10 Quick Crafts for Toddlers That Don’t Require a lot of Prep

It doesn’t seem to matter how prepared I am for a days activities, all the toys displayed, all the crafts and table items ready to go, it’s not always enough. That project that was supposed to take 15 plus minutes took five. Everyone wants the same toy (even though I have six of the same thing) and we need a quick table activity to break up the upset feelings. Some days I just want to make dinner without a 2 year old hanging on my leg.

I’ve made a list of some of my go to crafts for toddlers and preschoolers. These are the things I always have ready to pull out in case of an ‘I need a quick activity’ emergency.

We need a craft and we need it now

• Crafting with kids doesn’t need to take a lot of planning and preparation, in fact, having a few easy crafts on hand can make transition times (and times you just simply need your little to sit for a few minutes) so much easier.
• Kids don’t care about flashy projects with tons of instructions to make some masterpiece in the end, they will be just as proud of their crayon scribbles. Let’s be honest, so will we.

Not everything has to be a production

As parents and caregivers we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We see what other people post on Instagram and Facebook and think we need to be better.

I often times will spend an hour before my childcare opens searching Pinterest for craft ideas. I’ve spent tons of money on curriculum and supplies.

All those things are fine. Instruction, learning, listening; it’s all important, but so is expression and imagination (and maybe giving mom those precious moments to get dinner in the oven).

10 Quick Crafts for Toddlers

I’ve made a list below of my go to crafts for toddlers and preschool agers. Most of the items you probably have on hand or could easily order from Amazon. The key is to have a few of these ideas ready to go so you’re not turning that quick easy craft into 15 minutes searching for a glue stick.

I highly recommend hitting up your local dollar stores for some of these items.

1: Stickers

• A piece of computer paper and a sheet of stickers or a pack of foam stickers is all you need for this project. Not only is this a great time user, this is also great for your little ones fine motor skills.
• Younger toddlers: Remove sticker back and allow your child to explore the sticker. Stay close by, they may try a taste test. You won’t end up with a work of art, in fact they will probably tear off anything that sticks. It’s a masterpiece to mom though!
• Older toddlers: You can start showing your child how to remove the sticker backs. It takes some time but once they get it it is so liberating. Sure they may take every sticker and stack them one on the next for a super sticker tower, brush it off. Soon enough they’ll make something fridge worthy. If sticker backs are still a struggle, give them a glue stick and forget the paper backs.
• Preschoolers: Preschools should have the sticker back removal down. In fact you could go a step further and get out the crayon box and watch their sticker creations turn into scenes.
• Tip: Check your local dollar stores for packs of foam stickers!

2: Crayons

• Computer paper, coloring sheets, notebooks; anything can be a canvas.
• Holding a crayon is an amazing fine motor skill.
• Interesting fact, many crayons contain soy so do be careful of any allergies.
• Fun tip: use your old plastic wet wipe containers to store loose crayons. Not only can you fit a good amount in these containers, they’re easy for littles to open, close, and dig around in.
• I do not recommend crayons from most dollar stores. Get the good stuff like Crayola at back to school time.

3: Paint

• Hear me out on this one. I know paint can be a scary thing and you feel like you need to cover every surface, including your child. You don’t have to give them a cup of water for brushes that they may tip or God forbid take a drink out of.
• Supplies: paint, brush, paper plate, wet wipe, something to paint
• I like to give the kids two wet wipes or wet paper towels, one for their hands if needed and one to clean their brush.
• Save your old amazon boxes to save your table. Let your child know it’s not to paint but to keep paint off the table…or, why not…use it as their canvas.
• Want a cheap easy to find paint shirt? We all know the trick to use dads old t-shirt but take it one step further and cut the seam up the sides and under the arms. Easy on, easy off.
• Check out the dollar store for cheap canvas and wood cut outs that make fun painting projects, their paint isn’t too bad either.

