this is timely - ideas please

[pabla]

It's my turn to organise the arts and craftes activity at toddler group next week. Has anyone got any suggestions?

Main criteria are:

no painting involved

suitable for 2-4 year olds

to take 10-15 minutes to complete

Next week our toddler group were going to make leaf pictures - go out, collect and press some autumn leaves and glue them onto coloured paper.

This week we did firework pictures with glitter glue pens on black paper - looked great.

Our toddler group did a great one this week - threading Cheerios onto strawberry laces to make edible necklaces - very popular

Packet of digestive biscuits.....a pile of icing sugar with water and some bits and pieces to decorate them with ie 100's and 1000's and jelly diamonds etc

have you got cbeebies? we get a lot of crafty ideas from eg tikkabilla

fish .. paper plate cut a 'V' out of one side and stick it on the other side to make a fish's tail

draw on an eye

cut up loads of paper shapes (shiny paper .. wrapping paper .. coloured paper whatever)

supply pritt stick and away you go

can last as long as it needs to

We've done the fish too

Paper plate, cut one edge off flat (about 1/4 height of plate), cover with squares of coloured paper, add 8 strips of paper for legs, 2 eyes and a mouth plus some string to hang up and you have an octopus. I prit out a sheet of eyes from my PC to cut out and stick on.

Soupy......how do I print out eyes on the computer? Great idea.

Our group has just done some lovely gluing and sticking orange, yellow and red tissue and old sweet papers onto cut out card flame shapes ready for Diwalli starting next week. They looked great.
Next week we are making paper plate faces with button eyes to glue on, wool for hair etc. We use paint but crayons or all gluing and sticking would be ok.

I love the fact that your group rotates the craft section - great idea. I wish ours did this - I end up doing it each week which I don?t mind much but you do get stuck for ideas and it can be a drag week after week. Will be keeping an eye on this thread for future ideas

There are some good clipart ones in the Microsoft CLip Art gallery or I create my own in MS Powerpoint (or similar, Paint should do) using a white oval with a black outline and then a smaller black circle for the pupil. Copy/paste enough for a whole pageful and print out.

Well, I did wonder about an Art section on Mumsnet but what a boon!!

At 39 weeks PG I decided ds had watched enough TV and I was inspired by the fish idea. Didnt have any paper plates but cut out paper in circles and did what had been recommended. I actually took it to the next level and turned the fishies into a mobile on a coathanger and made an octopus as well.

DS who is 2.7yrs was so happy and said, 'I do like making things with you Mummy!' I nearly cried.

So, what is next? More ideas please for 2-4yrs craft ideas.

Thanks Soupy for the eyes......will get DH to sort that for me later!

This is a brilliant site for ideas craftie kids
and last week we did DIwali feet (draw round their feet and then let them decorate with glitter glue etc ) which went down a storm diwali feet

Oh excellent! I feel some paper fish coming on!

Mostly I just give dd (2.5) some coloured paper and a pritt stick and let her get on with it - she rips and sticks happily for 15 minutes and then holds up her paper and announces that she's made me a picture of a car (or whatever) - its a good job she always tells me what it is!

But it would be nice to do something different and she does love it when I do it with her...