needed: craft ideas for 1-2 year olds...

[ProudGrandma]

My daughter goes to a local daycare twice a week to read a book and do a craft with the kids....(about six 1-2 year olds...mostly 2) and she is running out of ideas to do with them.

 

According to her, their ability is limited (as it is with 1-2 year olds) and they can basically put stickers on paper, use paint dotters and sort of glue tissue paper to a paper plate, put fruit loops on a pipe cleaner....which she has done multiple times in various ways.  Pinterest has been our best friend but even that is now letting us down. 

 

For craft supplies she has tissue paper squares, self adhesive googly eyes, foam geometric shapes, construction paper, paper plates, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, pom poms, stickers of all sorts and washable markers. 

 

She says paint doesn't work well at all...and either does glue...even glue sticks...they eat it, they press too hard and ruins the glue sticks, they touch everything with pained fingers, brushes, etc.  

 

Of course she tries to match the craft with a book, which usually works...but not always.

 

She has done shaving cream inside a zippered bag with colored dye.  She has made many animals out of paper plates.  Decorated paper mittens and snowmen.  Stung a pipe cleaner with fruit loops and made them into a worm for the Hungry Caterpiller.  Made cookies and muffins and doughnuts for if you give a______ a _______ (moose a muffin etc).  

 

She has repeated techniques multiple times....but we are just sort of in a rut...

 

any ideas for us?

 

thanks.

[Carol in Cal.]

Do a dot markers are great for that age.

 

 

[ProudGrandma]

she does use those....any ideas as to what sort of projects she might do...other than just dotting a paper plate...or a piece of construction paper..she has done those things....

 

oh the craft needs to last about 15 minutes...she is at the daycare for about 30 minutes...so 15 for the story and 15 for the craft....

[kbutton]

If the kids aren't bored, I wouldn't worry about variety. A lot of kids that age really like the predictability of a small palette of options.

 

I remember my son's Sunday School teacher from this age group saying that if she didn't have stickers and glue, the kids were disappointed, so she learned to ignore the glue mess and to always have lots of stickers on hand.

 

It sounds like your daughter has done a great job! 

 

One glue tip, if it helps... my older son attended a Montessori preschool, and they had a good idea for more appropriate amounts of glue. They put small gobs of glue in milk jub lids. Then they cut cotton swabs in half, and the kids used their swab to put the glue on the craft. It kept the mess (and waste) to a minimum, and parents were happy to bring in bags of milk jug lids from time to time.

[Spryte]

We did Mother Goose Time preschool in a box, and there were so many, many activities for that age, I can't remember them all.

 

Some favorites were gluing pasta and beans in a  "pot" made out of card stock.  So we cut out a little pot shape, and glued in the ingredients to make soup.  You could maybe pair that with a book like Stone Soup?  Or some other cooking soup.

 

We made little gardens, gluing seeds into rows that looked like the rows of a garden.  Paired that with a lot of stuff about gardening.  

 

We made duck bills and duck feet out of construction paper.  

 

Maybe you can look up Mother Goose Time and see some ideas that they used?  

[happi duck]

Does it need to be an individual, take home thing?

 

Some general ideas:

Acting out parts of the story

(like for The Mitten making a masking tape mitten shape on the floor and then telling the story with the kids names "and then Bobby came along and thought 'what a cozy spot'". The kids go inside the mitten when it is their turn etc.)

 

Doing a selection of action rhymes that fit the book along with old favorites.

 

Having an experience related to the story, focusing on five senses (like opening a coconut for chicka, chicka boom boom...How does it feel, sound, look, smell, taste the water and the flesh)

 

Make a book related to the story with each kid adding something, the book gets read when finished and finished books get brought back other times to share again with the group (like for Brown bear brown bear have pre chosen, precut magazine pictures and kids pick a picture "Bobby, Bobby, what do you see? Etc. The adult puts down the glue and the kids puts down the picture.)

 

 

 

With glue at that age it can be really helpful for the adult to put down the glue as it is needed. Especially with a small group.

 

With washable markers you can scribble on a coffee filter and then mist it with water to make the colors bleed. The filters can be cut in half for a rainbow story or left whole and then scrunched and clipped in a clothes pin for a butterfly/spring story.

 

Hope this helps!

 

.

Edited March 19, 2017 by happi duck

[bookbard]

I put together an ebook of activities for kids under 2 - all stuff I did with my own kids. Called Baby Play Today, it's on Amazon. If you don't have a kindle you can download the kindle app free to read it on your device.

 

Baby Play Today

 

Free Kindle app

[Hilltopmom]

I'd definately add other variety to fill up the time, finger plays & songs. My 2 yr old can "do" a craft for about 30 seconds, lol.

 

Could she bring stuff for sensory bins, or like shaving cream on trays, or oobleck, or playdo, not to take home, just to experience & then clean up.

