Craft ideas for small toddlers

My kids ages range from 12 months to 2.5 years. My 12 and 15 month old still put a lot of things in their mouths. Yesterday, I attempted to get the 12 month old to colour and he ate the crayon lol

Are they any crafts that we can do, that they can semi-do on their own that aren't dangerous to eat? lol

Yesterday we did hand prints (I painted their hands and washed them immediately) but it's the only thing I can think of doing that is a nice craft, that the kids seem to enjoy and that is less "delicious" lol

Let's see...

We like making collages on contact paper by sticking things like flowers we have collected, craft feathers, cotton balls, colored yarn, scraps of paper etc

Home made play dough won't hurt if some gets in the kids mouths.

There are lots of recipes online for homemade finger paint as well. It doest make the nicest paint but is a great safe intro to painting as it's non toxic and it's also a great sensory experience.

If you buy the big fat tube pasta, even my 18month old dck was able to string those on a shoe lace with a bit of guidance. You can dye the pasta before hand using rubbing alcohol and food coloring to make fun colours for a necklace to take home.

I have also read about painting with pudding, but have never tried it.

Great ideas Yarnlover! Painting with pudding...now why didn't I think of that one sooner?!

Ohh, I forgot to mention my dck favorite art activity, stickers! They love, love, love them. Decorating die cut shapes with stickers is always a huge hit. I get the stickers from the dollar store and the put them on the kids fingers then they pull them off and put them on the paper.
I've also bought the foam visors and foam stickers and had the kids decorate them to take home.

YES! Stickers are a big hit here too!

I use washable markers most of the time because it's easier for the smaller children to colour and they need a lot of pressure with a crayon to make any marks. I sit right beside them and tell them 'not in your mouth' until they learn there are two reasons that we sit at the dining room table, one is for crafting and one is for eating.

I make finger paints with flour and drizzle in the water slowly to get the consistency you want and food colouring, home made playdo. They learn to glue onto cardstock which is a nice firm base with different mediums like cotton balls, coloured feathers, little collections from outside like leaves and sticks and tiny stones, pipecleaners, pompoms.

As long as you buy big painting smocks so they are covered, just squirt different paints onto a paper and let them experiment, or I've given them styrofoam balls and other things like that with paint squirted onto it. They aren't actually creating anything that looks like Martha Stewart made it, they are learning to create slowly but surely on their own without big hands interfering.

Bingo dabbers are great. The littlest kids can stamp them on paper. Just make sure they have smocks on and don't eat the dabbers.

I'm always concerned about food colouring dying their hands... then I'm sending kids home with multi coloured fingers. LOL

Oh my gosh guys great ideas!! I especially love the one where you just squirt the paint and they do whatever. I'll have to find some non-toxic paint...or pudding like someone said! My husband would be upset that we're "waisting" pudding but he'll get over it lol

Thanks everyone!

Yes, art time is for creativity in my opinion, not creating a masterpiece at this age! Lots of messy experimentation, but whatever you have them do, make sure you are right there teaching them not to put it in their mouths. The pudding would be fun, but I would worry that it would give them the idea that eating "paint" is okay....or that playing with food is okay...or both! I think I prefer to keep food and art separate ;) Older kids could understand if you explained it to them, but toddlers will get confused!

Even though I work in a daycare and not in a home daycare (really thinking about making the move soon!!), I completly understand your concerns. I currently work with a group of 16 months to 2 years old and they do put everything in their mouth! Here is a few things we did do in the past... For painting, we used whipped cream, pudding, iced cubes with food coloring in it and jello. When it comes to 'glue', you can make a homemade glue with flour and then, you can give them froot loops or pasta. You can also cook spaghetti with food coloring in the water and once it's cook, the child can just lay the colored pasta on a piece of paper. You do not need any glue since it will stick to the paper by itself once it is dried. Just a few ideas... By the way, thanks ladies for all the amazing ideas I have been reading here since the last few weeks !!!! It really wants me to do the move to "home daycare"... :)

The kids love coloring with markers on dollar store coffee filters. then once they have colored them, they sprinkle water onto to them and then they do tie dye ~ then you make make so many things with them. We made a bunch of flowers by pinching them together and putting green pipe cleaners to fill our vase to decorate the playroom :)

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Originally Posted by Patricia

Even though I work in a daycare and not in a home daycare (really thinking about making the move soon!!), I completly understand your concerns. I currently work with a group of 16 months to 2 years old and they do put everything in their mouth! Here is a few things we did do in the past... For painting, we used whipped cream, pudding, iced cubes with food coloring in it and jello. When it comes to 'glue', you can make a homemade glue with flour and then, you can give them froot loops or pasta. You can also cook spaghetti with food coloring in the water and once it's cook, the child can just lay the colored pasta on a piece of paper. You do not need any glue since it will stick to the paper by itself once it is dried. Just a few ideas... By the way, thanks ladies for all the amazing ideas I have been reading here since the last few weeks !!!! It really wants me to do the move to "home daycare"... :)

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Thanks for your ideas, too, Patricia! DO it. Come to the dark side. ;)

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Originally Posted by Alphaghetti

Thanks for your ideas, too, Patricia! DO it. Come to the dark side. ;)

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Dark side...that was funny!!