Fun and Easy Toddler Crafts

Many of the toddler arts and crafts I've listed are made with things you may have around your home. Some will require you to purchase some items such as:

A pack of construction paper

White glue

Child safety scissors

Crayons

Markers

Poster paint and brushes(optional)

Tape

Before trying any toddler craft more ambitious, start by helping your child practice lacing. Put tape on the ends of yarn and thread pasta onto it.

Make patterns using beads threaded onto pipe cleaners or string. Paste things like buttons, pom poms or fabric onto pieces of paper.

Collages are a fun way to start your child cutting and pasting. Around the age of two some children are able to start learning how to cut. Tear pages out of magazines of animals, flowers, people(etc)and let them cut and paste onto a piece of paper.

Favorite Toddler Crafts

Puppets are a toddler craft for your child to develop his imagination, communication, fine motor skills and to role play.

Puppets can be made from:

Lunch Bags: Trim puppets with Fabric scraps, cotton balls, yarn, buttons, feathers, seeds or noodles.

Popsicle Sticks: Cut out paper faces, decorate and glue onto stick.

Paper Plates: Decorate and glue onto Popsicle sticks.

• Styrofoam Balls: Cut a hole for your finger and decorate.
• Socks and Mittens: Decorate with yarn, buttons, feathers (etc).

PAPER PLATES

Paper plates are another great around the house toddler craft material.

• Faces: using yarn for hair, crayons or markers to color eyes, nose and mouth.
• Animal: Any animal can be made from paper plates. Just cut out ears, eyes, noses, fins, tails or whatever and glue.
• Hats: Cut holes in sides add string and let them add silly things to the top.
Masks: Cut eye holes, decorate and glue on a Popsicle stick or cut holes in the sides and add string.

Shakers: Fold plate in half, staple around edges leaving a hole to fill with beans or rice. Close hole and shake.

A cylinder can be put on a pencil and rolled across the paper. Also almost anything flat can make a rubbing. Your child might need help holding the object still under the paper. Try keys, leaves, money, paper clips (etc).

PLASTIC BOTTLES

Plastic bottles are common house hold items that can be use for a number of toddler craft ideas.

• Nature Bottles: Take your toddler on a nature walk.Collect items from nature like leaves,stones and acorns. Place them inside the bottles and tighten the cap. Now shake roll and enjoy talking about the different things found in nature.




• Wave Bottles: One of the neatest things you can make. Fill a small bottle 2/3 full of water and finish with baby oil. I added small plastic sea life, food coloring and glitter. You might want to glue the cap on. Tilt the bottle back and forth and watch the waves.
• Rhythm Shakers: Use small clear plastic water bottles and place rice, popcorn, dried beans, pasta and craft bells put the lids on and have a music concert.

PAPER TOWEL ROLLS

• Wind socks: Start by decorating a paper towel roll by painting. Add glitter and pieces of construction paper. Cut strips of crepe paper 12-14 inches for streamers staple to one end and a string for hanging.
• Rain sticks: This may be done with an older child. Decorate a paper towel tube. Cover one end with tinfoil and tape. Twist a long pipe cleaner into a coil and insert into the tube. Add 1/4 cup dry rice. Cover other end with foil and tape. Show your child how to tilt the stick back and forth to make the rain sound.
• Camp Fire: Collect 4-5 paper towel rolls. Allow your toddler to paint them brown to simulate logs. Tape logs across each other like a stack of logs for a camp fire. Now paste on pieces of orange and red tissue papers for flames. Place 1-2 battery powered flickering pumpkin light underneath. Turn out the lights and sit around the camp fire telling stories and singing.

A toddler craft all time favorite is painting. Here are some new versions of this toddler favorite. But don't for get the fun simple activity of brush or finger painting.

Bathtub Finger Paints: Mix 2 tablespoons liquid soap and 1 tablespoon cornstarch with a bit few drops of food coloring. Let your child use the paint to paint on his body or tub tiles. When bath time is over paint will rinse away.

Squashed Paint: Dribble paint onto half of a folded sheet of paper. Close paper and rub. You'll have a double design.

• Body painting: Rub some cold cream into skin and paint away. Washes off with soap and water.
• String Painting: Cover a piece of string with paint. Curl and twist it onto half of a folded piece of paper. Close paper and hold with one hand while pulling the string with the other. This makes cool designs. You may want to do again with another color.
• Painted Glue: Spill glue onto a piece of waxed paper and let dry. Color the dried glue with markers. Remove the shapes and hang in the window or around your neck.
• Straw Blowing: Dribble paint onto paper and blow across the paper with a straw for a neat design.
• Sticker Surprise: Arrange stickers on a piece of paper. Paint over them covering the entire paper. When paint dries remove stickers leaving outline of sticker shapes.
• Marble Painting: In a box or deep pan place paper object to be painted. It's fun to paint paper leaves, hearts,flowers,etc. Dribble several colors of paint on object. Put a few marbles in the box or pan and roll. The marbles leave a neat design on the paper.
• Prints: Almost anything can make a print. Some of my favorites are fruit and vegetables especially apples, broccoli,cauliflower, potatoes and sponges cut into shapes.

