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Last week I talked briefly about the craft that Eli and I worked on, the holiday ornaments. And what I learned (don’t ever assume that just because you are watching a kiddo with paints, that said paints won’t end up all over the rug). Just in case anyone is brave enough to try this one on their own, here’s what we did.
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Holiday Ornaments (which are currently hanging in our windows)
This really is an easy craft, very age appropriate for a 20 month old boy with a very limited attention span. And when I say limited, I mean we’re lucky to keep him occupied with one task or activite for more than 10 minutes. Unless of course it’s reading. The same book 3 or 4 times in a row before moving on to another book (again, 3 or 4 ties in a row).
Anyhoo, the supplies are pretty minimal:
- Cardstock paper or Construction Paper
- Washable Markers
, Paints
, Crayons
, Colored Pencils
, etc
- Scissors
(for you of course)
- Fishing Line
- Clear Tape
Once you have everything lined up, color, color, color! As your kiddo finishes one piece of paper, get him started on another. While he is busy drawing his heart out (I color on rug! ~ awesome) you get started cutting out different shapes. Squares, circles, rectangle, triangles, starts, or just random shapes. It doesn’t really matter. And the best part is your kiddo probably won’t know if they aren’t perfect shapes. Go ahead and take a little artistic freedom!
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Once your kiddo has gotten tired of coloring and/or you are tired of cutting out shapes, cut out different lengths of fishing line, which will be attached to the back of the newly created ornaments. Make sure you have enough fishing line for all of the ornaments (or if you are like me, save a few ornaments to give to Grandma the next time you see her). Tape one end of the fishing line to the back of each ornament, find the perfect spot to hang all of these lovely creations, and tape the other end on the wall, window, door frame, or where ever your kiddo deems the perfect spot.
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The best part of this craft is how proud the kiddo is. Almost a week later, and he still randomly blurts out “I colored ornaments!” Sometimes we’re at home, sometimes it’s in the middle of the mall. I love that he is so excited about his creation.
Just one word of caution, make sure that you hang these high enough that little hands can’t reach them. And if you notice that any of the ornaments start to fall down, it’s probably a good time to retire them. Fishing line and toddlers doesn’t usually make for a good mix.
