddler Crafts?
As a way of helping prepare toddlers for school, crafts open the door for a variety of learning and other experiences. The need for toddler crafts include helping children with the following:
- Cultural awareness
- Decision making
- Inventiveness
- Improved academic performance
- Language development
- Motor skills
- Visual learning
It doesn’t stop there. Toddlers enjoy these projects because, when they’re working with other children, they’re also developing social skills. If your child is working on crafts with friends or at their preschool, they need to learn skills including sharing, communication, and manners. When they’re working on these projects at home with you, it’s an excellent opportunity to strengthen bonds, set expectations, and teach your child more about following directions.
15 of the Best Projects for Tiny Tots
In this section, we will talk about projects you and your child can complete together using materials you have in your home, or at a relatively low cost. Each of these crafts will help set your child up for success in a variety of ways, including independence, creativity, and socialization.
1: Rainbow Rain Stick
Are you looking for toddler crafts you can create using materials you already have around your home? Here’s one that fits the bill! All you need is a cardboard tube, Washi tape, rice, and duct tape.
All you have to do is cover one end of the tube with duct tape, fill it with some rice, and then cover the other end. You and your toddler can decorate the barrel of the tube using Washi tape, and you’re done!
2: Painted Paper Cup Flowers
These toddler crafts make wonderful Mother’s Day gifts. Set out some paper cups with paint drizzled down the inside. Then, put a small round stone inside for your toddler to swirl around while upside down on top of a plastic lid. A marble will work, too. You may need to add more paint. Let them dry. Then, have your toddler cut down lines you’ve drawn for the petals about a half-inch wide. Then, fold them back. Attach the cups together using a pipe cleaner as the stem by poking a hole in the middle of each cup.
3: Letters of the Week
Help your toddler learn their letters and phonics by creating “letters of the week.” You can cut out the letters from pieces of construction paper.
Then, ask your toddler to decorate them. Work on how to pronounce the letter and what words start with that letter. For example, “A” is for “Apple,” or “B” is for “Basketball.” You can paste the letters on another piece of construction paper or leave them as a stand-alone piece of art.
4: Make Homemade Playdough
There’s nothing like a kitchen craft to get a toddler’s mind working. Plus, homemade playdough is something that your child can continue working with for months. Even though it’s non-toxic and smells good, that doesn’t mean they should sample any. Homemade playdough is an excellent way for toddlers to learn about measuring, mixing, and how to follow directions. You can use powdered drink mixes or food coloring to change the scent and color of the playdough.
5: Paint with Trucks
Does your child love to roll around trucks? Why not turn it into a craft project? Here’s an opportunity to teach your toddler about texture and color. They’ll see the tires making texture marks. They’ll also see how the colors are mixing. Put some blobs of paint on pieces of paper and encourage your toddler to drive their trucks or other vehicles through the colors.
6: Heart Sun Catchers
These toddler crafts are an excellent way to teach your child about gross motor skills and colors. You’ll need a heart template, white cardstock, colorful tissue paper, scissors, foam paint brushes, , and a pen. Invite your toddler to cut the tissue paper into squares while you print a heart on the white cardstock. Then, your toddler can spread mod podge on the clear plastic. Press the tissue paper into the mod podge using the foam brush. Once the mod podge is dry, remove the plastic with your toddler. Invite them to use the heart shape to trace on the tissue paper. Then, help them cut it out.
7: Paper Rainbows
Here’s a colorful way to engage your toddler and introduce a matching activity for them. You’ll need construction paper, a piece of white paper, a glue stick, cotton balls, masking tape, and rainbow stickers. Fold the construction paper lengthwise in half. Then, fold it in half once more. Cut those pieces along the folds, and repeat for each color.
Fold the white paper once lengthwise. Place each paper into coordinating stacks according to their color. Lay the colors out on the white paper, so there’s about one inch of white space left on the white paper. The colors will overlap each other. Glue them down and cut off any excess paper. Encourage your toddler to match up the stickers with the coordinating colors of construction paper.
