Quality Preschool, Infant and After School Programs

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Spring and Summer Baby Crafts

The warmer weather in Tustin means that spring and summer are coming, and all the joys of these seasons will soon be here as well. Spring and summer mean sunnier days, beautiful evenings, and even more opportunities for you to connect with your family. Having some activities planned out, such as some fun arts and crafts to work on, are a great way to not only spend some time with your kids, but to also create memories and projects that you’ll love working on later.

In this three-part blog series, we’ll take a look at some of the arts and crafts you can do with your littlest ones. Infants and babies don’t yet have the dexterity and developmental skills to make arts and crafts, but they can still participate with a lot of guidance. This is still an opportunity for you to connect with your child, as well as create some memorabilia that they (and you!) will cherish as they get older.

Adventures in Learning offers the preschool, daycare, and early childhood education that your child needs to help them continue on their path to success. The early years are the most important for your child’s development, and with Adventures in Learning, our daycare providers will promote positive growth and development at every turn. Contact us to enroll at our childcare center, and in the meantime, have some fun with these arts and crafts!

Craft Projects: Infant to 24 months

Babies start out nearly and essentially helpless, but by the time they hit their second birthday, they’ve reached such drastic milestones in the process. They’re walking, talking, laughing, and later on, saying the word “no” a whole lot. The gains made during this period of time are immense and practically immeasurable, but these kiddos still need a lot of guidance and support. This time is so exciting, and their experiences with arts and crafts have just begun!

Butterfly Paint

Motor skills are still being developed, so for most children in this age group, a paintbrush will be difficult to grasp and use effectively (though it doesn’t mean your two-year-old shouldn’t try!). Using their hands, fingers, and feet as the paintbrush will make art not only developmentally appropriate, but fun as well!

Draw an outline of a butterfly’s body on a piece of construction paper, then help paint your child’s feet (older kids can likely do this themselves). For babies, place their feet one at a time on both sides of the thorax of the butterfly to make the wings. Feel free to add decorations and other designs around as you’d like! With a child 18-24 months, help them step on the paper, and maybe draw shapes (such as the sun or grass) that they can color in after.

Flower Pot Finger Paints

Spring and summer are known for being a time of growth, and creating a painted flower pot is a great way to tie in some environmental and seasonal learning. Pick out some seeds from a garden store (we’d recommend some fun, colorful flowers for you and your young one to enjoy), and make sure you have some soil on hand. Before planting anything, start decorating the pot!

Choose some colors (or have your young toddler pick out some paints), then help paint their fingertips. Have them start decorating the outside of the flower pot with finger paint polka dots, in any number of ways:

  • Create a pattern (great for younger toddlers on an academic level)
  • Start with one dot in the middle, then build around it, creating a spiral
  • Have a free-for-all!

And of course, once the flower pot is decorated, you and your child can start planting! Babies will obviously need to take more of an observer role with this craft, but children between the ages of one and two can help here and there. Best to do this part of the craft outside if you can, they’ll love playing with the soil!

In our next blog, we’ll cover even more crafts that older toddlers can enjoy. For another great way that your child can get to enjoy arts and crafts projects, enroll them in Adventures in Learning daycare! We include art lessons, activities, and sensory projects that they’ll love (and also work on crucial developmental skills in the process). Contact our daycare center today in Tustin and our preschool in Orange to get started.