DIY Toddler Activity Ideas Part 7

It has been another long weekend that I wish I would have made more time to accomplish some DIY projects.  Here are some of the great ideas that I have come across, please feel free to share any of your own activities as well!

Toilet Paper Leaf Stamps

crafty morning

This is a great activity now that September is here, and it is easy and fun looking :)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Materials:
Toilet Paper Roll
Paints
Paper 
Printable fall tree sheet (or draw your own tree)
Tape
Scissors

Directions:
Start by cutting an empty toilet paper roll down the middle and continue cutting until it makes a small leaf shape. Bend the edges to get the corners pointy and tape it together.
Print out the tree sheet and cut that same toilet roll into three parts so they can be used for each color paint.
Once once all of the leaves are stamped you can use a small paintbrush to color in the leaves. You can also add more leaves at the bottom of the tree to make it look like they fell off.

 Alphabet Fossils

playdough to plato

This looks like such an amazing fun time.  I  really want to do this with Liam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
Rolling pin
Cookie sheet
Magnetic Alphabet Stamps (such as would be on the fridge)
Paint Brush
Container with Sand
*Dinosaur Toys

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 250° F.
Mix together salt, flour, and water until dough is formed.
Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. *Do not add too much flour, as this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.
Roll out the dough to about 1/4” thick with a rolling pin that has been dusted with flour.
Use the Letter stamps to imprint each letter, or you can also use a toothpick to create them.
Bake for 2 hours and allow to cool completely before using.  *If you don't want to bake them you can also leave them out for a good 3 days to dry completely. 

You can then bury the letter fossils and any additional dinosaur toys and allow your child to excavate for them.  The paint brush is useful for brushing off any remaining sand. 
You can then place them in alphabetical order or use them to spell words.

 Homemade Lava Lamp

slsmithphotograpy.com

I LOVE lava Lamps, so this is one I definitely want to try











 
Ingredients:
Empty Water Bottle
Food Coloring
Vegetable Oil
Water
Alka Seltzer

Directions:
Fill each bottle about 2/3 with the oil.  Fill the rest of the way with water leaving about an inch of air to the top.  Add 10 drops of food coloring.  Break the Alka Seltzer into 4 pieces.  Drop the pieces in one at a time.  *Wait until the bubbles stop before adding in another piece or it will start to get cloudy.  

Nature Names Craft

littlefamilyfun.com

This is such an excellent idea for teaching letters in names and for playing outside.  I love thus one.

Supplies
Cardstock
Glue
Nature items

Directions
Hand each person a brown paper lunch-sack or even a plastic bag
Go out in nature (your backyard, a park, campground, the beach, anywhere!) and find things that you can use to create the letters of your name: such as sticks, rocks, leaves, grass, pine needle, flowers, berries, shells, bark, dirt etc.
On a piece of cardstock, write your name (or have it prewritten).
Use glue to get your nature items to stick to each letter to spell your name!


If you would like to see the past DIY activities that we have completed together, check them out here:

Jello Ocean Bath

Homemade Liquid Sidewalk Chalk

Penguin Activity Game

Kool-Aid Dyed Pasta

Cardboard Owls

Alphabet Train

Make Your Own Rainstorm

Orange Sugar Scrub

Meditation Bottle