Simple Easter crafts for toddlers

With Easter and the Easter holidays fast approaching, today I'm sharing some of my favourite Easter crafts for toddlers and young children. Some of the very earliest crafts that I shared on this blog were Easter crafts, and so it's quite nostalgic for me looking back at them! Even though my children are a little bit older now I think that they would still enjoy some of these crafts and activities, especially the papier mache bowls and the Mini Egg cookies!

Click on the links to find a full tutorial.

Papier mache gift bowls

For these papier mache bowls I used some small plastic bowls from Ikea as a template. This is a fun craft that can provide some craft time each day over several days, as there are several different steps to the process. When finished they make a lovely Easter gift filled with Easter chocolates, or they can be used to store small items in the bathroom or bedroom.

Simple paper plate baskets

All you need to make these little baskets is a paper plate, a stapler and a strip of cardboard for the handle. We painted ours and decorated them with fake flower petals, then the children had fun collecting flowers and grass in the garden. You could also use them as personalised gift baskets for Easter.

Easter bunny egg holders and Easter chick egg holders

These simple bunnies and chicks are made from old cardboard tubes and they are the perfect size to hold a small egg like a Cadbury Creme Egg or similar. I remember making these for family members as Easter gifts when I was little!

Easter sensory tub

I loved putting together sensory tubs for my children when they were toddlers, I made them on all sorts of different themes. This Easter sensory tub has plenty of rice dyed in bright colours then coloured pom poms, shredded paper, tiny Easter chick toys and some spoons. In a plastic tub along with an old egg box and some plastic eggs there is plenty to keep young children busy!

Hama bead Easter egg suncatchers

If you read this blog regularly you'll know how much I love crafting with Hama beads! These Easter egg suncatchers use the large Hama bead Easter Egg pegboard to make frames which are then filled with coloured scraps of tissue paper. You could also use the frame for an Easter drawing or photograph.

If you like crafting with Hama beads then you might also enjoy this post - Easter crafts using Hama beads.

Mini Egg cookies

Finally a delicious Easter recipe! These Easter Mini Egg cookies are very easy to make and don't need an egg. I make them all the time with different chocolate but the Mini Eggs are definitely my favourite.

Happy Easter crafting!

Simple Mother's Day crafts for toddlers and young children

In the past I've shared lots of ideas for simple Mother's Day crafts that you can make with young children, and so I thought I'd re-share some of my favourites. These crafts are all really easy to do, and with a bit of help your toddler can make some lovely gifts for Mother's Day that are either useful or can be proudly displayed. Just click on the links to find the full tutorials.

I really enjoyed making these Pom Pom frames with a quote about Mothers. They are so easy to make, just a cardboard frame covered with plenty of glue and a pile of brightly coloured craft pom poms that toddlers can push into place. Finish off the frames with a printed quote or a photograph of the child.

These Hama bead covered jam jars make a lovely, practical gift, and are really easy to make. Just help the child make a strip of patterned Hama beads, perhaps in simple stripes or just random colours, then when you iron them, before they cool completely you can wrap them around the jar so that they cool to a curved shape which can be glued on to the jar.

Papier mache gift bowls are a great way to give a gift of sweets or chocolate, and can be re-used around the home once the treats have been eaten. They are fun to make with glue and paper, and can then be painted by the child to make a really personalised gift.

A Hama bead flower wreath looks complicated, but all you need is a small Hama bead flower pegboard and you can let the child loose creating different designs which can be assembled into a lovely decoration for the home. The individual flower designs can also be used to make magnets or key rings.

The classic cardboard tube pen and pencil pot desk organiser is something that I remember making for my own parents when I was little! Just paint some cardboard tubes, stick them together, and decorate with stickers and sequins.

Finally why not use some Hama bead photo frames to gift a photo or drawing. The frames are really simple to make and could be made in colours that match the photo or the recipient's decor.

Happy Mother's Day!

Valentine's Day crafts for toddlers

Over the years I've shared many Valentine's Day craft posts on the blog, and although my children are now getting a bit too old to indulge me with some seasonal crafting, I'm still proud of the crafts that we've worked on over the years. So with Valentine's Day approaching once again I thought I'd share some of the toddler and pre-schooler Valentine's Day crafts that we enjoyed doing together.