4: Wish lists

• One of my favorite things to do with my daycare kids at Christmas time is to cut out large stockings from craft paper and have them glue in clippings from magazines.
• Supplies: toy ads from local stores, scissors, glue stick, construction paper.
• Don’t want to deal with scissors? No problem. Hand over a washable marker and have your child circle their wish list, they will most likely circle everything in the magazine but who cares.
• I grab a handful of ads from Walmart, Target, Fleet Farm etc. These flyers are multiple pages.
• Keep some flyers in the pocket of your vehicle for car rides. Sure you’ll hear a lot of ‘look at this!’ and ‘I want this and this and this!’ but it is a great way to keep your little busy.

5: premade craft kits

• We can’t all be amazing and make our own craft kits. There are many options for premade craft kits.
• Keep a watch for what supplies are needed, my favorite are sticker craft kits. All you need is the ability to peel the sticker back off. Some require glue, some require lots of patience. Watch out for kits that require building structures like the ones from Michaels. If you’ve tried them you understand.
• Some great places to get premade craft kits:
  • Dollar Tree
  • Michaels
  • Dollar General
  • Family Dollar
  • Oriental Trading (orientaltrading.com)

6: Air-Dry Clay

• Air-dry clay is fun with older kids, ones you are pretty sure won’t try a taste test.
• Grab some different colors or paint after their masterpiece is dry.
• You can let their imaginations run wild or give them a challenge. Make a dog, make a monster etc.

7: Paper mosaic art

• Supplies: Paper (at least two different colors), glue stick, pencil
• Prep: Draw a simple picture on a sheet of construction paper
• Instructions: Have your child tear up a sheet of paper and glue inside the shape drawn on the other paper.
• Give older kids multiple colors to tear and glue to allow for more creativity.
• This is such a simple project even my two year is able to do.
• This is a great project for learning colors, fine motor skills -tearing paper, holding a glue stick, concept of inside/outside, shapes. Example: glue the red paper inside the heart.

8: Misc container of random supplies

• Do you remember the Barney Bag from the Barney the Dinosaur show? This bag was filled with string, pipe cleaners, random fabric, sequins etc. etc. Just about anything could be in this bag. How fun to get to dig through this bag and make something with all these supplies!
• Why not make one for your home? Grab a container and place some random supplies in it. Let your child use their imagination or give them a challenge.
• Glue tip: some items don’t stick well with a glue stick. I’m not always very quick to hand a 3 year old a full bottle of glue. Put a small amount of glue on a Tupperware lid and have your child dip a Q-tip into the glue for their items.

9: Pony Beads

• Beads are another great fine motor skill for children. The act of getting that bead on a piece of string or cord takes a lot of concentration and coordination. This also requires children to work on their pincer grasp, holding an item between their first finger and thumb.
• This is a great project to work on patterns and learning colors.
• Tip: tie a big bead to one end to keep beads from sliding off.
• Tip: tape the end of the string to the table. This can keep their project from falling to the floor and losing all that precious work.

10: Perler Beads

• A favorite craft around my house is perler beads. You know, those little plastic beads you stick on the small peg boards then iron to melt them together.
• This is a little more hands on for adults when finishing this project.
• Pull up an image for your preschool to try and emulate or let them use their imagination
• Give your child tweezers to pinch the beads and place in tricky spots
• Regular perler beads don’t quite work for your littler? Check out biggie beads. These beads require the same concept as regular perler beads but as the name states, they’re big.
• Tip: set peg boards on paper plates so if the project gets bumped you don’t have small beads everywhere.
• Tip: check dollar stores for clear plastic organizing containers to put your beads in. Separating beads by color is another fun activity.

Conclusion

• Crafts with toddlers and preschoolers doesn’t have to require a ton of work, of time, of preparation, of supplies. Find things you already have and a special space to keep these items.
• Try it out, next time you need a a ‘right now’ project, put some supplies in front of your child and watch their imagination go wild.
• What’s your go to craft with toddlers and preschoolers? Do you do something on this list or have your own favorites?