Skip traditional paint brushes and head outside! Real flowers make wonderful, natural stamps and paint brushes to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind artwork that kids will love. Choose sturdy flowers with strong stems, such as daisies. Try different flowers, colors, and amounts of paint to see how each one creates a unique design. Don’t forget to read […]
Salt Dough Nature Print Pendants
July 15, 2026 3 Comments
Bring a little bit of nature indoors with these simple salt dough keepsakes! Kids will love pressing real flowers and leaves into the dough to create beautiful textured prints. Once the pieces have dried, they can paint their one-of-a-kind creations, turning everyday treasures from a nature walk into colorful works of art they’ll be proud […]
3D Cardboard Christmas Tree
December 24, 2025 Leave a Comment
The kids in my care love when I cut out 3-D crafts for them from cardboard found in their recycling bin. I found this Christmas tree template from the Mr Printables web site. I traced the bottom of tree to make a short stand instead of sliding the same sized trees together. I highly recommend […]
Baby Safe Earth Day Painting
April 17, 2024 Leave a Comment
Earth Day is celebrated on April 22. I love helping the kids prepare for Earth Day by reading children’s books about the Earth, making simple crafts, and baking each year. For this super easy baby safe painting activity, simply print an Earth template and trim it to fit inside a ziplock bag. You can also […]
“Stumpkin” and Pumpkin Sun Catchers
October 11, 2023 Leave a Comment
One of my favorite children’s books is “Stumpkin” by Lucy Ruth Cummins. It’s the story of a pumpkin without a stem trying to be sold in a store in the city that feels left out. “Stumpkin” has a stump, not a stem. So, no one seems to want to buy a stemless jack-o-lantern for their […]
“How to Build a Snowman” and Craft
January 4, 2023 Leave a Comment
After reading “How to Build a Snowman” to the children in your care, allow toddlers and preschoolers to paint and paste together this snowman craft. “How to Build a Snowman” is an innovative and interactive touch-and-feel winter fun book for babies and toddlers by Little Scholastic. A very first winter book with different textures to […]
“Elmer the Elephant” by David McKee and Craft
November 2, 2022 Leave a Comment
Children love the Elmer the patchwork elephant book series by David McKee. I love the Mini Mad Things blog. After reading “Elmer’s Colors,” “Elmer and Butterfly,” “Elmer and the Rainbow,” and “Elmer’s Special Day,” by David McKee I let the child in my care use paint and pastels to decorate a cardboard Elmer. It might […]
Sidewalk Chalk Paint
June 8, 2022 1 Comment
This is a non-toxic and washable, three ingredient art supply for some summer fun. Children can paint on their driveway and once this sidewalk chalk paint dries the colors are vibrant and beautiful. We used this beautiful food coloring. We didn’t use filters for these photos! We experimented with the recipe. The children in my […]
Ice Cream Foot Prints
September 2, 2015 2 Comments
Creative Wednesdays When you care for kids too young to do much of their own arts and crafts independently you can still use them to help make cards and gifts for their family and friends. In this project, we used a toddler’s foot to create cute birthday cards with a personal touch. You Will Need: […]
Painting Symmetry
June 3, 2015 2 Comments
Creative Wednesdays Symmetry can be taught at an early age with this very simple art project. Explain to the little ones that if you cut something in half and both sides look exactly the same, they are symmetrical. Allow the children to experiment using different sized drops of paint and spaces between the paint dots. The five-year-old I care […]
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