Crafting with Your Toddlers
Engaging your toddler in craft-making is a great way to channel their energy into creativity. From making homemade play dough to learning about shapes, these craft ideas won't require an extra trip to the supply store. The materials needed are already within your reach at home. Plus, these crafts become instruments of play and learning for your toddler, once finished.
Homemade Playdough
Not only is making playdough an entertaining process, but the result is a toy that your toddler can play with for hours. To create this, you’ll need flour, salt, cream of tartar, vegetable oil, and food coloring. To add a bit of pizzazz, glitter is a great option.
Start by mixing the dry ingredients- two cups of flour, one cup of salt, and a tablespoon of cream of tartar. Then, add a few drops of food coloring to two tablespoons of vegetable oil before mixing with the dry ingredients. Next, slowly pour in two cups of boiling water for the adult to handle, making sure to mix well.
After allowing it to cool and firm up, knead it well. Add glitter for that extra sparkle! Store this dough in air-tight containers and keep your toddler entertained for up to two months. This homemade playdough fosters creativity and keeps their little hands occupied.
Learning Shapes with Felt and Cardboard
Shapes are one of the basic concepts taught to toddlers. This simple craft project will require felt, cardboard, scissors, and glue. It's a fun activity that helps your little one become more familiar with shapes.
Create this learning tool by cutting out different shapes from the felt. Glue these shapes onto a piece of cardboard and cut a square around each shape. Cut each shape in half to encourage your toddler to recognize and match the shapes.
Not only will it keep your toddler busy, but it's an enriching activity that sharpens their cognitive skills. Also, it's a craft that your toddler can use repeatedly, reinforcing the learning process.
Colorful Pom-Pom Shoot
A colorful pom-pom shoot not only offers an entertaining activity for your toddler, but also introduces them to colors. Gather the materials like poster board, paper towel tubes, toilet paper tubes, construction paper, double-sided tape, washi tape, assorted pom-poms, markers, a glue gun, and command strips.
Start by deciding on a layout for your shoot. Cut out colored paper the size of the tubes and attach them to the tubes with double-sided tape. Use a hot glue gun to secure these tubes to your poster board to provide a sturdy structure for the pom-pom shoot.
Embellish your shoot by adding the washi tape for an extra visual appeal. Write down the colors of the shoots for your toddler to match with the corresponding pom-poms. This craft will help your toddler learn about colors while having fun.
Toy Animal Bathtub
Teaching cleanliness can be a chore, but giving toy animals a bath can make it fun! You'll need a couple of medium-sized tubs, cocoa powder, flour, water, plastic toy animals, grass, and optional blue food coloring to make it fun.
To start, create the mud by mixing two cups of flour, two tablespoons of cocoa powder, and two cups of water. Add some toy animals and grass, and let your toddler go wild playing in the 'mud'.
Then, fill the other tub with clean water for the toy animals' bath time. To make it more interesting, add a few drops of blue food coloring to represent the ocean. This activity not only lets your child have fun, but also imparts practical lessons such as washing after play.