10 Skill-building Craft Ideas for Preschoolers and Toddlers

Article at a Glance

• Crafts can benefit toddlers and preschoolers by helping with motor skill development.
• There are many fun and easy crafts ideas to explore.
• Engaging with your toddler while crafting can help with their vocabulary.

Crafts are a great way to help toddlers and preschoolers develop their creativity, fine motor skills, and cognitive abilities. With so many craft ideas out there, it can be hard to what’s best for those chubby little hands. That’s why we’ve put together a list of 10 fun and easy craft ideas for toddlers and preschoolers.

1. Paper Plate Animals: All you need is some paper plates, paint, and some craft materials like pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and construction paper. Kids can use their imaginations to create their favorite animals and have fun with mixing and matching different materials.

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2. Handprint Art: This is a classic craft that never gets old. All you need is some washable, non-toxic paint and paper. Have your child dip their hand in paint and make handprints on the paper. Then let them use their creativity to turn those handprints into animals, flowers, or whatever they want.

3. Popsicle Stick Houses: Popsicle sticks are a versatile craft material that can be used to make all sorts of things. Help your child create a house by gluing together popsicle sticks and then decorating with paint and other craft materials.

4. Nature Collage: Take a walk outside and collect some leaves, pebbles, flowers, and other natural materials. Then have your child glue them onto a piece of paper to create a beautiful nature collage.

5. DIY Binoculars: Using two toilet paper rolls, some string, and some paint or markers, kids can make their own binoculars and then use them to explore the world around them.

6. Tissue paper flowers: These colorful flowers are a simple and vibrant craft that even young children can enjoy. Use safety scissors to cut out different colors of tissue paper in rough shapes, stack them, and then fold them into flower shapes and secure with a pipe cleaner or rubber band.

7. Pipe cleaner animals: These fuzzy noodles are a fun and flexible material that can be twisted and bent into different shapes. Use them to create different animals and creatures.

8. Paper bag puppets: Paper bags can be turned into puppets with just a few simple decorations. Encourage your little ones to decorate their puppets with markers, stickers, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, construction paper, and other household materials.

9. Shaving cream art: Shaving cream is a messily fun material that can be used to create unique art projects. Spread shaving cream on a flat surface and let your little ones use their fingers to create different designs and patterns. This one is best reserved for kids who’ve already made it through the “must taste everything” stage of toddlerhood.

10. Yarn and Popsicle stick weavings: Weaving is a great way to help children develop their fine motor skills. Use popsicle sticks as a loom and then have your child weave different colors of yarn through the sticks to create a colorful design.

11. Sponge painting: Soft and squishy sponges are a fun and unique way to paint. Cut sponges into different shapes (circles, squares, hearts, foot prints, tear drops, etc.) and let your little ones create different patterns and designs.

Crafting with toddlers and preschoolers is a fun and easy way to spark their creativity and help them develop their fine motor skills. For an added layer of learning, you can help your toddler build vocabulary by chatting as you go about the different colors, shapes, and textures of all your craft supplies.