Need help creative preschooler/toddler activites

[Norasmomma]

Hi there I am looking for more ideas for my DD(2), she loves art and craft activities. We have made play dough, finger paints and paper crafts-but I would love some more ideas and I know there are many creative minds here. I can do basic sewing and am crafty if I have directions and ideas.

Oh and what are playsilks? I have no idea, lol-just silky fabric or something?

TIA-e

[Think of Winter]

My dd is 2, too. Here are our craft-mainstays.

-Stickers of all sorts. I gave her some white labels, and it was fun to make our own stickers.
-Stamping.
-Painting (fingerpaints, watercolors). You can find things around the house to paint, like rocks, pinecones, or even other toys that have lost their appeal.
-Making crayons (but that was mostly watching.) Homemade crayons are awesome!
-Sidewalk chalk.
-Bubbles.
-Bath paints.
-Face paints. We were at a childrens museum in MA that had these fabulous face crayons that you dip in water to 'activate'.
-Decorating cookies.

Playsilks are colorful silk squares that can be used for any kind of imaginative play. Silk feels nice, takes color easily, is durable, and light. Green makes great grass, blue is water, all work for capes, we like to throw them, tie them in long ropes, hide under them, get wrapped up in them (play caterpillar, then spring out into a butterfly), hats, skirts, aprons. We have a bunch and use them a lot. They're also fun to make. I buy 33" square Habotai scarves and dye them myself. There's a great thread in the toys & dolls board about making them.

[Kinguk]

Collages are fun:
Put glue in a jar & a small paint brush works well to spread it
collage materials = glitter, cotton balls, ripped up paper (an activity in itself), glitter, items from nature, pieces of fabric, did I mention glitter?

put some tempera paint in a ziplock bag and glue or tape it shut, lay it flat on a table or floor and let her draw pictures with her finger...it's kind of like an etch-a-sketch in that you can erase each picture to make a new one

take a large piece of paper and tape it to the wall or outside on the fence. she can paint, use crayons, or whatever other medium you choose. It adds a new dimension to something she's done many times before.

bucket of water, paint brush and a sidewalk or wall -- she'll know what to do with it!

[jennert]

i worked in daycare and one of the kids' favorite crafts from this time of year was a scarecrow. it had a paper bag for the head that the child decorated and then you stuffed an old set of clothes with crumpled newspaper. they got to crumple the paper and fill the clothes with it (if it was a shirt and pants, you,the adult had stapled or safety pinned them together), then tie the arm and leg holes with string or yarn. stuff the paper bag head with newspaper and pin or staple it to the body (we used diaper pins). the kids had so much fun with a life-sized (for them) buddy to cart around. you could add tons of accessories--hats, gloves, socks, whatever you've got around!

[dollyanna]

The book "The Mother's Almanac" is full of great craft ideas, science expiriments, etc. My LO is still too little for most of it, but I'm looking forward to using a bunch of them as she gets older!

[ShivayaMama]

My kids love making winter lanterns. We use a balloon and lay tissue paper with modge podge to keep it together. We put a second layer on, and then let it dry. We put a candle in it and take a long walk somewhere around the Winter Solstice.