It can be hard to keep little ones busy. There are only so many things to do, and quite often we turn around and start the same activities over again or give up and turn to a screen. When my people were little, I think we took at least three walks a day because I was tired of playing with them, they were tired of playing with their toys, and I couldn’t think of anything else I could deal with doing. In the struggle to keep our little kids busy, content, and learning, crafts and creativity can be a good solution. Crafts with our kids don’t have to be complicated or overwhelming. So let’s see if we can do one craft a week with our kids to keep them busy.
Crafting has developmental benefits
Kids love to work with their hands, and it actually has a lot of benefits for them. Little children need lots of practice in their fine motor skills, and they can work on several of these as they create and craft. During the age of one, kids can start holding a crayon to scribble or a thick paintbrush to paint. When children are two years old, they can start molding play-do more easily. At three, they can begin to draw specific shapes and fold paper. Their skills continue to grow as they learn to glue, to cut, and to assemble pieces together.
Easy crafts for young children’
Again, crafts for really young children must be simple. And they will require help from parents. But it can be as easy as opening a coloring book or printing some coloring pages. At Signing
Time, we have several free printable coloring pages for you to download here. There are pages to go along with our Baby Signing Time and Classic Signing Time shows. We have pages with Hopkins the Frog and with nursery rhymes. And there are pages to help learn some signing as well. You can find them all right here.
Little ones can also enjoy our Handy Crafts. Handy Crafts are meant to be simple projects our kids can do with their own hands. Of course, little ones will need some help from parents, but if you decide to do one craft a week, it’s easier to set aside this time to help your kids. There are A LOT of ideas for Handy Crafts right here.
Activity Guides are available too
If you have a digital subscription to My Signing Time, you have access to the activity guides for some of our shows. And there are craft ideas in our activity guides. In Rachel & the TreeSchoolers, there are activity guides to go along with the scientific topics from their corresponding shows. And in TreeSchoolers: The Legends of Phonetica, there are activity guides to go along with the letters covered in the shows. And they have step by step instructions and even some printables to help you with these crafts. Some of the crafts are more advanced, but many of them are great for little kids. So check them out in your My Signing Time subscription.
So, see if you can do just one craft a week with your kids to break the boredom, help them with fine motor skill development, and most importantly, to have fun!