Princess and I love to do arts and crafts projects. Here are a few that she's particularly fond of:
*Anything with GLUE. I found these great paper dolls that she can glue outfits to and dress up the characters. You can find the dolls at this site. It is a bit of work on my part to print and cut out the dolls and clothes, but she so enjoys it. I found that it's easier to print them on cardstock...they hold up better with toddler hands and gluing. We've used glue in a couple of forms and she's had a lot of fun with both. I've given her glue sticks to do herself or I've poured craft glue on a paper plate and let her use a paint brush. I've recently purchased some glue bottles that have brushes attached to the lids from Discount School Supply. We haven't received them yet, but it sounds like a great idea. I'll let you know how that one goes.
*PAINTING. For Christmas, Princess received a paint set from Santa - purchased through Amazon. She has enjoyed countless hours painting master pieces for Mommy and Daddy. The spill-proof paint cups have been great and the paint brushes are the perfect size for her little hands. We also purchased a long-sleeve kid's art smock made by Crayola. It's great to have, but I wouldn't recommend this for people with older/bigger kids. Princess is a very petite 2.5 yr old and the elastic on the ends of the arms start to bother her after a little while and leaves marks. I've picked up a 10-piece spill-proof paint cup set from Discount School Supply to allow for more than the 4 colors that the Melissa and Doug set I purchased came with. Again, I have not received the additional set yet, so can not comment on the quality, but it was less expensive. (I have since received the paint cups from Discount School Supply and they are well worth the money. The Melissa and Doug set is definitely nicer, especially if you have a child that likes to take the lids off or throws things. Fortunately, Princess just likes to paint. The Discount School Supply cups do not screw on like the Melissa and Doug cups (it's a simple twisting lock) and if you leave the paint brushes in water too long, they will split but are still usable. On the other hand, they are much less expensive than the Melissa and Doug cups so I think overall a good buy.)
*COLORING. Princess has a ton of coloring books and crayons that she loves to color with. She has also started drawing a lot, so we have a ton of blank copy paper lying around for her. There are a ton of free printable coloring pages on the internet that I often print for her to change it up a bit. Here are a few that we like: Nick Jr., free printables coloring pages, Coloring Book Fun and Family Fun.
*VALENTINE'S DAY HEARTS. First, I printed out a heart template from the Family Fun website. I then traced the size heart I wanted to use (we used the large one) onto construction paper and cut them out. I purchased tissue paper squares from Oriental Trading Company (in pastels and neon colors) and used kid's glue to attach them. The glue jar was purchased through Discount School Supply, but you could just as easily use a glue stick or put glue on a paper plate and give your child a paint brush - I alternate for different projects. I used a marker to write a note in dashed letters for her to trace (a short message, since she's only 2) and voila!
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