Craft ideas?

[shygirl]

I'm looking for some crafts I could do with a 2 year old that are not that messy.  Basically, I don't want to do anything that involves glue, glitter or paint.  The only thing I can think of is stickers, and we've already done that to death.

So, any ideas?

[otterwoman]

String pony beads on colorful shoelaces.

[Amara]

These sites seem to have some good ideas:

http://www.thecraftycrow.net/toddlers/

http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/activities-for-2-year-old/

http://www.ehow.com/way_5120301_arts-crafts-ideas-yearolds.html

http://forums.adoption.com/toddlers-preschoolers/325813-craft-ideas-two-year-old.html

http://www.kidspot.com.au/kids-activities-and-games/+2-years+1.htm

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2-3-years/

[snowdragon]

cookie cutters and play dough

coloring sheets

leaf rubbings

make a craft paper cut out of her and let her decorate it

lacing

[JoW]

Tube sock snowman.  Carol Duvall showed it years ago, but HGTV has deleted the instuctions

This is what I found on the net
http://www.babycenter.com/210_tube-sock-snowman_535.bc

But Carol Duvall's were easier
1)  Start with an all-white tube sock.  Turn it inside out.  The toe of the sock is the bottom of the snowman.
2)  Give it a flat base, then weight it.  Carol Duval put a jar lid in the sock followed by a small baggie of raw rice.  When I made some I used a large, heavy washer from the hardware store.
3)  Stuff it - pollyfill, old nylons, anything that won't show through the sock.  Leave a thin spot for the neck.
4)  Seal the top of the head- tie with string or sew.
5)  Turn the top of the sock down for a hat
6)  Add facial features with a marker. 
7)  Tie a ribbon scarf around the neck.

For an older child features can be beads or buttons held on with glue.  Or go all out and embroider them on.

[Shakira]

My niece really enjoys those fake velvet painting things. I see them a lot at the craft store where there's a poster size picture with the velvety black outlines. They usually come with a few markers. My niece learned to stay inside the lines better that way because she could feel when her marker or crayon bumped the velvet.

[shygirl]

Thanks for the ideas!

I'm going stir crazy here.  My kid is difficult to dress properly in winter, and now that it is in the single digits, I am not venturing outside with him unless he is bleeding.

So we've been staying in a lot.  And the things that keep him entertained, put me to sleep.  It's a little sad.  I'll be reading his favorite book to him (Knuffle Bunny, at the moment) over and over again, and the next thing you know, I'm asleep and my son is looking at me and saying "Wake UP Mama!  Wake UP Mama!"  Last night, he reluctantly let me read a different book once, but then I had to go back to Knuffle Bunny.

Anyway, I also don't want to spend anymore time cleaning, because I already spend more time than I feel necessary cleaning up after my slob husband and the kid. 

Now I'm going to look for colored masking tape!

[SheltieMom]

This is another great site for crafts:
http://www.makingfriends.com/

[Sophia]

Something that has been a real hit around here with my now 2.5 year-old. I went to a craft store, and bought a bag of little pom-poms, and a bag of round magnets.  I hot-glued the pom-poms onto the magnets.  Then I got out an old cookie sheet for the magnets to stick to.  I also printed a few pages of the dot alphabet sheets from www.confessionsofahomechooler.com.  My daughter loves it!  Sometimes she likes to put the magnets in the dots, sometimes she does freeform with the magnets.  Sometimes she counts the magnets.  No mess involved.  She also likes sticking the magnets together, and the pom-poms give a nice surface for her to hold onto. 

[bonyk]

My DD will play with rainbow rice for hours.  We layout a shower curtain to play on, but an old sheet or something like that would work too.

http://shareandremember.blogspot.com/2011/06/rainbow-rice-garden-sensory-play.html

[jpcher]

Not a craft idea, but something to help you with the cleanup and your child expending energy . . .

I used to sing the "Jump down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton" song but transformed it into "Jump up turn around (yes, you/child need to jump and turn around) pick up barbie doll. Jump up, turn around, put her in the (toy) box. Oh, lawdy pick a stuffed animal. Oh, lawdy put it in the box."

I also did "Little bunny (child's name, instead of Foo-Foo) hopping through the living room, scooping up the toy truck and putting it in the box."

Be creative, use songs that he likes and transform them into clean-up songs. Plus the jumping and hopping will use up some of his energy.


Another cleaning thing that your child can help you with is, if your plastic-storageware (tupperware type bowls & lids) is as unorganized as mine is , put the bowls and lids on the floor and let him match the lids with the bowls . . . I used to have DD#1 (2-1/2) match and sort, by color, the bottle tops that DD#2 (6mos) was using at the time.

2-1/2 is not to young to start learning about money/colors/sizes/numbers. Use a huge bunch of change and have him sort them out. Explain the amounts for penny, nickle, dime, quarter. Have him count the number of coins in each stack (don't expect him to tell you that 4 quarters = 1 dollar . . . yet. )

When you do laundry, ask him to match the socks.

Use alphabet/puzzle magnets on your fridge to keep him occupied while you're cooking. (something like this . . . quick google search, maybe you can find something else more to your liking: http://www.etsy.com/listing/72888361/magnet-puzzle-toy-game-for-children-with?utm_source=googleproduct&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=GPS&gclid=CLqSwdW6ibUCFawWMgodZTgAIA )



Just a few thoughts of mine. It doesn't need to be crafts to keep your child occupied.

I commend you on looking for things that may help you and your child. You are a good mom!

[sevenday]

Koolaid "dough" clay is pretty easy and simple, you might have all the ingredients you need already, and the cleanup should be simple.  I've yet to meet any little kid that doesn't enjoy playing with colorful playdough/clay.  Make facepaint/bodypaint, plop the kid in the bathtub, let him doodle on himself and the walls, wash it all off later.  I've seen recipes using baby lotion as a base with food coloring or tempera paints for tint.

[Slartibartfast]

Step 1: Buy a bag of pony beads at the thrift store for cheap.

Step 2: Save an egg carton.

Step 3: Give your kid the beads and let him/her sort by color.

Step 4: Dump all the beads back into the same bag when you're done.  Instant reusable fun!

[CrochetFanatic]

If you have any small paper lunch bags and a box of crayons, you could make puppets.  You don't necessarily need glue for that, but older kids can be more creative with it if they like the idea.

[shygirl]

Ooh!  LOVE the rainbow rice idea.  I think my son would also like that.

Thanks for all the ideas guys!  I do have my son "help" me with household chores and stuff like that already.  He's already better than his own dad at cleaning up the kitchen.  (Although, to be fair, my husband sets the standard REALLY low.)

Question about pony beads:  I know beads, but I'm not familiar with pony beads, and googling gave me a really wide range of options on all kinds of beads.  Are pony beads kind of big?