Toddlers & Preschoolers
With a very busy toddler in the house who's rarely still, I'm jealous of moms whose kids love to sit and do creative activities.
How can I get my active toddler interested in arts and crafts?
Tell me what's worked for you in the replies below.
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Replies
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I just set them up and let them go. We offer crayon and markers at an early age. I can remember putting my oldest in the high chair with the wasable markers and just letting him go at it. I think he was about 1 maybe a little older.
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I find most toddlers like to do what mom does. they are like little sponges soaking up everything. get your toddler to sit at the table after you have gotten everything ready for the project so they dont get bored waiting. tell them you need thier help as well, they love to help at this age, it gives them a sense of pride. when they complete something make sure to give lots of praise, they will want to do more.
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I didn't have to work very hard. Once we put a crayon in our kids hands, that was it! Now they love to draw, color, paint and do any other type of craft I introduce them to.
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Just get the stuff out. My son starts getting excited the minute I head to the closet that holds all the craft stuff. If keeping them engaged the whole time is a concern, have everything prepped before hand. Also realize that if they don't stay engaged that is alright. The point is to have fun,
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Just keep offering craft activities. I will let my toddler have crayons and a paper and she will color for a few them go do something else, then go back to coloring. Maybe try finger painting, play dough, and things like that too. Put an old table cloth on the floor so they have room to play and clean up is easy and let them have fun, also make sure to join them!
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This. I find that the messier it is the more interested Avery is in doing it. lol. I usually strip her down to her diaper and take her to the back porch to finger paint, chalk, etc.
Quoting foistela:
I think you just need to try different things to figure-out what they like to do. There are so many crafts to chose from, they are bound to like something.
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DD loves craft time. We do something every day.
I usually give her a few choices and ask her which one she wants to do.
We started out with crayons and paper, playdough (homemade) and moved up...
Now we cut shapes and glue them to make a picture. We paint pictures. We make collages of things she likes to hang in her room. We make our own cards for bdays and holidays.
Its not hard to get DD involved with crafts. If its gets late in the day and we havent had craft time yet... she lets me know.
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Let them be a mess! My little ones always loved to finger paint so I would buy large poster boards (from the dollar store) and sit them down on the floor in the kitchen. They would paint for hours!
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All you can really do is offer them the paper and crayons. Some really love to color and create, others would rather play. All children are different
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Try messy things like finger painting (you can do finger painting with yogurt. Vanilla yogurt plus food coloring equals lots of fun!) My almost 2yr old made valentines cards this yr and it was hard getting him to focus on what we were doing. Mainly because he wanted to eat all the stickers. Lol I sit him in his high chair so he isn't running around while doing arts and crafts.