Children's Art and Craft Activities

There are many kinds of children’s arts and crafts activities for toddlers, preschoolers and grade school ages. Arts and crafts help children with motor coordination and let them express their creativity. It’s important to make sure all the materials children use are non-toxic.

Many children enjoy arts and crafts activities that use painting or drawing. One such craft involves spreading a ½ inch thick layer of shaving cream on a baking sheet, making sure it’s spread evenly. Drop dots of food coloring all over the shaving cream. Swirl food color with a toothbrush. Press a cardstock lightly into the shaving cream. Pick up the cardstock and scrape off extra shaving cream. Let it dry and put into a picture frame.

Paper plates can be used for all kinds of arts and craft ideas. Children can use different items to make a meal on the plate. They can create vegetables with colored tissue paper or play dough. Foam can be made into different shapes of food. Cotton can be used to make mashed potatoes and foil or other bright shiny paper for gravy. Paper plates can also be used to create flowers, fish, spiders and more.

Another arts and crafts activity for children is papier mache. Begin by tearing up newspapers and other types of paper into long strips. Apply non-toxic paste to the strips. Wrap the strips of paper around a wire or model object; balloons can also be used. Let it dry and then paint it.