Crafts for preschoolers

[HappyAsEyeAm]

I have loads of bits and pieces at home - paints, pens, pencils, glitter, tissue shapes, gummed paper shapes, all sizes of coloured card and paper, stickers, pipe cleaner, milk bottle tops ... the lot. And I would really like to put them to better use and start making things with DS (3 yo). He loves creative things, but I have no creative ideas really, and all we ever do is end up doing a collage.

I would love some suggestions of what to do. And I would like him to be as involved as possible. Please spell out exactly what is involved though, step by step, as I have no idea! I'm not so fussed on how perfect the finished produce looks, its just to do soemthing he will enjoy.

All basic ideas welcome!

Happy to buy a book too, if such a thing containing very basic ideas exists.

The Toddler's Busy Book has lots of ideas, but websites like Pinterest (search for toddler crafts/activities, pipe cleaners, etc) and Apartment Therapy (previously Ohdeedoh) often have good suggestions that are free, eg this

I fact, after searching Pinterest for pipe cleaners, I now must go and buy some for DS!

Last year DS brought home a fish tank he'd made at playgroup.

Cardboard shoe box painted blue inside and turned on one side so that the base was at the back.
Sandpaper stuck to one of the long sides to form the bottom of the tank.
Small shells stuck on top of the sandpaper.
Cardboard fish on strings dangling down from the top.
Bits of blue and green tissue paper for water and seaweed.

What about making masks or puppet shapes taped to lolly sticks? DS made a Gruffalo puppet show - all on lolly sticks and then acted out the story from behind the sofa. He drew the pictures and coloured them in and then I cut them out and taped them to the lolly stick with sellotape, but I bet there are pictures on the web you could use.

We stuck different sizes of cardboard roll together and made a castle. He then attacked it with his dinosaurs!

Book people has Usborne craft books cheap quite often.
Google paper plate crafts and coloring sheets (US) spelling. That should find some American Sunday schools that posted some good really cheap ideas.

Pick a topic and let him loose junk modelling:

eg: rockets, cars, trains fish (love the fish tank idea angel) - depends what he's interested in

Making and decorating pizza or biscuits always popular in our house (and you get to eat the results rather than feeling you have to store them!)

I can't do links as I'm on my phone but google "the imagination tree" - loads of ideas there

Try craft crow you can search by age, it is fab. We've done loads of stuff from here, robots, snow lanterns, window painting, made chalk, fingerprint painting, sand casting with plaster of Paris and the rest!

Thanks very much - craft cow and imagination tree are just up my street.