Stock up on red paint and cardboard, then click on the links below to find the details of each craft!

Valentine's Day toilet roll tube gift boxes

These simple gift boxes are so easy to make. All you need is a selection of cardboard tubes which you need to paint bright red or pink, then cut heart shaped pieces of red card to form the base. Glue on googly eyes and scraps of pink and red tissue paper and card. I also used a heart punch to make simple heart shapes. Stuff with shredded paper and fill with small sweets and chocolates.

Tissue paper Valentine's Day photo frames

These photo frames are fun for even the youngest children to make. Cut out the shape from thick cardboard, then coat in glue and stick down bits of torn coloured tissue paper. You can then embellish with buttons, beads or paper cut outs.

Valentine's Day keepsake bookmarks

To make these sturdy bookmarks all you need is a strip of coloured cardboard and some heart cutouts from paper, I used a heart punch. They are laminated and then a matching ribbon is threaded through the hole at the bottom. We wrote personalised messages on the back and gave them as gifts, and although we made them a couple of years ago they are still going strong!

Heart sun catchers

These sun catchers can even be made by very young children. They are made using clear sticky backed plastic, which is really easy for young toddlers to use in crafts as there is no mess with glue. They just need to fill the outline with pieces of torn coloured tissue paper, then you can apply another piece of the clear plastic to make a neat finish.

Valentine's themed jewellery box

Young children love having little boxes that they can use to store their precious bits and pieces! My daughter and I decorated this box with a Valentine's Day theme by painting it red and then adding heart themed stickers and embellishments. It's still in use in her room today!

Hama bead heart bunting

These Hama bead hearts are really simple to make using the small Hama bead heart pegboard, and they make a lovely set of bunting when strung together on some narrow ribbon.

I hope that you found something to keep you and your toddler busy!

If you have slightly older children that enjoy using Hama beads, you might also like my round up of Valentine's Day themed Hama bead crafts. 

Chinese New Year crafts for toddlers

In 2020, Chinese New Year will be celebrated on Saturday 25th January. I've rounded up some of the Chinese New Year crafts that we've enjoyed over the last few years, in case you are looking for some crafting inspiration for your toddler or pre-schooler. These crafts are great for very young children because they are easy and fun to do, and they use craft materials that can easily be found around the home. Click the links to be taken to the original post will full instructions and photos for the different Chinese New year crafts.

Simple cardboard lanterns

These simple lanterns can be made with thin cardboard or thick paper, then decorated using stickers or sequins. With coloured pipecleaner handles they look great strung up to decorate the room!

Paper cup lanterns

These paper cup lanterns are really simple to make and are a great way of recycling old paper or plastic cups that you may otherwise be throwing out. You just need stickers or sequins to decorate, and you can add some tissue paper streams to the bottom for some extra decoration. They are really fun for children to play with too, and make great decorations.

Paper plate dragon mask

Children love dressing up, and a paper plate makes a really good base for a dragon themed mask, complete with streamers and glitter.

Cardboard tube dragon puppets

These dragon puppets are made from old cardboard tubes and are great fun for children to make and decorate before putting on a Chinese themed show.

I hope that I've inspired you for some fun Chinese New Year crafting!

Ad - Book Review - Easy Paper Projects by Maggy Woodley

I received a copy of this book in exchange for review, post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

I've been a big fan of Red Ted Art for a long time, so I was delighted to be asked to take a look at Maggy Woodley's new book - Easy Paper Projects. This brilliant book is packed with 60 different crafts that children can wear, gift, use and admire.

The projects in the book are designed to be worked on by children independently, using a small range of materials which are easily found around the home - for example coloured paper and card and basic office supplies like pens, scissors and glue. 

Mia is 8 and loves crafting, and she's now at the age when she's happy to work on something by herself. I gave her the book to have a browse, and she immediately spotted several crafts that she wanted to try out straight away. She loves making things that feature cute animals, and decided that her first project would be a "Hug a Book" Bookmark. 

