Crafting with young children is a wonderful way to bond, stimulate their development, and unleash their creativity. The activities below provide entertaining ideas that under 5’s will love. Choose materials and projects suitable for your child’s age and abilities. Supervise closely for safety and enjoy crafting together!
Make Salt Dough Creations
Salt dough is an easy, inexpensive craft material that allows kids to shape and create anything they imagine. Simply mix together flour, salt, and water until it forms a dough consistency. Let your child knead it with their hands to strengthen muscles and sensory exploration. Roll pieces flat and use cookie cutters to make shapes like stars, hearts, or animals. Your fostering allowance from fosterplus.co.uk can be used to pay for this fun activity.
Decorate with stickers, marker designs, or paint when dry. Make jewelry, ornaments, keychains, or anything they dream up! Salt dough also hardens when baked so projects can be long-lasting keepsakes. Toddlers may need help shaping and joining pieces while preschoolers can work more independently.
Make Edible Fingerpaint
Finger painting is messy fun, and edible paints make for a tasty sensory experience! Mix together 1⁄2 cup corn flour and 1 cup cold water in a bowl. Divide into smaller cups and add food coloring or powdered drink mixes to color and flavor each. Provide a flat surface covered in plastic wrap or wax paper and let kids go wild painting with their fingers and hands. They can create designs, practice writing letters and numbers, or simply enjoy sensory play.
The edible paint will thicken as it sits. Add in more corn flour if needed. When finished, let your child lick their fingers for a sweet treat! This can be an independent activity for ages 18 months and up. Just supervise so they don’t eat too much uncooked corn flour.
Decorate Frames with Pasta
Pasta crafts are perfect for little hands and allow for sorting by size, shape, and color. Cook any small pasta like ditalini, elbow, wagon wheel, or seashells until slightly soft. Drain and spread on wax paper to dry completely. Provide your child with a picture frame and glue. Show them how to dip the pasta pieces in glue and press them onto the frame to create designs. Toddlers will need more help applying glue, while preschoolers can do more independently.
Encourage them to create patterns, pictures, letters, numbers, or abstract art. Let it dry before displaying their masterpiece!
Make Handprint Art
Capture your child’s hands in an adorable keepsake by making handprint art together. For a clay version, roll out air-dry clay and press their hands in to make imprints. Use tools to add details like swirl designs. You can continue shaping the clay into a plaque or coaster once dry.
For paper handprints, paint your child’s hands or press onto paint-covered paper. Print onto cardstock, canvas, or colored construction paper. Add details like pipe cleaner stems for flower hands or wiggly fingers emerging from sleeves cut out of paper. Use stickers and glitter to decorate, too. Display on the wall or make into greeting cards. This classic project creates lasting memories and builds fine motor skills along the way.
Doing arts and crafts together promotes bonding, learning, motor skills, and self-expression. These activities engage the senses, expand creativity, and most importantly, are fun!
