Crafts for a 2 year old?

[skatty]

Leorah will soon be 2 and loves drawing and painting so I want to request crafty things for her birthday but am not sure what a 2 year old can do. We were sticking little paper squares with a glue stick the other day and she did try to taste it but only a quick lick so I think the "everything in the mouth" phase is slowly leaving thankfully! I can only think of crayons, felt tips, play doh, chalk and stickers, is there anything else? Also if you have any project ideas for this age group that would be great, her attention span is increasing and she can sit at the table scribbling for about 15 mins before she goes off to try and crayon the dog or the wall 

[aisling]

Painting, any kind, finger, sponge, etc...A great craft we did at that age and still do sometime is to buy wood things, like cheap frames from IKEA, a bird house or even just blocks of wood that DH chopped up (pine or oak 2" x 2"'s) and I would let him paint them. I only use crayola paint as it washes off of everything so well. We usually would give away the bird house or frame to grandparents etc... the wood we just keep. Here is a pic I just found. The roller brush is so manageable for both of us IYKWIM!?

HTH,

A x

ETA: found this pic of frame he did as well...

[aisling]

Forgot to mention these pain pens are great (like bingo dabbers)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crayola-Mini-Kids-Paint-Pens/dp/B0007OZ1LW

And these are fab:
http://www.artsuppliesonline.com/catalog.cfm?cata_id=9143
They are pens with paint with built in paint.

Also glitter glue pens are great for sticking things and having sparkles without the mess of glitter.
http://www.blick.com/zz238/38/

[skatty]

Oh Aisling that is fab, thanks! Nello looks so cute, he is such a little man isn't he? He would definitely look cute with Leorah  I can't believe he painted that frame, it looks like something that is sold in one of those delicious little shops with expensive trinkets!

That roller brush looks great and the birdhouse idea is perfect for Leorah's danish grandparents, we are big fans of making presents and the whole family have mugs and egg cups decorated by Leorah! I don't know I didn't think of photo frames, that's this Xmas/chanukah sorted lol!

[aisling]

Fantastic!

Lol at the frame being sold in a gift shop, it does look nice except for the part where the pic goes he painted in the plastic part lol!  He used those painting pens for the frame btw.

[aisling]

If I get a chance I'll take a pic of the birdhouse over at my Mum's.  We used wood pieces to glue on...hard to explain.. Will take a pic.

[We Three]

Amelia puts everything in her mouth too.  I got her these painting books, they look like coloring books. You just paint with plain water and that makes the colors come out. I put water in the cupholder of her high-chair (if I gave her a cup of water she just drinks it!) and a paintbrush and she loves it.   

[skatty]

Oh yes I remember those books from when I was a kid, they sound ideal thanks, she has aquadraw which she loves but sucks the water out of the pen 

Aisling I'd love to see a pic of the birdhouse and will definitely get some paint pens 

[clh]

I love these, too.  http://www.giddyuponline.com/waterwowbook1.html  (this is the mfr site, but I know you can get them off Amazon, at Wal-Mart, etc.  This site just gives all the options. 

[skatty]

They look good but I have googled and it looks like I can only get them from the US which means I could end up with a customs bill 

[Deb_in_oz]

at 2 one of our best things was big stampers with washable ink pads like these (have seen them on US and UK sites so i think they are widely available everywhere). we have this farm set + a jungle animals theme set and 1 set of 5 pant pads - we used them for ages!
http://www.edex.com.au/products/item/index.cfm?action=detail&item_edp=16874&minor_cat=1010&age=0&kla=0&kwd=stampers&start=21
http://www.edex.com.au/products/item/index.cfm?action=detail&item_edp=23548&minor_cat=1010&age=0&kla=0&kwd=paint%20pads&start=1

for age appropriate crafting you can search the web as there are a ton of blogs and magazines supplying you with free ideas and templates etc. and family fun magazine is great too (and online as well). you can google on any topic or supply - from "paper plate crafts" to "toddler craft activities" etc and get a load of hits!

[mini me]

When I was teaching in a kindergarten (ages 1.5-3yrs) one of the favourite projects was this: You draw (photocopy if you feel you can't draw!!) a simple bold image (a bumble bee was great as it had fat stripes) and cut lots of 1inch squares of crepe paper (for bumble bee use yellow then brown) and together with your LO crumple each square (one colour at a time)into a ball and put in a small pot. Once you have enough you put glue on the bee (one stripe at a time) and LO sticks the balls on (as many or few as LO wants - it's their picture after all!). It is a great activity for concentration  skills, pincer grip skills, and trying to not get covered in glue!!! Stick shiny card on for wings. Finally cut arount the edge of the picture and hang it on the wall!! Put an old shirt on first tho!! The picture looks bright and coourful and are not flat like colourings are. Hope this makes sense!! I was always surprised at how long they could sit still and concentrate and how little mess they made once they figured out that you just have to plop the balls in place without pressing them down and smudging glue everywhere!!

[Aly Mac]

also, sit one night iwth some old magazines and cut out pictures of things she would like and put aside for when you 'craft'  she can then pick things out to glue on. 9going to start to do this LOL )

[rinajack]

Are you looking for just craft supplies or for birthday presents? For a present, have you considered an easel? You can get 5 in 1 easels, with chalk board, white board, felt board etc etc.  My kids use ours quite a lot.

In terms of craft supplies, we lately have been making things out of paper plates and out of brown paper bags.  For these, just google - "brown paper bag crafts" and "paper plate crafts".  I also find lots of colouring pictures online that I print out.  Oh, and check out craftrecipes.com

I find that most crafts can be adapted to suit a 2 yr old....so if there is cutting and you don't want her to have scissors yet, then pre cut, and allow her to do the gluing part etc.

For one craft we did, we traced her hand a heap, and she did something else while I was cutting them out, then she and hugh did some painting and after it was all dry I stapled it all together - so it took a few short spurts throughout an entire day, but she loved the end result. 

I am going to take a photo of our craft wall, and come back LOL

[rinajack]

This is just a sample of the things we do, some with just Zara, some with Zara and Hugh...

[Aly Mac]

they look great Rina!!!  we only have paint splotches, lines and a few things starting to be glued on at playgroup..

[rinajack]

LOL.  We make mess, and I bath my kids up to 3 or even 4 times per day if required LOL.

[Aly Mac]

oh yeh - here too.  Lilly loves the bath!!!!! bring on summer is all i can say!

[skatty]

Wow thanks for all the fantastic ideas, I can't wait to get searching on the net too  Rina your craft wall is amazing, I can't wait for Leorah to be able to do more, she already loves painting and scribbling. We were going to get an easel but DH recently built her a wardrobe and hasn't put a door on yet so to save space we have decided to paint it in blackboard magnetic paint but I am aslo interested in hetting her a felt board, I loved fuzzy felt as a kid!

Stacy, Leorah loves playing with shaving foam, I usually let her use it in the shower!

Aly Mac, that is a great idea about cutting out pics, she really loves animals especially cats, dogs and horses, not sure I have many mags with pics of those!

Mini Me I love that craft idea, in fact Leorah loves bees so that example would be great 

Deb, I have been looking at stamping kits today after your suggestion, I can't find anything quite as good yet but I know she will love stamping and can make some nice thank you cards for her birthday!

Thanks again everyone for your great ideas, we are going to have a lot of fun