Seven DIY Craft Projects for Toddlers

If you're looking for something different to do with a toddler, a DIY project is worth considering. Alongside creativity, craft activities support a child's sensory and motor development. At this age children need variety, since the same thing twice loses them quickly.

A bored child also tends to reach for a screen. A craft project gives them somewhere else to put that, and something more educational to do with the time.

Here are seven projects worth trying.

1. Handprint Painting

This one is straightforward. You need paint, drawing paper, water and a few containers, and it's worth using food-grade paint that's safe for a small child.

Pour a little water into each container, add a colour to each and stir until even. Get your child to coat their palms in the colours and press them onto the paper, and the more colours the more interested they'll be.

Once it dries they can build a picture out of the handprints. That second stage is usually the part they enjoy most.

2. Bubbles

Making bubbles is a reliable favourite. Prepare a container of water and mix in enough liquid soap to make it work.

Add colouring to make it more appealing. To form a bubble, have your child make a circle with their thumb and forefinger and blow gently, or use a bubble wand made from bamboo or a shaped plastic straw.

Supervise this one throughout, so your child doesn't rub their eyes or get the liquid in their mouth.

3. A Paper Cup Crab

This takes more patience but the result is worth it. You need a paper cup, card, paint, a black marker and googly eyes, and bright colours like red, yellow and blue work best.

Start by painting the whole outside of the cup, and let your child do this part since it trains their concentration and patience. While it dries, draw crab legs on the card with the marker and let your child cut them out slowly.

Once the paint is dry, glue the legs to the back of the cup. Add the googly eyes at the front and draw a mouth with the marker, and the crab is finished.

4. Fabric Scrap Pictures

Instead of colouring with crayons, try colouring with fabric. You need fabric scraps in a range of colours, glue, scissors, drawing paper and a pencil.

Draw a shape your child likes on the paper. Cut the fabric to match the shape and pattern, using a range of colours, then glue the pieces onto the outline. Stay with your child through the sticking, since that's the fiddly part.

5. Decorating Biscuits

If your child likes biscuits, getting them to decorate their own is an easy win. You need baked biscuits, margarine, cream, chocolate chips, sprinkles, marshmallows and whatever else they like.

Take medium-sized biscuits and spread the surface with margarine, butter or cream. Then let your child work with the toppings, and the more options available the better it goes.

6. Potato Stamps

Potato stamps are the next one worth trying, and the pattern can be whatever you like. You need drawing paper, a few potatoes and paint that's safe for children.

Cut each potato in half and carve a pattern into the cut face with a knife. Let your child coat the carved surface with paint, using as many colours as you have, then press it onto white paper.

The stamps work on more than paper. A T-shirt or a canvas takes them just as well.

7. Drawing a Hopscotch Grid

Traditional games are worth passing on, and hopscotch is a good place to start. To make it more engaging, get your child to draw the grid themselves with coloured chalk.

Show them once and then leave them to it, keeping the size within their reach. The jumping is also good for a child's balance and gets some physical activity into the afternoon.

You can vary all of this with craft sessions run outside the house, whether at a cafe or a children's art studio. Happy Kamper lists DIY activities with locations and current prices shown.