Five Fun & Creative Activities for Young Children

Five Fun & Creative Activities for Young Children
Page content

Make Your Child’s Life More Colorful

Toys may entertain your child but leave little space for creative development. There is little opportunity for a child playing with an inanimate toy to experiement with their ideas. Try one of these creative activities to get your child interacting and creating!

Experimenting With Paints

Learn the Alphabet

Your child may be too young to know how to hold a paintbrush, but it doesn’t mean that they can’t paint! Take a big canvas sheet of paper and write down the alphabet in capital letters. Using thin tape cover each alphabet letter.

Let your infant paint the entire canvas by dipping his hands in non-toxic paints. Once the color is dried, slowly remove the sticky tape and let him/her examine the paper. Infants will enjoy this activity, while at the same time it will introduce them to the world of the alphabet.

Instead of letters, you can also draw numbers, cartoon characters, vehicles and flowers. For toddlers, use small canvases with one picture on each and stress the alphabet each time when you unmask an object. If they choose the color ‘Red’ to paint, then select the sheet with the alphabet ‘R’ and pronounce it repeatedly while you unmask it to reveal the letter.

Magic With Crayons

Crayon painting on dress

Make your Own T-Shirt

Like adults, children love to be appreciated for their work! This activity provides an opportunity for toddlers to exhibit their talents. Take a tracing sheet and trace any shape or image in it. Let your toddler color it with crayons. Now place the tracing sheet upside down on a T-shirt or skirt and press the painted picture using a hot iron. The wax in the crayons will be transferred to the fabric. (The image above shows an Umbrella on T-shirt)

Make a Book

Cut paper in the shape of book and draw stars, moon, square, rectangle etc. on each paper. Color these pictures with crayons and put aside. Take a container large enough to dip these square papers and pour some water inside. Add a large quantity of watercolors into the water and dip each paper, one after another and let them dry. If toddlers are using bright colored pictures then use light colored paints to color the paper and vice versa so that the pictures stand out. Bind these papers together to form a beautiful book.

Fun with Glue

sand parrot

Paper Picture

Cut papers of different colors into very small pieces. Now paint the inside of the picture with child friendly glue. Let your infant sprinkle the paper pieces all over the paper. Lightly shake the paper sheet so that excess paper pieces are removed and the paper picture remains. Frame and hang it on the wall of your infant’s room so that, he/she can enjoy his/her work.

Sand Picture

The same activity can be done with sand. Collect sand from the courtyard and allow it to flow through a sieve to make it a fine powder. Let your toddler draw a picture on a big canvas sheet and let him/her cover its body with glue. Now sprinkle the sand over the picture and remove the excess sand by lightly shaking the canvas sheet. Set aside for a full day so to let it completely dry. Color the sand using a brush and watercolors and then frame it. (The image above shows a parrot made using this method).

Enjoy!

These creative activities are intended to foster the talents of small children. Remember to have fun and don’t be afraid to get a little messy! Just make sure not to leave your child alone during the activity. Develop your child’s self-esteem by exhibiting the art work they created using their own imagination.

References

  • Photos courtesy of the author.