What crafty stuff for a 3 year old?

[lotus.blossom]

I'm starting to think about things to get us through the long winter but I am so NOT a crafty mom. I'm really embaressed to say that I don't do anything crafty at all with my son. He gets that a preschool but I want to do some stuff with him at home. Where do I start? Construction paper, glue, stickers, scissors....... any great ideas for cheap materials to get us going? Or maybe even a kit that will get us started? I always feel like craft materials are so expensive.....

[MtBikeLover]

Use Michael's and Joann's coupons and hit the dollar stores. We also get stuff at the back to school sales and second hand thrift stores.

Our craft area has playdoh (you can make at home), glitter, gluesticks, scissors, construction paper, large bottles of paint, lots of paint brushes, stencils, markers, crayons, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, fuzzy balls, googly eyes, stickers, wood pieces, a paper trimmer, coloring books, etc.

PLUS a whole bunch of recycled stuff. Bottle caps, string, ribbon, twist ties, packing peanuts, etc. They build all kinds of crazy, neat things with this stuff. I have a big drawer where they just throw things in and use them when they need them. They are super creative but the best thing is that it is all FREE!!

They also get stuff when we are walking - pine cones, leaves, sticks, rocks, seashells when we went to Florida, beach sand, etc.

[aprons_and_acorns]

Those are great suggestions!

Here are a couple of books you might enjoy too:

Everyday Art for Kids by Carolyn Holm
Preschool Art by Mary Ann Kohl

And there are great recipes for homemade craft materials in this book. Fingerpaint, play clay, stuff like that. It's easy and a lot cheaper to make a lot of those things yourself and the author has some wonderful ideas for using them.

I found all three of those books at our library and they helped get me through a long winter with a little boy

[MtBikeLover]

A few more that i noticed when I was straightening up the craft area tonight:

Straws, paper towel/toilet paper rolls, old photographs that we aren't using, cardboard boxes from boxed food, and old greeting cards.

Also, I have cut up pieces of cardboard for them before. They paint them, draw on them, build with them, etc.

[NiteNicole]

Paper plates and pom poms are huge here. Anything that can be glued to a paper plate or strung on yarn. Huge pieces of paper (newspaper, anything) and finger paint. Blessed, blessed WASHABLE finger paint! Noodles, beads, beans, buttons. Pipe cleaners.

[lotus.blossom]

Thanks for the hints so far! Keep them coming! I love the ideas of all the found objects. I am such a neat freak that all this stuff gets thrown away/recycled immediately but I could definitely squirrel them away for crafts.

We don't have any Michaels or Joanns nearby. We only have a walmart ( ) but I suppose I could get stuff there.

I do make my own play dough. Thats a hit (for a few days anyway then he's over it) I guess I just need to make some more tactile things like that for him to get into. I'm going to have to just suck it up and let him paint. I need a new roll of paper for his easel.

[NiteNicole]

Have you let him play with oobleck? My daughter can spend at least an hour playing with that. I like playing with it, too. It flows through your fingers like a liquid but it's hard when it's in the pan.

It's easy to make - start with about two cups of water in a big container (you play with it in the container, so check to see what you have. I have some big plastic food containers we use for just this) and start adding corn starch. Apparently you'll need about two cups if that's how much water you use but I always end up adding a little more water, a little more starch, etc, and mixing. Mix with your hands. Let him help mix. It's fun and it's weird eve before it gets to the perfect oobleck ratio.

[Bug-a-Boo's Mama]

We do a couple of nature programs regularly. I can't tell you how many paper bag owls we now have. A whole family plus the extended family. And a frog. Just buy brown paper lunch bags at the $1 store (white ones also work), construction paper, glue and scissors. You need eyes, beak, wings, feet, tail feathers (optional). The idea is that they are puppets. So do the eyes/beak on the front, glue the wings in the crack on the bag, feet at the bottom and tail on the back. Frog is the same idea.

Draw or print a large shape. Cut up pieces of tissue paper. Glue them inside the shape, scrunching them up instead of just laying them flat. We did this with a seahorse. Very cute and would make good presents.

Animal face or animal shape, glue beans-all different kinds-onto paper to make what the animal would look like.

Using tweezers, spoons, etc. to move rice/beans/etc from one bowl to another. Yeah, DS didn't enjoy this too much. Luckily it didn't take long to vacuum up the after mess.

Moving water from one bowl to another using an eyedropper. Add food coloring for more fun.

Oh and DS LOVES to cut up pieces of paper. From there he might glue them to paper, but he really just loves to cut the paper up.

Naked painting. Started this because DS would usually paint on himself at some point. So eliminated the clothing and moved him to the kitchen.

Oh and stickers are another good one.

Window crayons, by Crayola are lots of fun too. Much better than the markers. Comes off with water.

[KathinJapan]

I get a e newsletter with craft ideas in it.
kidscraftweekly.com

She has some super great ideas using everyday objects.
Kathryn

[Mama Shifra]

I still love Earthways: Simple Environmental Activities for Young Children (ISBN: 9780876591567) by Carol Petrash. The crafts may not be cheap (and I know that's what you are looking for), but they are so satisfying for both adults and children.

[show&tell]

I've bookmarked a site that has tons of craft ideas on it that I've been meaning to use -- haven't gotten there just yet. Maybe you'd like it: http://www.notimeforflashcards.com

[sewaneecook]

Hi April! We're in the same boat over here too!

Some big hits for us:
-pom poms (for making animals, gluing to paper, etc) The animals we make are great for car toys, and for play when I'm tending to the new baby too. You'll need craft glue to keep it together.

-stickers (from the dollar store or from inserts in the mail, etc) and paper. Sometimes I help draw a scene using the stickers.

-Easel paper - it's big, it's cheap, and it's fun

-crayons, colored pencils, markers

-Big bowl of uncooked rice - it can hide cars, rocks, sticks, etc - use it as a seek and find activity. Plus, it feels great! Plus it vacuums easily (we usually do this on a day I plan on vacuuming anyway)

-Take shaving cream and put it in muffin tins and color each "muffin" with food coloring and paint the bath tub (careful, the coloring can stain grout).

-Pipe cleaners can be shaped in to all sorts of things. I usually do the shaping and DS1 does the playing with it afterward. It really doesn't matter if it doesn't look like anything, just use your imagination.

-I've started saving up jar lids, milk lids, corks, etc for fun things to do, but I haven't actually used them yet.

-Take sheets, blankets, chairs, couches, etc and make a fort. Add a flashlight and you have an occupied child for hours!

I hope that helps.

I'm taking down all the other ideas too.