Easy craft ideas for preschoolers

My friend recently contacted me who has a daughter the same age as Edith asking for creative play ideas, so I have put a few together as people seem to be struggling with ideas for little ones that have come out of nursery during lockdown. So I have put together 6 simple crafts to do with little kids and older kids can join in too if they want too!

My first is messy play- messy play is great for development and encourages play with different instruments such as spoons, forks, bowls. It is also great for children to learn- smells, tastes and how different things feel. A few that I have done with the girls are jelly play and shaving foam play. It’s also great for role play!!

Items you will need- A washable mat or plastic tablecloth/tuff tray or a box to put your items in- if you can make it big enough for the little one to sit in that would be great- even paddling pools work!

Spoons/forks/utensils and bowls for them to play

Shaving foam / jelly

All I did was set the jelly and let the girls go wild in it! And with the shaving foam we used an entire can for them to play, the girls made pretend ice creams and dishes of food! It’s probably sensible to do this one in the garden so you can contain the mess! I put them both straight in the bath afterwards!

Painting–

Painting with babies and preschoolers is always scary because you fear them eating it! I have an easy way to make paint they can eat! Yoghurt or baby porridge mixed with food colouring! Viola your done! Get them a paintbrush and paper and your sorted! Even better the paint comes out of clothes!

Play doh-

I loved the idea of Edith playing with play doh like her big sis but she eats EVERYTHING and I’m not sure play doh is the healthiest thing to digest! Although I assume it wouldn’t hurt! I have made play doh for Edith instead with food items. All of which you can get from a supermarket.

Recipe-

2 cups of flour, 4 tsps of cream of tartar, 2 cups of boiling water, 2 tblspoons of oil, food colourings.

Mix everything except the food colourings together with a spoon. When you have a play doh like consistency split it into segments of how many colours you want I did 6. Then add food colouring and knead until the colour is achieved. Keep in cling film and an air tight container. It will last for 6 weeks and is fully edible (obviously don’t let kids sit and eat it! But it won’t hurt them).

Colouring–

After watching her sister, Edith loves to do anything with colours, even so simple as pencil crayons and paper. After watching Erin, Edith thinks felt pens are great so we bought the Crayola Mess free Peppa Pig colouring set from Amazon. It’s great as the crayons can’t go on anything in the house such as carpet or sofas! So it’s perfect!

Stamping-

Another really simple one with things you can do at home- get a potato cut it in two and either use a cookie cutter or attempt to cut it out by hand and make a shape that your little one could use as a stamp. You can also just cut the ends off different vegetables as they will make different stamps. Again use my simple paint recipe for a baby free version!

Make cakes

Making cakes with babies may seem silly but they watch you cook and they are intrigued! Even if it’s a packet mix let them get involved! Put them in the highchair and let them have a go at things with you or a sibling. Edith loves to mix a cake and then eat the cake after!