 

We used to put huge pieces of paper on the floor & turn the kids loose with paint or dot markers to color on it together.

Then when dry, cut it into individual shapes to send home or hang up in the classroom.

 

But really, the kids won't care that they ve done the stuff before. Classroom teachers for that group do the same variations over & over too.

Edited March 19, 2017 by Hilltopmom

[Cecropia]

Make a themed snack?

 

train

butterfly

dog

pig

boat

chicka chicka boom boom

hungry caterpillar

 

[wintermom]

My daughter goes to a local daycare twice a week to read a book and do a craft with the kids....(about six 1-2 year olds...mostly 2) and she is running out of ideas to do with them.

 

According to her, their ability is limited (as it is with 1-2 year olds) and they can basically put stickers on paper, use paint dotters and sort of glue tissue paper to a paper plate, put fruit loops on a pipe cleaner....which she has done multiple times in various ways.  Pinterest has been our best friend but even that is now letting us down. 

 

For craft supplies she has tissue paper squares, self adhesive googly eyes, foam geometric shapes, construction paper, paper plates, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, pom poms, stickers of all sorts and washable markers. 

 

She says paint doesn't work well at all...and either does glue...even glue sticks...they eat it, they press too hard and ruins the glue sticks, they touch everything with pained fingers, brushes, etc.  

 

Of course she tries to match the craft with a book, which usually works...but not always.

 

She has done shaving cream inside a zippered bag with colored dye.  She has made many animals out of paper plates.  Decorated paper mittens and snowmen.  Stung a pipe cleaner with fruit loops and made them into a worm for the Hungry Caterpiller.  Made cookies and muffins and doughnuts for if you give a______ a _______ (moose a muffin etc).  

 

She has repeated techniques multiple times....but we are just sort of in a rut...

 

any ideas for us?

 

thanks.

 

Are there any Early Childhood Educators at this daycare? She could ask to borrow one of their books for age-appropriate crafts and activities.

 

Some of those craft supplies are not age-appropriate. If an object is smaller in diameter than a toilet paper roll, it's not safe for children under 3 years of age. They are choking hazards.

 

No googly eyes, foam pieces, cotton balls, pom poms, pipe cleaners. These are all choking hazards for 1 and 2 year olds. 

[Bambam]

I'd be tempted to get some clear contact paper (cheap at WalMart).

 

Cut out shapes of construction paper (hearts, star, etc). Peel backing off contact paper, place construction paper shape on there, let kids fill with tissue paper squares. Heart for Valentines, Flower for spring, Bunny for Easter, Star for 4th of July, bell/wreath/snowman for Christmas, pumpkin for Thanksgiving, leaf shapes for fall, etc. 

 

 

Use paper plates to make wreaths. For glue - put on paper plate and give the kids q-tips (This might work, it does for slightly older kids) and they can decorate the plates with scraps of tissue paper, construction paper, etc. And, yes, it will be messy. That is, unfortunately, part of the process with kids this age.

 

Maybe make the homemade putty/slime stuff? 

 

And redo the same things over again. 

[Zinnia]

The book, Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready, has some ideas, too.

 

One thing I've done with that age is cut out shapes that they glue on paper.  If the books is about shapes, then it is red triangles or whatever.  If the book is about cars, then it's cars.  Then on top of the glued shape, they use dot markers or crayons.  

[vonfirmath]

My daughter goes to a local daycare twice a week to read a book and do a craft with the kids....(about six 1-2 year olds...mostly 2) and she is running out of ideas to do with them.

 

According to her, their ability is limited (as it is with 1-2 year olds) and they can basically put stickers on paper, use paint dotters and sort of glue tissue paper to a paper plate, put fruit loops on a pipe cleaner....which she has done multiple times in various ways.  Pinterest has been our best friend but even that is now letting us down. 

 

For craft supplies she has tissue paper squares, self adhesive googly eyes, foam geometric shapes, construction paper, paper plates, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, pom poms, stickers of all sorts and washable markers. 

 

She says paint doesn't work well at all...and either does glue...even glue sticks...they eat it, they press too hard and ruins the glue sticks, they touch everything with pained fingers, brushes, etc.  

 

I do crafts with 3 year olds. We do a LOT of coloring.  But yesterday I tried something new with glue (which may still not work given what was said about paint)

 

I put glue onto plates and gave the kids paint brushes to "Paint" the glue onto their plates.  This was more successful.

 

(I have not noticed problems with eating glue sticks at this age - -just pushing too hard so it pushes the glue back into the stick part)

 

Does it have to be a craft with something to take home at the end?

In our lesson plans, under Craft, they sometimes have games/activities. AT 2 years old, they may be more successful with a sorting exercise where they have to move around the room to put things in the appropriate container.