I really liked that the way the book is bound means that you can open it flat to see the pages clearly while crafting, without damaging it. A simple thing maybe, but it really makes it easy to work on the projects. The crafts are grouped by theme, for example seasonal crafts like Halloween and Christmas, and other topics like wearable crafts and cards.

Each page is clearly laid out, with a photo of the finished product and plenty of step by step instructions and photos. Mia worked mainly from the photos, which gave her a clear image of the different pieces that she needed to cut from coloured paper and assemble.

She was so proud of her finished panda, created entirely by herself with no help - she even cleared up after herself when she was finished!

Harry aged 10 was also really interested in the book. He enjoys crafts that have a purpose and do something, so he had a lot of fun making a simple Helicopter using just paper and paperclips. He loved watching it fly down from the top floor of the house, and he worked out how to tweak his design to make it fly perfectly! 

I particularly love all the themed crafts in the book, and I'll definitely be turning to it in the run up to Christmas. There are lots of really sweet ideas which would make lovely decorations and gifts.

If you have crafty children I'd definitely recommend this book. The projects are great for children to work on by themselves and create a finished product that they can be proud of. They'll love looking through and choosing which projects to try, and you'll see their imagination fly as they adapt the crafts to suit their own interests and tastes.

Annoying at the time, but I miss it now

Last night was another long evening of putting Harry to bed and suffering through his convoluted bedtime routine (a series of actions and phrases that must be repeated in a particular order and that if deviated from necessitates starting again. Very frustrating!) Once again, I got myself through it by promising myself that it won't be long before he won't want me putting him to bed, and I'll miss it when that happens.

It reminded me of some of the other annoying things that I had to do when they were small children, and that how when you are in the middle of something you don't appreciate that it's just a phase and will one day come to an end.

For example, toddler Harry went through a Button Moon stage. He played it with play dough, with cardboard props, watched episodes over and over, and for his third birthday he had a Button Moon cake. Throughout this phase, for lunch every day he would have a 'Button Moon sandwich', which was a circular Marmite sandwich with four holes in the centre. Then he demanded 'cheese around the edges' - so I had to cut up little cubes of cheese and arrange them artfully around the edge of the plate in just the right way to satisfy him. It was really annoying and made preparing his lunch quite a chore. But now I miss making him a shaped sandwich, he really did love it!

Also at mealtimes we always had to prepare a small bowl of food for his cuddly Giraffe. This was a little bowl of food from the toy kitchen filled with some scraps of green felt to make pretend food. It was really sweet - I'm sure that he doesn't remember but he's still so attached to Giraffe, I bet he'd love it if I made Giraffe a bowl of food tomorrow!

Bedtimes have always been a bit of a struggle in this house, and for a long time as part of the bedtime routine with both children we used an app on the tablet called Nighty Night. It's a picture of a farmhouse, and you click on the windows to put each animal to bed. There's a short and a long version, and I used to find it so boring sat there, desperate for some quiet time after a day spent with a toddler, waiting for them to painstakingly slowly put all the animals to bed. Then suddenly one night we didn't do it anymore and it was all forgotten, and now I quite miss it!

I used to dread the walk home from nursery after lunch with toddler Mia. It wasn't far away so I would take her scooter, which used to fill me with fear for the first part of the journey as she had to scoot alongside a busy road. Then soon after that she'd just give up and I'd have to push her home, balancing both rucksack and my handbag as I leaned over at an awkward angle. She was so slow, always wanting to stop to look for pine cones, even when I could see that there weren't any there, and she wanted to be lifted up to stand on every post that we passed. But now I miss our little chats and that time that we had together.

However one thing that I definitely don't miss about small children is the night times! They really were both such awful sleepers - Harry in particular with a couple of hours of screaming in the early hours every single night. I also don't miss those 4.45 am starts - even though he's still an early riser at least he can entertain himself in his room until we need to start getting ready for school!

What do you miss about the toddler years? And what will you definitely not miss?!

The toy kitchen, one of our top toys

I recently wrote a post about our love affair with Duplo, highlighting a toy that we've had so much play value from, and it made me think about some of the other toys which have been particularly popular with my children. Another firm favourite has been their toy kitchen and all the play food and accessories that go along with it.

