11 answers

Craft Suggestions?

I am looking for some indoor activities to do with my 16 month old so we have things to do as winter approaches. I've been trying to do some craft type things But he's still pretty young to understand. He will use crayons and markers to scribble, but after a couple minutes he gets tired of it and just wants to eat them. We have also tried making things with paper plates, but it just gets torn up before we complete it. Does anyone have any good craft ideas for an active child at this age?

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L., 1st keep it simple, cut a hole in a paper plate, glue leaves, dried or live flowers to it! (use a glue stick) hang on the front door! (or find a grapevine wreath, stick leaves and pine branches.. put a ribbon on it. Collect sticks and glue to a piece of paper, Hon, who cares what it looks like! Do finger painting with pudding, use vanilla on dark paper if chocolate scares you. It is easy, you can do it! K.

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At this age the craft needs to be simple and quick. Their attention span isn't that long. A couple of things my twins daughters liked at this age and still do. 1. Playdough - I would make my own. Putting it in their mouths was a challenge. Rolling pin and a couple of cookie cutters a must. 2. Stamping - Bingo dot stampers (dollar store) and any other stamp with a stamp pad. 3. They also love to have someone trace their hands, feet and with a big piece of paper, their bodies. 4. One fun activity with paint is take the top of a copy paper box, line it with paper and take a small truck, roll the wheels in paint, then let your child make tire tracks on the paper.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful

check out this book "The Everything Toddler Activities Book" by Joni Levine it is full of fun and educational activities. In the meantime try letting him paint with pudding and whip cream with food coloring in it. It is messy but my dd has a ball and she can even eat the paint!

1 mom found this helpful

It's not totally a craft, but one of my favorites is making edible playdough...there's a ton of different recipes on the internet to choose between, I have one I love that uses Kool Aid for coloring and smell. It's a measuring/cooking activity and then it's a sensory activity to play with the playdough and while I still discourage the eating (except for the peanut butter one which is pretty yummy) you know if your child eats some of it he'll be fine. Other activities we did last winter were painting with watercolors (easy clean up) playing in shaving cream, stickers, and making collages of whatever magazine pics I cut out...glue sticks work better (my daughter loves glue)!! Good luck! and have fun!!

L., 1st keep it simple, cut a hole in a paper plate, glue leaves, dried or live flowers to it! (use a glue stick) hang on the front door! (or find a grapevine wreath, stick leaves and pine branches.. put a ribbon on it. Collect sticks and glue to a piece of paper, Hon, who cares what it looks like! Do finger painting with pudding, use vanilla on dark paper if chocolate scares you. It is easy, you can do it! K.

I lover finger painting at this age, also the have foam kits that you can make Door Hangers, crosses, etc these are also good ideas.

I have three boys and a girl. For each of my boys, they were simply too active to sit for long doing crafts. Building block towers and knocking them down, playing basketball on a tiny hoop (playskool has a great one, about a foot high) or learning to roll or catch a ball, etc. Those were the things they loved. My daughter, on the other hand, has always loved to color, draw, cut, and do all of that. So your son may just be a little too hungry for action right now to sit and do a craft - especially since the play-dough and other objects will probably end up in his mouth! You might try some more movement-oriented activities that improve motor skills, hand-eye quardination, etc. Good luck!

Put on a smock and go nuts. The kids at my daycare love glue and homemade paints. For glue give him pieces of colored paper you cut out into shapes and put a little glue on a small paper plate. Have him use a q-tip to apply the glue then stick the paper on. Or you can put the glue on the big paper and he can just stick the pieces on. Another is edible paint. Use vanilla instant pudding with food coloring or evaporate milk from a can with food coloring. Kids even love using just a paint brush with a bowl of water to paint a colored piece of paper. Not too exciting but they love the paper changing. Same with water painting books. paint with toys too. Use little cars and other wheeled toys to drive them through the paint then drive them on white paper. You can point out how each makes different tracks. Have Fun!

Just throwing out some ideas:
Since your son likes to eat crayons, why not fingerpaint with yogurt? If he eats it, who cares? :)

Or make some edible clay to make shapes. Big Pasta necklaces?

Show him how to dust the house (where there are no fragiles) with a cloth or duster..."cooking" (with a pan and wooden spoon) when you are in the kitchen - these things can also be used for an impromptu jam session. Plastice tubs of different sizes - stack them, nest them, wear them as hats.

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