reveal the vibrant rainbow colors underneath.
Rough Art
This activity will help your child express creativity and learn about textures.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Crayons or chalk
Different grades of sandpaper
Let your toddler explore coloring on the different textures of sandpaper.
Cupcake Crayons
Recycle and reuse old crayons! These homemade crayons are easy for small hands
to hold, and they produce bright colors and patterns.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
Old crayons and crayon pieces
Muffin tin
Paper muffin or cupcake liners
Discard brown, black, and gray crayons.
Remove the paper from all crayons. Small fingers may need help with this.
Break remaining crayons into small pieces no more than ½ long. Supervise your children carefully to ensure they do not put any crayons in their mouths.
Distribute crayon pieces into muffin tins lined with liners.
Bake at 300°F until all the crayons are melted together.
When cool, remove the new cupcake crayons from the tins—they’ll be ready to use!
Painting
There is no end to the number of creative projects your child can complete with paint. Here you will find unique ideas that go well beyond a plastic palette and a little brush. Nowadays, you can find paints that are washable to cut down on the cleanup. Also, you should be sure to opt for nontoxic paints whenever you can. As a general rule, tempera paints are best for young artists—watercolors come in less vibrant colors and tend to run, which might frustrate your child. You will also discover that you do not necessarily need store-bought paint for your painting projects!
Wet Chalk Pastels
Using this new take on an old art material, these paintings will look like a professional artist was at work!
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Sidewalk chalk in various colors
1 cup water
Dark-colored construction paper
Show your child how to dip the chalk into the water and let it sit for 1 minute.
Once the chalk is wet, show your child how to color on the paper—don’t press too hard, or the paper will tear. The wet chalk will look like pastel paints.
Sticker Surprise
This activity will help develop your toddler’s fine motor skills. Along with or instead of stickers, you can use return address labels, gummed paper reinforcers, or simply pieces of masking tape.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
A variety of adhesive stickers
White construction or bond paper
Tempera paint
Allow your toddler to choose the stickers that he wishes to use. Stickers with distinctly shaped outlines work best.
Show him how to attach the stickers to the paper in any arrangement that he chooses.
Paint over the entire paper, covering the stickers.
Once the paint is dry, help your toddler remove the stickers to reveal the sticker shapes.
Put Those Paintbrushes Away
Break away from the routine. Let your child’s creativity be the only limit to
the materials he can use to paint with.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Paper
Tempera paint
Paintbrush substitute(s), such as condiment squeeze bottles, eyedroppers, fly swatters, spray bottles, makeup applicators, cotton balls, cotton swabs, string, tree bark, feathers, straws, pipe cleaners, or toothbrushes
Let your child paint using any number of paintbrush substitutes. He will find that each tool makes a different mark on the paper.
Reverse Finger Painting
This nifty process will let your child preserve his finger-painting creations.
You can have him paint directly on the table or onto a cookie sheet for easier cleanup.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Finger paints
White construction paper
Cookie sheet (optional)
Have your
Rough Art
This activity will help your child express creativity and learn about textures.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Crayons or chalk
Different grades of sandpaper
Let your toddler explore coloring on the different textures of sandpaper.
Cupcake Crayons
Recycle and reuse old crayons! These homemade crayons are easy for small hands
to hold, and they produce bright colors and patterns.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
Old crayons and crayon pieces
Muffin tin
Paper muffin or cupcake liners
Discard brown, black, and gray crayons.
Remove the paper from all crayons. Small fingers may need help with this.
Break remaining crayons into small pieces no more than ½ long. Supervise your children carefully to ensure they do not put any crayons in their mouths.
Distribute crayon pieces into muffin tins lined with liners.
Bake at 300°F until all the crayons are melted together.
When cool, remove the new cupcake crayons from the tins—they’ll be ready to use!
Painting
There is no end to the number of creative projects your child can complete with paint. Here you will find unique ideas that go well beyond a plastic palette and a little brush. Nowadays, you can find paints that are washable to cut down on the cleanup. Also, you should be sure to opt for nontoxic paints whenever you can. As a general rule, tempera paints are best for young artists—watercolors come in less vibrant colors and tend to run, which might frustrate your child. You will also discover that you do not necessarily need store-bought paint for your painting projects!
Wet Chalk Pastels
Using this new take on an old art material, these paintings will look like a professional artist was at work!
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Sidewalk chalk in various colors
1 cup water
Dark-colored construction paper
Show your child how to dip the chalk into the water and let it sit for 1 minute.
Once the chalk is wet, show your child how to color on the paper—don’t press too hard, or the paper will tear. The wet chalk will look like pastel paints.
Sticker Surprise
This activity will help develop your toddler’s fine motor skills. Along with or instead of stickers, you can use return address labels, gummed paper reinforcers, or simply pieces of masking tape.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
A variety of adhesive stickers
White construction or bond paper
Tempera paint
Allow your toddler to choose the stickers that he wishes to use. Stickers with distinctly shaped outlines work best.
Show him how to attach the stickers to the paper in any arrangement that he chooses.
Paint over the entire paper, covering the stickers.
Once the paint is dry, help your toddler remove the stickers to reveal the sticker shapes.
Put Those Paintbrushes Away
Break away from the routine. Let your child’s creativity be the only limit to
the materials he can use to paint with.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Paper
Tempera paint
Paintbrush substitute(s), such as condiment squeeze bottles, eyedroppers, fly swatters, spray bottles, makeup applicators, cotton balls, cotton swabs, string, tree bark, feathers, straws, pipe cleaners, or toothbrushes
Let your child paint using any number of paintbrush substitutes. He will find that each tool makes a different mark on the paper.
Reverse Finger Painting
This nifty process will let your child preserve his finger-painting creations.
You can have him paint directly on the table or onto a cookie sheet for easier cleanup.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Finger paints
White construction paper
Cookie sheet (optional)
Have your
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