I was a bit reluctant to have a proper play kitchen for the children at first, as they take up a lot of space. But when Ram spotted a great deal on a lovely wooden toy kitchen it was impossible to refuse, and we asked my parents if they'd like to buy it for the children one Christmas a few years back. This is the one that we have from John Lewis (it's not usually this tidy!)

One of the nice things about this particular toy kitchen is that it has plenty of storage space inside for all the other bits and pieces. When we moved into our house a few years back the previous owner was emigrating, and she left behind lots of plastic play food and toy kitchenware. Along with some bits that we'd already collected, and pieces that we've accumulated since, there's plenty to keep them busy (and to store). Quite a lot of our play food is home made, like my realistic play food, the felt sandwich set and the very popular salt dough and felt pizza.

I bought some of the extra kitchenware from Ikea which does some lovely bits. I was very tempted recently to replace the plastic stuff with some gorgeous china plates and cups but I'm glad that I didn't in the end because the plastic ones are constantly being carried about the house and transported in Mia's little handbags, and I don't think they'd last very long!

I'm always coming across little picnics that Mia has set up around the house, and I leave them there for as long as I can because I love seeing them, they are so sweet! Even if I am usually the one that ends up having to sort out all the bits and pieces into their correct boxes and put them away.

In fact, the only problem that I do have with the toy kitchen is that sometimes I seem to spend as long cleaning it up as I do my full size kitchen!

Shopping toys for young children

Last week it was Mia's birthday, and we were quite pleased with a few of the presents that we found for her so I thought that I'd share them. She has been interested in playing shops for quite some time, and I'm finding that it's a great way to start teaching her a bit of number recognition as well as indulging her love for role play.

Mia had been talking about having a shopping trolley for some time, but all the ones that we'd seen were aimed at younger toddlers, quite large and clunky in bright plastic colours. She was also adamant that it had to have a seat for her dolly. So Ram found her this fab realistic little toy Waitrose shopping trolley in John Lewis. Her dollies fit in comfortably, it has a nice padded handle, and there is plenty of space in the trolley as well as space underneath for a shopping basket.

It's great because it's not too large, it looks good, and because it's quite subdued in colour it doesn't stick out too much when it's stored in the corner of the room. It cost £18 which I thought was quite reasonable for a sturdy, well made toy.

John Lewis sell nice baskets of groceries too, but we preferred a much cheaper one that we found on Amazon, at only £5 I think it was a bargain - Child's Shopping Basket. It came packed with plenty of play food inside and it's quite small, which means that it fits on the shelf underneath the trolley and Mia can carry it around easily. Some of the packets have barcodes on them which Mia enjoys placing against her till to 'scan' them like she does when I use the self-service till at the supermarket. The boxes are perhaps a little flimsy for very little ones to play with, but I think that ours are at the age now where they will look after them better.

We've never had any kind of toy till for the children, but I've always known it was something that they'd both love, so we spent a bit of time looking for a nice one. We wanted one that was durable and long lasting, and preferably a bit more grown up than the basic bright plastic toys aimed at younger toddlers. It's quite difficult to find one that resembles the type of tills that are actually used in supermarkets, but in the end we opted for the Calculator Cash Register by Learning Resources.

A big bonus is that it is solar powered so it doesn't need any batteries, and it has a lovely drawer for the money underneath which is easy to open and close with the press of a button and makes a satisfying 'ding'. The till beeps when you press a button and when you insert the credit card, and it's also a fully functioning calculator. The till comes with a full set of play money, both coins and notes (UK denominations) as well as a play credit card. At just over £25 it's a little pricier than some of the other toy tills on the market, but I'm hoping that we'll get our money's worth from it. I've noticed that even though Mia has not had it long she's already starting to recognise her numbers, something that I've been trying to teach her for a while and not found a way to keep her interested. The large flat area on the left is great to press the food boxes up against and use as a scanner.

Finally when you are shopping you need somewhere to put your money, and I love these little purses that my Mum bought for the children a little while ago. I've no idea where they are from I'm afraid, but they are so sweet!

