I may have many qualities, but being good with my hands is not one of them. The little I learned, I did for my kids, as how to repair toys or clothes, or how to do small crafts with them. Pinterest is always a great source of ideas and Flying Tiger the best supplier of material. Here I share three super easy crafts I made with my toddlers which were a great success.

Nature paintings

What you need: liquid glue, a brush for the glue, sticks / leaves / dried flowers, a sheet of (possibly coloured) paper.
First, we plan what we want to represent. Then, I help R. to break down the elements we may need. For instance, when she painted the tree above, I suggested we needed sticks for the branches, then leaves, and so on. I send her out on the search for what we need. If we need leaves of a certain size, I give her a sample paper so that she can compare if the size is right. Then she simply sticks all the items with glue on paper. Along with the searching time, this can easily fill up two hours!

The centipede

What you need: coloured paper, two beads, 3-4 crafting breads (askartelupunokset), sticky eyes. Optional: glitter.
I have to give credit of this easy craft to Pikku Kakkonen, as I saw this on the show. It’s easy and contains several exercises for toddlers: cutting, sticking, and decorating. With the help of a drinking glass, draw circles on different sheets of coloured paper. Have your toddler cut them and glue them in sequence. They’ll form the body of the centipede. With the breads, make the legs and the antennas. Complete the antennas with the beads. Stick the eyes and decorate with glitter.

Bookmarks

What you need: coloured cardboards, strings, beads, pencils. Optional: glitter.
I am still a traditional reader and need a physical bookmark for my reads. I asked my daughter to make me one and it was really fun! There are no guidelines, just let your kids colour, use glitter or stickers. We completed it with nice strings and beads. Better if you can laminate.

Here you are, three super easy crafts which require standard material to be completed. They saved me in a couple of occasions where I didn’t expect rain or when my older was bored and demanded entertainment. I hope this will do you the same favour!