Seasonal Toddler Crafts

The holidays are a great time to make toddler crafts. They love to help decorate their house or make gifts for family members.

Toddlers love to decorate ginger bread houses. They can use candy and colored frosting to make their very own houses.

Hand Wreaths: Draw around your child's hand using green construction paper. Make 10 or 12 copies. Glue around the outside of a cutout paper plate making a wreath. Add red berries and a bow.

• Macaroni Wreaths: Cut out the inside of a paper plate. Glue macaroni around the outside. Spray gold, silver or green. Add glitter while still wet. Add a red bow. Makes a beautiful wreath.
• Pine Cones: make great little Christmas trees. Spray a color or leave natural. Add glitter or sequins.
• Styrofoam Ornaments: Using Christmas print napkins and peel apart in layers. Cut around the prints. Using watered down white glue brush prints on Styrofoam balls. Roll in glitter. Add ribbon on top for hanger. Makes beautiful tree ornaments.
• Rudolph: Paint your child's foot brown and stamp on paper heel down. This is Rudolph's head. Brush hands with black paint fingers open and add to both sides of head for antlers. Add a red pompom nose and eyes.
• Snow Flake Prints: Cut out a sponge in the shape of a snow flake or one may be purchases. Make white prints on blue or black paper.
• Lacy Ornaments: may be made by dipping yarn or cotton strings into a mixture of 1/3 cup white glue and 2/3 cup liquid laundry starch. Wrap string around an inflated balloon and let dry. When dry pop the balloon and remove.
• Paper Chains: Great for the Christmas tree, mantel or windows. I'm sure no instructions are needed for this wonderful activity that we all did as children.

HALLOWEEN TODDLER CRAFTS

• Spider and Web: Paint a paper plate black. Cut 1/2 inch slits around edges. Wrap white yarn around edges using slits to hold it making a spider web. Make a spider with accordion pleated legs. Hang from middle of web.
• Lollipop Ghosts:Tie Kleenex around small round suckers. Add face for ghost.
• Paper Bag Ghosts: White plastic or paper bags can be stuffed tied at the neck. Add faces and hang.


Putting faces onto pumpkins is a all time favorite Halloween craft. The small pumpkins are just toddler size and they can be decorated with paint, magic markers, gluing on paper/felt faces or any way your toddler thinks looks spooky.

Paper Bag Pumpkins: Paint small lunch bags orange. Stuff with newspaper and tie off top. Paint top green for stem of pumpkin and add a face.

• Paper Plate Pumpkins: Paint a paper plate orange. Cut out black triangles.Paste shapes on for face.

THANKSGIVING TODDLER CRAFTS

• Pine Cone Turkeys: Lay a pine cone on its side. Add real or paper feathers to the fat end for a tail and a head at the small end.
• Cornucopia: Draw and cut out a cornucopia and let child cut out pictures of food to glue inside it.
• Napkin Rings: Cut a paper towel tube into one inch sections. Paint and let child decorate with Thanksgiving stickers for napkin rings for Thanksgiving dinner.

• Hand Print Menorah: Have your child dip his hands into a pie pan with blue paint. Place his hands on paper with thumbs overlapping. Show her how the print resembles a menorah with the thumbprints representing the Samash. Dip one finger into yellow paint to make flames on each candle.
• Star of David: Show your child how to arrange three craft sticks to form a triangle. Glue together and form another one. Glue one on top of the other to form a star of David. Paint and decorate.

• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
• Food coloring (For really vibrant color I use cake icing coloring)

Kool-Aid Dough (looks and smells terrific)

• 1 cup sifted flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 package Kool-Aid
• 1 cup boiling water

Rubber Dough (You will be surprised by the unique texture)

• 2 cups baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup cornstarch

Holiday Dough Ornaments

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups cinnamon nutmeg mix
• 1 cup salt
• 1 cup water
• Holiday cookie cutters
• straw

Silly Putty

• 2 parts white craft glue
• 1 part liquid starch

Goop (This is a messy but fun sensory material)

• 2 parts cornstarch
• 1 part water

Super Bubbles

• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 4 tablespoons liquid dish soap

Toddler Crafts-Coloring Pages

Toddler Crafts

Toddler Activities/Preschool Activites

Home Page