Craft Ideas for Your Toddler

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If your toddlers are in school and not in Daycare, then you are probably at that stage where you want to pull your hair out in frustration. It’s the holiday season and the kids have been home for about a week. If you are wondering what on earth you are going to do with them, never fear, Naija Housewives are here to the rescue.

One thing you need to keep in mind is that toddlers love to learn new things. Once you realize that, you will see that keeping them occupied is not so hard. A good way to help them learn is to introduce new crafts. Crafts do not have to be labor intensive, they just need you to spend some time with your kids. Remember, quality time is what your children will always remember you for and not the expensive toys you bought them.

On to toddler crafts, these are very easy to make and the beauty of it is that you do not have to go out and buy craft suppies (unless you want to do so); you can use regular household goods such as crayons, paper and even pasta to encourage your toddler’s creativity.

 

Drawing and Coloring

Toddlers love to draw and color. Provide a box of crayons, some paper and watch the children get inspired. Children can be taught to draw new items or simply left to doodle on their own. Ask them to describe what they are drawing; it will fuel their imaginations even more! To add another element to the drawing, give your child stickers to play with and place on the paper. Be sure to give your child a variety of stickers so they can choose what they want to use.

 

Paper Crafts

Let your toddler create a card for someone special. Cards can be made with glitter, with adult supervision of course. Help your toddler spell out what they want the card to say, then have them trace the lines with a glitter marker. Glitter markers are better than actual glitter because the markers already have the glue in them – easy cleanup!

Marthastewart.com has some lovely ideas for paper craft – they are not all suitable for toddlers, but there are a few gems there. You will also find some other craft ideas there.

 

Pasta creations

There are many things that toddlers can create with pasta. Wheels can be used as tires on cars, ziti noodles and some string can be used to create bracelets and necklaces. Use markers to color the pasta before using the noodles to craft, your child will come up with a colorful creation for sure.

If you’re not sure about crafting with pasta then consider this a learning opportunity that you can share with your child. You can start out with a pasta necklace or bracelet. If you don’t know how, read this to find out how to colour your pasta.

 

Foam containers

Foam is very easy to maneuver and does not rip as easily as paper making it a versatile project for children. This is also a great craft to consider because there are so many crafts you can make that involve foam. Consider making foam masks or even foam characters such as dinosaurs, dogs, etc, Oh and you can draw the shapes of animals and cut them out. Some fun animals include fishes, star-fish, cats, birds and many others. Ask your child what animal she wants to cut out and them explore their imagination.

Parents.com has some lovely ideas for foam craft projects. You can check them out and see what they have to offer. You could also google “Foam craft projects for toddlers.” Save the building activities for a later age when children are more adept to working with glue.

Using the above ideas is a great way to introduce arts and crafts to your toddler. Since toddlers love to learn and absorb new information, crafts are the perfect idea to spark your child’s creative side. An added plus is that they can get so absorbed in their activities that there’s no room for boredom. And when you’re done, you can either add them to a scrapbook, put them on the door of your fridge or use them as a wall decoration for your child’s room.

All of the ideas provided are quick and easy and allow for minimal mess as well as quick clean up. Crafts can be introduced on a regular basis to keep your child entertained.