{"id":3616,"date":"2010-06-13T13:56:06","date_gmt":"2010-06-13T20:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/?p=3616"},"modified":"2010-06-13T13:57:32","modified_gmt":"2010-06-13T20:57:32","slug":"art-and-craft-activities-for-toddlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/?p=3616","title":{"rendered":"Art and Craft Activities for Toddlers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Expressing themselves through arts and crafts is not just fun for toddlers. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also an important part of their mental and emotional development. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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In this article we will look at some generally good ideas when it comes to art and craft activities for toddlers. Then we will share some great art and craft projects.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Some tips: Art and craft activities for toddlers<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2These activities are inherently messy and they should be. I prefer to take things outside where I can use the water hose to clean afterwards. On a rainy day spread out some news papers for your toddler to work on. With some paints, if you mix a little dish washing liquid in there, it comes out easier.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2Especially with younger toddlers, keep the craft projects simple. If things get too complicated it will only frustrate your toddler.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2If your toddler has problems holding crayons, because they are too small. Try taping 3 crayons together or buy some larger crayons.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2Try to keep in mind that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the process that is important more than the end result, when it comes to toddler art projects.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2Toddlers tend to like to taste things, so everything you use has to be non-toxic, the glue, paint, clay and so on.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2Your toddler may have different ideas on what to do than you have. Feel free to make suggestions, but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try to make them do things \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcyour way\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. The whole exercise is about letting them be creative. Sitting down and talking with them about what they are doing is a good idea. Expressing their goals in words is a positive exercise for them.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2You can use empty yogurt containers to mix paint in, when you are done just toss them away.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Painting<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Toddlers love to paint with brushes, but you should have them try different tools like their fingers, an old toothbrush or rollers to get the creativity going. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fun to add mixes to paint to give it some texture try sawdust, soap flakes, flour sand and cornstarch. Also try painting on different mediums like wood, paper plates or fabric.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Dough Art<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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1 cup flour <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1\/2 cup salt <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Food coloring (optional)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1\/2 cup hot tap water<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Put the flower and salt in a bowl, add the water and then let your toddler knead the mix for 5 minutes. Then you add your food coloring. You can keep the mix in the fridge for up to a week. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The dough is great for making any kind of figures. After you are done, air dry them for 5 days. At this point you can paint them, if you want to.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Making Prints<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Making prints are easy and good fun. They just take the shapes, dip them in paint and push them down on the paper.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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There are a number of things you can use to make the shapes for instance wine corks, shapes cut from potatoes, building blocks, paper cups and cookie cutters.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Paper Face Masks<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Scissors<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Paper plates<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Paint<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

String<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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What you do is to cut the paper plate in two, down the middle. Each part is a mask. Cut eyes into each one. Then help your toddler to decorate the mask using paint or magic markers. When it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dried use a hole puncher to make holes on both sides of the mask. Then use string to finish the mask. If your toddler likes animals, you can add ears made of construction paper or whiskers from pipe cleaners to it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Popsicle Sticks <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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If you have a couple of kids you know there are always some popsicle sticks lying around. Collect them for a few weeks. Let your toddler color them with water washable magic markers. Then glue them together into a picture frame. Glue one of your toddlers paintings or a picture into the frame. Tie a piece of string along the back of the frame. Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ready to hang in your toddler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s room.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Expressing themselves through arts and crafts is not just fun for toddlers. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also an important part of their mental and emotional development. \u00c2\u00a0 In this article we will look at some generally good ideas when it comes to art and craft activities for toddlers. Then we will share some great art and craft projects. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,32,33,12],"tags":[95,319],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3616"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3616"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3619,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3616\/revisions\/3619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}