Arts & Crafts ideas for 2 year olds?

Question

I'm looking for fun and easy projects to do with my preschool class. This is my first year at this, and although I've read books, I'm looking for fresh/new ideas. Anything that will help them learn shapes, colors, abc's, numbers, or just for fun, will be very much appreciated. Also, I'm looking for some good songs to help them learn, or a website where I can find some. Thanks!

Answer 1

Get a sand/water table. You can fill it with all sorts of sensory things- hard beans, noodles, water, sand, cotton balls, etc. It really helps kids learn by feel.

For ABC's, get stuffed animals (beanie babies work well) for each letter. An animal they can easily recognize as that letter- a bird for B, a deer for D, a sheep for S, etc.

You can also invest in letter die cuts to make pictures from on construction paper. Get all sorts of sizes of the letter, in all different colors. Let them use glue sticks to put them on paper, and crayons to draw on them with.

A color basket is a great way to introduce colors. Fill it with all sorts of items that can be passed around of that color. Red apples, a red feather boa, red flowers, red stuffed animals, etc- stuff they can touch and feel, and enjoy.

When you are setting up a letter or color for the week, make sure that you fill the room with items of that color or letter. Have interchangable items in play area's.

You can also assign a color & shape to each table. Just cut the shape from the color, and put it in the center of the table. Then put clear contact paper over it to keep it on the table. This helps teach colors & shapes, while also teaching them how to recognize what table they sit at.

Answer 2

Try this site: http://www.bobsedulinks.com/early.htm and really explore it because it links to lots of other sites. All the sites listed in Bob's place have been checked out. It has links that continue well into high school.

The Early education sites have links to others as well. I have been using it for years.

No, I am not Bob, though I once sat in a tutorial with him.

Another really good place is the local library. If it is a good library it will be discarding old, unused books and updating them.

Also, the library will probably have magazines like Family Fun and Hopscotch and Baby Bug and Lollipops which do crafts and rarely repeat them, so for each month there will be lots more kid tested crafts to explore. Good luck.

Answer 3

Grate crayons on a fine grater. Grate a lot of them! Use colors appropriate for whatever theme or season you're using. Put the grated crayons in muffin cups or something similar. Cut two pieces of 12" x 12" waxed paper for each kid.

Have the kids pick leaves, flowers, seeds or whatever, or use cut-out shapes appropriate to the theme, or stickers.

Have them lay a few seeds or stickers on one sheet of waxed paper, then sprinkle with crayon gratings. (Use just a few leaves, and a little crayon. They will spread out, and you want to see through it.) Just a little crayon, in various colors. Then you or a helper place the other sheet on top, and iron with a warm iron. Punch a hole on top (Hanging them like a diamond shape is nice), add a piece of yarn, and hang in a window!

OR

Using coffee filters (round ones folded in half, or cone shaped ones) colored with sponges and water colors, use pipe cleaners to make butterflies. Do about three butterflies for each kid, then tie with yard or string to a stick from outdoors. Hang them at different lengths, then add more string to hang the whole thing. Lovely, fun and easy.
OR

Kids paint or color paper plates, then a grownup cuts them in a spiral. (Cut a bit of a bulge for a head in the center.) Voila! Snakes! These can be hung, too.

Answer 4

SUPPLIES: clear contact paper items for a collage cut the contact paper to whatever size you want but with little ones usually 8 1/2 x 11 is a good size. remove the backing paper (keep). place the clear part sticky side up on a table. tuck the corners under to hold the paper in place. allow the kids to put on and take off the collage pieces until they are satisified with their masterpiece. sometimes you can replace the backing to seal the creation. variation: do the same as above but put a picture of the child picture side down on the sticky sheet, place in a poem about dads and let the child dribble confetti and glitter. seal and give to dad as a dad's day gift. (can also be done for mom or any other occassion.)

Answer 5

Finger painting with pudding (preferably vanilla based flavors).

You could do "painting" by putting paper into a 13x9" baking pan. Put some paint on the paper and have the child blow the paint around on the paper through a straw. The results can be really pretty and after they dry, they can be hung on the wall.

Answer 6

here is a site for professional preschool teachers (birth-6 years). there is a sharing board, and lesson link for toddler activities, along with other neat teacher stuff. have fun! check out the classroom ideas link for cool ideas. to offer challenging learning activities you may want to check out the outcome-based link.

Answer 7

try Preschool Express website

Answer 8

None you just give them different materials and let them do what they want. FREE PLAY they will learn more from it than it being structured. outside in the rain with wellie boots raincoats and mud is my favorite and a big sheet of white paper.

Answer 9

Try these sites:

http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Art/Crafts/

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/

http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/kidsart.htm
(this one includes a list of arts and crafts for children 3 and up)

Hope these help. Good Luck!

Answer 10

just type in preschool in web browser and it will give you a bunch of sites.