Crafts this month?

[mom-in-alberta]

So, what are y'all doing for craft/art activities this year?
I have a two year old and an almost two year old, so they have to be fairly simple. And I don't mind saying that the budget is tight, so nothing that will break the bank!!
My 4 yr old will do pretty much anything, but I have a hard time picking things for this age group, without seeming like I am doing it all for them.

[playfelt]

Tomorrow we are marble painting white on red and green paper. Then I am cutting out ornament shapes from white cardstock that will fold in half and cutting an opening in the middle of both sides of the ornament and then I will cut a piece from the marble paintings when dry - red one side and green for the other - and tape them inside. Mine are young too so it will be a lot me done but in front of them. They will be able to do the gluing closed but I will do the cutting of all the parts tomorrow night so we can assemble on Thursday.

On thursday they are getting gingerbread cutouts from beige cardstock to decorate as desired and then we will glue on google eyes. We will glue them to a piece of dark brown foam and I will cut them out leaving a dark border around the gingerbreadman. I will also work one on one with the gluing from the day before as they colour.

On Friday I have snowflake stickers they will put onto a blue cardstock circle cutout.

[KingstonMom]

I have 5 between 18 months and 4 yrs. We did snowflakes. The kids just coloured plain white paper (scribbles) and I folded them and cut them toi create snowflakes.
I also took pictures of each kid beside my xmas tree, had the photos developed, and made a frame with construction paper, backed with cereal box cardboard for strength. The kids used xmas stamps i had with an ink pad and marker to decorate. (I only did this one with my 3 and 4 yr old). The parent loved it.
I also cut out green xmas trees, had the kids point to where they wanted to decorate with pom-pom ball, and i used hot glue gun to attach.
an idea i was thinking of doing was cutting out a large christmas tree from brown craft paper, and doing a large scale paint project (in diapers or something to avoid big clean up)
or getting the Sears toy catologue and helping the older ones create a wish list or letter to Santa with pictures of toys they like.

[Sandbox Sally]

I am doing homemade dough, and we will cut out shapes with cookie cutters, bake em, then I will get the kids to paint them, leaving a hole in the top for some ribbon - VOILA! Keepsake Christmas ornaments!

[KingstonMom]

alphaghetti- could you share your reciepe for homemade dough? thanks!

[sunnydays]

My guys are are two and under as well and I don't see the point in doing crafts that require ME to do all the work. Yesterday I gave them snowman cutouts on construction paper and then I used a glue stick to cover the body with glue and gave them each a handful of cotton balls...they loves sticking them all on and they were all able to do it easily (even my 17 month old). then I helped them glue on googly eyes and we were done. I think the key with little ones is simple and quick...attention spans are not long enough to sit for an hour doing a craft.

[Sandbox Sally]

Ingredients:

1 cup salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the salt and the flour
Make a well in the salt/flour mixture and add the water
Knead until smooth and shape into a ball
When not in use, wrap in plastic or store in an airtight container

[mlc1982]

Today my group made snowman heads. I cut a hat out of red paper, two eyes out of black paper and a nose out of orange paper for each of them. We used white paper plates. We started by gluing the hats in place and then covered the plates with glue. We placed cotton balls all over the plates. Then glued the eyes and nose onto the cotton. My group is from 15 mths - 4 yrs and they all enjoyed this.

[Sergeants Mom]

I also did that w/ my group. The kids really enjoy painting and decorating them, and yes, they are a wonderful keepsake.

I am doing homemade dough, and we will cut out shapes with cookie cutters, bake em, then I will get the kids to paint them, leaving a hole in the top for some ribbon - VOILA! Keepsake Christmas ornaments!

[sunnydays]

I haven't tried this yet, but I would like to try using the dough recipe and putting their handprints in it as a keepsake for the parents. Has anyone tried this?