Crafting with toddlers
The most beautiful ideas
© Sergey Novikov / Shutterstock
Tinkering is not only a lot of fun for toddlers, it also lets them discover materials and promotes creativity. Here we have nice suggestions for what you can do with your little ones.
Why should you do handicrafts with your children?
Living out creatively and discovering things is a lot of fun for toddlers! The result is unimportant, rather the process and the making itself are important. Your children’s creativity is encouraged when they have the opportunity to develop freely. That means, do not expect that the tinkered looks “beautiful”, the point is that the children can try something new, learn how to use different materials and develop new ideas in the creative process – the personal aesthetic feeling comes naturally at some point.
Handicrafts with toddlers: you have to pay attention to that
- As soon as children show interest in, for example, paper and colors, you can get creative with them. This can happen, for example, from the age of two or earlier.
- Uses child-friendly materials and tools for handicrafts: There are, for example, children’s scissors for children from 3 years of age, finger paints from 2 years of age, or pollutant-free children’s glue.
- Prepare the workplace accordingly by spreading out a washable tablecloth or newspaper as a base.
- Eliminates possible sources of danger.
- Put old clothes or a smock on your children to avoid damaging their clothes
- At the beginning you have to give help with a lot of things, such as B. cutting or gluing, but remember that you do not interfere too much in the creative process, after all, your children want to try out for themselves.
- Never let your children do handicrafts unsupervised! There is a risk of suffocation due to small parts that can be swallowed.
The most beautiful craft ideas for toddlers
Do not undertake any elaborate handicraft projects with the very little ones. Simple instructions without complicated steps or expensive materials are sufficient to start the first attempts at handicraft.
Here we have put together a selection of beautiful ideas:
Crafting with toilet paper rolls © Gordine N / Shutterstock
Upcycling at its best. For this DIY you need:
- Toilet paper rolls
- Color (finger paint or water paint)
- brush
- Construction paper
- black felt pen
- colorful feathers
- scissors
- Glue
- Craft wire to attach
Manual:
- Paint the toilet rolls with bright colors and let them dry.
- In time you can cut out the eyes, feet and beak for the birds.
- Then glue them to the rollers and attach colorful feathers to the side as wings.
- The parents have to attach the wire for the suspension: Use sharp scissors to drill two small holes on the upper edge of the paper rolls, thread the wire through and twist the ends. And then you can hang up the funny birds!
Crafting with stones and shells © Fertas / Shutterstock
Stones and shells form the perfect basis from which to create a few funny figures. For decorating, for example, modeling clay that dries in the air is suitable.
Stamp
Stamping is fun for children – and it’s even more fun with your own hand! The handprint can then be decorated as desired.
Crafting with paper plates
All sorts of colorful companions can be made from paper plates. You can paint the plates with your children or cover them with colored tissue paper. For these colorful fish you need finger paints and googly eyes to stick on.
tip: Many other craft ideas can also be implemented from paper plates, for example funny masks, colorful garlands or sliding pictures.
Painting with tape
Pictures that have previously been fitted with removable adhesive tape create a real surprise effect. Then let your children paint on it freely and peel off the tape when the paint has dried.
Crafting with filter bags
Colorfully painted coffee filter bags can become a dress at Hase & Co. The little ones will be absolutely delighted at how beautiful the filter bag looks as clothing on their favorite animal.
Crafting with toddlers: that’s why it’s so important
Handicrafts can keep the little ones busy for a long time – they then completely sink into the activity. Among other things, this promotes the following skills:
- Concentration and gross and fine motor skills
- creativity
- Initiative and self-confidence
- They also learn to coordinate their hands and work with different materials.
Are you looking for more ideas for handicrafts? Here we explain how potato printing works. Here there is inspiration for felting with children, painting with children, handicrafts with toilet rolls or Christmas handicrafts with children. And here we show how you can make magic sand yourself.
Would you like to exchange ideas with others about raising children and promoting creativity? Then take a look at ours Community.