Summer Fun: Toddler Crafts and Kid Cooking

A few weeks ago I had the rare opportunity to have time with each of the girls by themselves. This is very rare. I set a couple of things up for Vivi (22 months) to do. She likes to feel successful immediately when she is doing activities and so I wanted to be sure to be ready to change activities when she got bored or frustrated. I know this is a common trait for this age and in other areas good parenting dictates you allow them to be frustrated to overcome adversity however, I want her to have fun while doing art, therefore I create the opportunities for that feeling to be pervasive. 

The first activity was painting with tubes. I poured washable paints into a plate but out the paper and let use them as a stamp. She did this for a few minutes and then asked for a brush. She likes painting so she multi-tasked.

 This is an oldie but a goodie. A used Pringles can. I made holes of different sizes in the top and gave her a stack of pipe cleaners. This helps her use small motor skills and work on patience a little. Once the can was full she was done. She didn't want to do it again as if she completed the task and moved on.

 The next activity was a string game. It's an Alex Little Hands activity. The theme for this one is thee farm. I pulled off all the wooden figures and put them in a bowl. She then threaded them on. I was surprised by how this held her attention and how many times she wanted to do it again. It must have been close to 10 times. She would put them on the string and then I would take them off, she would happily thread again. This is another small motor skill development and she was very good at it. I recommend these because the figures are sturdy and Lydia actually likes to use them for imaginative play.

 Once Vivi was napping, Lydia had gotten home from her morning camp. I let her use the same paint, tubes and brushes but added a couple of paint stamps to keep her busy. She loves this type of thing so she painted here for a whole 30-45 minutes without question or fuss at all. The difference between an almost 4 year old and an old most 2 year old.

 Once everyone was up and awake we made dinner. Digiorno has a new pizza that comes with various toppings, they call it they Design a Pizza. The consumer can put whatever they want on the pizza. I found this to be a great kid cooking activity. Even Vivian was able to help. They each have a step stool so they can reach the counter. I opened up the packets of toppings and they just put the stuff on there any way they wanted.  It was sort of awesome. When they were finished we made the pizza and ate it. They both ate 2 whole pieces and I think that part of it was certainly the ownership over the food itself.