8: Painting in the Rain
Rainy days don’t stop toddlers from having fun. Splatter painting is an excellent way to embrace joy while preventing rainy day boredom. Drip some food coloring onto pages of cardstock. Then, send your toddler outside in their raincoat and rain boots to watch what the rain does to the colors. It works best when it’s sprinkling outside. If it’s raining too hard, you’ll find your works of art will turn into a muddy mess.
9: Practice Your Toddler’s Name
Using stickers, practice your toddler’s name. Toddler crafts like these help your child learn about spelling, develop gross motor skills, and how to follow directions. You’ll need dot stickers, a large piece of paper, and a marker. Write your child’s name using large block letters. Then, show them how to spell it on the paper using your finger. Encourage them to use the dot stickers to trace their name.
10: Handprint Tree Craft
Does your toddler enjoy finger painting? If so, this handprint tree craft is ideal. You’ll need one large piece of white paper and tempera paint. Depending on if you want a fall or spring scene, that will dictate the colors. Ask your child to use the tip of their finger to create a series of dots in the center of the paper. If they don’t want to use their finger, a cotton swab will also work. Then, help them paint the tree trunk.
11: Use Stickers as Art
For this toddler craft, you’ll be identifying what the sticker is before your child uses it in their art. For example, if you’re using a themed pack of animal stickers, you could ask your child, “what sound does this animal make?” Then, when they make the should, they can peel off the sticker and add it to their art. Or, if you’re using letter stickers, you can talk about letter sounds or words.
12: Paper Plate Elephants
Here’s an opportunity for toddlers to learn to discover what happens when you put color down and cut out shapes. You’ll need a paper plate, scissors, glue, white paper, black sharpie, paint, and a sponge. Begin by cutting the paper plate for your toddler. You’ll need a small semi-circle on the top and a larger one on the bottom. Then, encourage them to sponge paint the rest of the paper plate and the largest semi-circle. While they’re painting, draw eyes on the white paper and cut them out. Let the paint dry and, then paste on the eyes. The largest semi-circle is the elephant’s trunk.
13: Sensory Bottle
Toddlers love sensory play. So, when they make this sensory bottle, it will provide them with many opportunities for discovery. You’ll need water, corn syrup, glitter, beads, a funnel, and a bottle. Place the funnel into the bottle’s mouth. Fill the bottle halfway up with water. Then, fill the other half using corn syrup. Add beads and glitter. Twist on the cap and let your toddler shake it up. The corn syrup helps keep everything separate and allows the glitter to fall slowly.
14: Flower Printing
Instead of pressing flowers between pages of a book, this toddler craft involves painting with flower heads. You’ll need a paint pallet with large sections, an assortment of flowers with sturdy stems (faux flowers will also work), and plain pieces of paper. Lay some pieces of newspaper out to prevent any messes from occurring. Encourage your toddler to use the flower heads to paint on the white papers. Use a separate flower head for each color.
15: Tape Painting
Toddler crafts like these are an excellent way for your child to express themselves freely and discover something new. You’ll begin by taping a design or their name on a piece of white paper. Then, using a variety of brightly colored paints, encourage then to paint all over the paper. After the paint is dry, peel the tape away. This project works best when you’re using a canvas board or a similar surface because the tape comes off easier. As an alternative, you can also use a white crayon to create a design.
Conclusion
Toddler crafts don’t have to break your budget or be complicated. As long as your child remains engaged and doesn’t feel frustrated, then they’ll have fun and learn. The outcome should be a sense of accomplishment and a desire to continue working on similar crafts in the future. The projects here are examples of how you can modify your experiences and continue shaping opportunities for your child. In doing so, your toddler will have a continuous sense of fulfillment and joy when approaching new learning experiences.
Last update on 2023-03-31 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
