Friday 8 March 2013

Five Budget Craft Activities For Toddlers



If there's one thing that is guaranteed to put a smile on the faces of both of my children, it's a good old art and craft activity.  They love to paint, to stick, to bake, to sew, to colour, to draw, to glue, to mix - honestly, they're not fussy.  I regularly search for new activities to try with them and it has come to my attention that the majority can be achieved with things around the home - often with little more than salt or flour!

Here are five of my favourite craft activities that cost very little to achieve:

Salt dough initials - mix one cup salt, and one cup flour with a little water to form a dough.  Form initial of your child.  Poke the end of a paintbrush/spoon/straw through the top for the purposes of threading ribbon through once cooked.  Bake at 120 degrees for 4-5 hours.  Leave to cool then paint.  The finished initials can be hung in your child's bedroom.

Moon sand - simply mix flour (five cups) with baby oil (one cup) for this one - it smells divine, feels silky soft and can be turned into a lovely little beach scene in your very own front room.  My two loved it.

Shaving foam marbling - empty shaving foam into a tray, add a few drops of food colouring and mix.  Gently press pieces of paper on top of the colourful, swirly mess and then leave them to dry, removing excess foam if necessary.  This is an easy one for even very young children to master by themselves, and a lot of fun.

Chocolate play dough - Find a better explanation than I can provide of why this is such a great idea here.

Sensory salt for mark making - line a tray with silver card, then pour table salt on top.  Add any colour/scent that you wish (lavendar is a lovely one).  The children can then use the tray to practice their letter forming and name writing or just to make pretty shapes in the salt.

A huge thank you must go to The Imagination Tree for the constant inspiration.

No comments:

Post a Comment