With perfect timing, last week I received a copy of Let's Go Shopping Peppa to review. The book is all about Peppa's trip to the supermarket when Peppa and her family need something tasty for lunch. At the supermarket, Peppa finds everything on Mummy Pig's shopping list, but when they get to the checkout something extra has appeared in their trolley..! I really like this particular story because the scenario of going shopping is something that is familiar to all little ones, even if perhaps in reality they don't all love it as much as Peppa and George do! Mia watches a lot of Peppa Pig, so this book was a big hit, we loved reading it together and because she has seen the corresponding television episode several times she knew what was going to happen and enjoyed telling me all about it. A lovely companion gift!

We've set up a little shop in the corner of the living room and I can see many days ahead of playing toy shops. Mia loved helping me to make the shop (she built the little walls herself out of her coloured blocks) and she's already learned a few tricks of the trade, like placing a few little toys by the till to tempt the buyer, and then trying to sell me something extra while I'm paying for my shopping!

I think that our shopping role play set up is pretty well sorted now!

We received the Let's Go Shopping Peppa book to review, all the other bits we bought ourselves. Amazon links are affiliate.

Our love affair with Duplo

I feel like I'm constantly trying to keep on top of the children's toys. I keep a close eye on what they are playing with, rotate out things that have been pushed to the back of cupboards, and remove unloved toys to a holding area for a few months before passing them on to the charity shop. As part of this process I notice the toys that they play with over and over again, and the toy that has easily had the most play value in our house between both children has been the Duplo.

We have a large box of Duplo. There are bricks which were mine when I was little, a couple of new boxes we bought of plain bricks, and Mia has recently acquired a couple of the Disney Princess Duplo sets. They literally have this Duplo box out everyday.

When we go on holiday I pack a bag with just a small pile of bricks, a couple of cars and some people, and it can keep them both happily entertained in their spare time for ages. I sometimes wonder if I should just empty out the toy cupboard and just let them keep their Duplo. Even Harry at 6, much as he loves his Lego, will play with it for ages. I think it's more satisfying as he can build something larger more quickly, and he uses his imagination brilliantly to expand on the basic bricks.

What has really fascinated me over the last few years is seeing how differently Harry and Mia play with the Duplo. Harry has always been about the vehicles, he had a Duplo fire station and he drove the fire engines around and built cars. He's never shown much interest in the people that came with the sets. For Mia on the other hand it's all about the role play. She builds houses and a pre-school for her people, and she only uses the cars to transport them about. Especially now she has a couple of Disney princess people, she plays long involved games with them. I'm sure it's nothing to do with how I've raised them, it's just their natural instincts showing through!

Different Rangoli to make with children for Diwali

Rangoli are beautiful, artistic designs that originate in India. They are created on the floor, either indoors or outdoors, and are usually formed with natural materials such as dyed sand, rice or flour. They can be very simple or incredibly complex and usually feature geometric designs and patterns. They are made to welcome the Hindu deities, they act as decoration and are thought to bring good luck. Rangoli are often created for Diwali, the Festival of Lights.

Designing and creating Rangoli is a great activity for children of all ages, because you can tailor them to the age and ability of the child. There are many different ways that you can make Rangoli with children, and this post contains some of the ways that we've created Rangoli together.

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know how much we all love Hama beads in this house. The Hama bead circular pegboards and the huge range of coloured Hama beads available makes them perfect for making Rangoli designs that can be used as coasters, place mats or decorations for a Diwali celebration.

I began with a series of designs for small Hama bead Rangoli. These designs use the small circle template and are very simple, easy for young children to copy or use as a base for their own ideas.

Then I moved onto creating large Hama bead Rangoli designs. These designs use a lot of beads as the large Hama bead circle template is quite big, but the final designs really are vibrant and eye catching. I love that the pegboard is so versatile, there are so many different ways that you can place the beads on the pegs!

Dyed rice is a very popular choice of material when making Rangoli. Rice is very cheap and it's easy to dye using food colouring. For these dyed rice Rangoli I drew the basic design onto painted cardboard and filled the outlines with glue before the children spooned the dyed rice into the different shapes.

Salt is another great natural material that is easily dyed with food colouring. Our recent dyed salt Rangoli designs were really easy for the children to make using clear contact paper and they also make lovely window decorations.

I have rounded up all my other Diwali crafts and activities into one post which you can find here - Simple Diwali crafts for young children.