Crafts for toddlers do not need to be difficult, but there are types of crafts that work better for toddlers than others. Toddlers need something simple and fun, and you can expect them to need adult help. Here are some ideas for cool crafts for this fun age group.

1. Play Food

Craft foam is great for making pretend food; it’s bendable but sturdy. If you can get thicker foam at a craft store, then it comes in handy for making “bread.” Cover boxes with construction paper or craft foam to make cakes. Here are simple directions for a craft foam pizza.

Supplies:

* Craft foam in yellow, green, red, and brown
* White paper plate
* Scissors (adults should probably do the cutting)
* Glue

Crafts for Toddlers

Use the paper plate as the pizza crust. Cut a red circle from the craft foam that is slightly smaller than the paper plate, and glue it to the plate. This is the sauce.

Cut various shapes from the craft foam, letting your toddler help with the scissors as he or she is able. Make green pepper strips, pepperoni, small rectangles of cheese, and whatever toppings you and your little one can think of. You can use glue if you want to make this permanent, but many toddlers enjoy being able to create their pizza over and over. You can store the foam toppings in an envelope.

2. “Sand” Art

Some parents worry about their toddler eating sand with typical sand crafts, but if you use an edible sand substitute you needn’t worry. Simply separate fruit-flavored, colored cereal into colors and crush them in a zip-top bag. Then, on card stock or other stiff paper, let your toddler make designs with glue. Then help him or her sprinkle the colorful “sand” on the glue design. Allow it to dry. It smells good, too!

Crushed colored cereal can also be used to make other “sand” art, such as poured into clear containers in layers or used in a diorama.

3. Butterflies

Using tissue paper, you can make pretty butterflies. This is a nice craft for toddlers as it is not very messy and produces a nice item fairly quickly. You’ll need:

* Tissue paper in various colors
* Pipe cleaners

Cut rectangles out of various colors of tissue paper. Layer several colors of the tissue, and then double a pipe cleaner around the tissue rectangles (the tissue will be sitting in a long “U”-shaped pipe cleaner). Twist the pipe cleaners at the top until the pipe cleaner holds the tissue and bunches slightly in the center. The pipe cleaner makes a butterfly body and antennae.

Crafts for toddlers can be fun to do when you have the right ideas and expectations. Try the above suggested ideas and get your hand dirty now with your little one!