All kids love crafts and though toddlers lack some of the manual dexterity required for the more complicated projects, they are no exception. Crafts for toddlers can improve fine motor and cognitive skills. Some crafts for toddlers require a lot of assistance from an adult, but others are simple enough for a toddler to manage without help. Any projects involving stickers, clay, or drawing instruments are always a good choice.
Cereal jewelry is one popular project in the crafts for toddlers category. The only items required are pipe cleaners and any sort of cereal with a hole in the middle. This is an activity that can be performed without much assistance, and it makes a great snack too! Give the child a pipe cleaner and a pile of cereal and demonstrate how to thread the pipe cleaner through the holes in the cereal. The finished product can then be wrapped around the child’s wrist to be used as a bracelet, or a few pipe cleaners can be connected by twisting the ends together and used for a necklace.
Another winner on the crafts for toddlers list are rattle bottles. Supplies required are a water bottle, funnel, glue, rice and buttons, beads, or any object small enough to fit through the mouth of the bottle. Place the funnel in the mouth of the bottle and hold it there while the toddler uses a spoon to scoop rice and dump it into the funnel. Let the toddler continue this until the bottle is about one-fourth of the way full.
Next, remove the funnel and let the toddler select the objects he or she would like to place inside the bottle. This is a great time to allow the child to practice counting as the objects are dropped in. When the toddler is satisfied with the quantity added, apply glue to the bottle cap, twist on, and wait for it to dry. Now the toddler can shake his very own noisemaker.
Toddlers love to pull things and put items into things. Help them make custom toy bags to tote their finds or help with toy clean up. The only items needed are fabric paint and a pillowcase. Use the paint to write the child’s name on the pillowcase, then pour some paint onto a paper plate and help the child press a hand into the plate, then onto the pillowcase. Repeat as desired, then when the paint dries, the toddler can use the pillowcase to gather toys he can pull from room to room.