Handicrafts with 2-year-old children: Summer DIY projects that encourage the creativity of the crèche children

Always active, crèche children are a real challenge for parents. We offer you several DIY ideas that you can use to encourage your creativity. Doing handicrafts with 2-year-old children is a lot of fun even in summer.

Handicrafts with 2 year old children: ideas with paper plates, mirror foil and flower silk

At 2 years old, the child is very active and curious. Fine motor skills have now developed and the child can concentrate on one activity for longer. The coordination will, however, improve in the next few years. We have several simple ideas to use to support child development. Make a watermelon, an ice cream or a turtle.

Materials for the watermelon:

• a green paper plate
• Cloth tape or washi tape with green zigzag patterns
• pink flower silk
• a black marker
• Mirror film, self-adhesive
• Accessories: scissors, compasses, adhesive tape

Instructions: Fold the paper plate in half and then cut in two. Cut out a semicircle from the mirror film. Turn one half of the paper plate over, fix the mirror film with adhesive tape so that an outer edge remains. The sticky side of the mirror film should be facing up. Together with the child, decorate the green edge of the plate with washi tape. Cut out small squares from the flower silk and draw black dots on them with the marker. Then ask the child to place the flower silk squares on the mirror sheet.

Materials for the popsicle:

•  Mirror film, self-adhesive
• Flower silk, different colors
• Craft cardboard, white
• a popsicle stick
• double-sided tape

Crafting instructions: Cut a square out of the cardboard and glue it to the popsicle stick. Stick the mirror film on the cardboard (the sticky side faces up). Cut out small squares from the flower silk and attach them to the mirror foil.

Materials for the turtle:

• a green paper plate
• self-adhesive mirror film
• double-sided tape
• green craft cardboard
• Googly eyes

Crafting instructions: Cut out the body and head of the turtle from the green cardboard, turn the paper plate over and glue on the body. Stick the mirror film with the adhesive side up on the paper plate and attach the pieces of tissue paper.

You can also make beautiful window pictures with mirror film and paper. Let your creativity run free and make beautiful fish, a brightly colored sun or a summer flower together with the children.

Handicrafts with crib children: new flower pots for the cacti

The next idea is also super simple and above all promotes dexterity and concentration. Cut a plastic bottle in two and ask the child to paint the bottle a summer color. Red, green, sky blue or orange make the children’s room shine. Then glue googly eyes on it and finally plant cacti in the new tubs.

Handicrafts with children under 3 years old: stamping techniques

Children under 3 years love to stamp beautiful designs on paper. Cut an apple in two and apply red paint to one half. Now the children can use the new stamp to stamp apples on the white cardboard. After the paint dries, you can cut it out, draw a face, and put googly eyes on it.

Put bubble wrap on the lid of a jam jar and you’ve made a stamp. This creates beautiful flower motifs in no time at all.

Alternatively, you can also cut one end of a toilet paper roll and use it to stamp beautiful shapes on the cardboard.

Craft ideas with colored sand for children under 3 years

There are so many beautiful decorations that you can make with colored sand.

For the sand castle: Put a handful of white sand in a blue plate, decorate with painted shells and stones. For the lock, cut into three toilet paper rolls, brush with glue and sprinkle with colored sand and glitter. Make flags out of colored paper and toothpicks.

Jam jars with colored sand: Fill a jam jar halfway with colored sand, then decorate with mussels, starfish and small decorative figures (crabs, seahorses, etc.).

Sand picture: Pour the colored sand into the bottle with a funnel, tie a homemade macrame bracelet around your neck.

Craft ideas with shells and starfish for toddlers

Did you collect starfish and shells during your last vacation? Then there are the next handicraft ideas that will please both crèche children and elementary school children.

1. Painting starfish, shells and corals: Promotes fine motor skills.

2. Cut out shells from clay, allow to air dry and paint. In the meantime, cut out the fish, crabs, seahorses and turtles from colored construction paper. Draw eyes or attach googly eyes. Then decorate the fish and animals with the mussels.

3. Collage with seashells: Glue the seashells onto a wooden barrier board measuring 15 x 25 cm and then paint the collage as you like. Finally decorate the collage as you like. For this purpose, you can use glitter, self-adhesive rhinestones and whatever else you can think of.

Handicrafts with 2-year-old children making butterflies out of bottle caps

The next craft idea is a little more complicated: Cut the butterfly wings out of transparent plastic film. Ask the children to use markers to draw dots on the wings. Then glue the wings onto plastic bottle caps. Finally, attach googly eyes – and you’ve already made several beautiful butterflies.

Make caterpillars out of pompoms and clothespins

For a caterpillar you will need the following materials:

• two pompons, size 5 mm Ø in light purple
• three pompoms size 5 mm Ø in purple
• a pompom size 10 mm Ø in light purple
• two googly eyes
• a wooden clothespin
• Glue or hot glue (better to use glue for toddlers)

Assemble the caterpillar with the help of the children. You can even make several caterpillars and play with them.

Handicrafts with 2 year old children: Funny cup catching game

The next game is guaranteed to banish boredom. You need the following materials:

• a wooden bead
• a paper cup
• Paint colors and crayons
• paint brush
• yarn
• a shashlik skewer (optional)

Handicraft instructions: First paint the paper cups as you like and let them dry. Then cut the shashlik skewer and glue it to the mug. Finally, cut a piece of thread from the wool and thread the wooden bead to one end. Tie the other end to the shashlik skewer. Now the children can play with it. The aim of the game is to catch the wooden bead with the cup.

Tinker wind chimes with natural materials

When the weather is nice, you can also opt for a project for the balcony or the garden and make a wind chime. To do this, paint a plastic cup as you like, then cut off four 40 cm long pieces of yarn. Make holes in the neck of the mug and pull and knot the pieces of yarn through them. Then paint shells, drill holes in the shells and thread them on.

Another variant is to make a beautiful wall decoration out of shells and wooden beads.

Tinker sun out of paper plates

Together with the children, make a sun out of a paper plate, pipe cleaners and straws. Poke out several holes on the rim of the plate and tie yellow pipe cleaners to them. Cut the straws into small pieces and let the child thread them to the pipe cleaners. You can paint the yellow plate as you like or decorate it with self-adhesive rhinestones.

You can make a cute wall decoration for the children’s room from a paper plate, yellow and orange cardboard. Simply place the child’s hand on the colored paper and trace the outline. Then cut them out with scissors. Use the cut out hand as a template and transfer it five times onto the yellow and five times onto the orange construction paper. Then turn the paper plate over, cut a large circle out of the yellow construction paper and glue it to the back of the paper plate. Paint a face (eyes, nose, mouth) and turn the paper plate over again. Glue the paper handprints to the edge of the plate so that they look like rays of the sun.

Tinkering with 2-year-old children promotes fine motor skills and increases the ability to concentrate. It’s especially fun when the children work together with their siblings and parents. Let your creativity run free and try out the handicraft ideas.