Craft Ideas for 15 Month Old

Get some finger painting paper or paper with a wax back. Finger paint with pudding! It's wonderful and tasty! Kids love it! It's a great outdoor activity as well.

Finger painting is fun, Play doh is good, puzzles, water color painting - all these things would be fun but also require you to be nearby.

For crafts --- go to library and check out books or magazines to get ideas. Or go online. I have "stations" at our house similar to what a preschool or school would have. I have a basket with musical instruments. I have a drawer with puzzles. I have an area that has pretend play items. I have a basket of educational toys. I have a room where I keep my crafts. Each of the kids's rooms has their favorite toys. And then there is outside. We rotate stations. The key is to get your child to play independently. 15 months old might be too young for crafts. Maybe a little scribbling with crayons or painting with fingers. I also get my children involved in story hour at the library, gymnastics, dance, swim lessons, soccer, play groups, etc.

I really like the products that Crayola puts out called color wonder. The markers only color on that type of paper. It really keeps the mess to a minimum. I think that they even have "paints" now too. It will let her be creative and give you some control. Maybe you won't end up with sharpie, and crayons all over your walls like I did. oh, by the way wd40 helps take crayon off of walls.

If yo don't mind the mess, Finger painting is AWESOME! and you should sit down and do it with her!!! also bead work, like simple things like necklaces and things with just cheap bead with big holes so it's easier to manage. Ummm coloring is always good, Also go to a craft store like Hoby Loby and let her pick out something she would like to do! they have lots of simple crafts. Sand art is a good one too.

finger painting with pudding is fun. at your daughter's age, i was scared to let my boys sit at the table for painting or even crayons sometimes because they never sat still and it always ended up somewhere i didn't want. so they sat in high chairs for crafts until i was confident they would keep their artwork at the table, which made cleanup so much simpler. my kids also love water-filled spray bottles. when it's too cold to spray outside, they are happy to sit in the empty bathtub (with or without clothes) with the shower curtain closed and spray at will.

The first thing to remember is :keep it simple. Finger paints , although messy, are a wonderful beginning craft. Also, shaving cream on a table works great and is easier to clean up. Now that the weather is better you could give her a can of water and a paint brush and let her "paint" the fence or whatever. Crayola has some wonderful crafty things for kids now. check into that. And, just plain old crayons and a blank paper are trustworthy friends for little ones. Be sure to get the kind of crayons that are guaranteed to wash off. Sooner or later kids try making a mural on the living room wall!

dido on the usborne books! my little girls have loved the doll sticker books, kids kits and more! They even have great sets now called the 10 terrific weeks that gives you a mini lesson and activity everyday of the week for the 10 weeks -- the preschool aged has fairiesand princess and a my body set. (I sell these awesome books so if you would like more info please feel free to email me ____@____.com or go to my website www.ubah.com/c2059 and I will give you 10% off! :)) Also my kids love to play with the chalk when the weather is warm. They can draw whatever and have a huge canvas. We also started cooking about this age, my girls love to help dump the flour, sugar and other dry ingredients and love to stir even more! Have fun with your little one and don't be afraid to get your hands dirty with them!

How is she about putting things in her mouth? If she has stopped doing this somewhat, crafts are much easier. Try playdough (the home made kind is super easy, and cheaper than store bought) with cookie cutters, torn paper collage (glue sticks work great--not so much mess), finger painting, and crayons and paper. I have a great book called the Toddler Busy Book, which has a lot of ideas for this age too. Have fun!

We did the color wonder books even though it says 3 and up mu daughter is going on 2 and she loves them.I love them because they only mark on the book it comes with. My child can't mark on her or the wall and so on. The other thing you can do is use regular paper and crayons and just let her draw on them and make there own creations or you draw something and let him/her fill it in. I hope this helps and gl.

At this age kids are really into sensory experiences which tend to be messy for the adults but well worth it for the kids as it builds confidence in experimentation and understanding the properties of things.(soft, smooth, runny, sticky etc) Which they'll need later on.

A firm favourite was shaving foam on a cookie tray. They used their finger to make anything. Totally open-ended. If they put in their mouth then try using an edible substitute like pudding or custard. We added glitter and buttons as they got older.

Printing with foam shapes/animals etc. Using a cookie sheet again.

We started collecting pom poms, glitter, shredded paper etc from craft shops and construction paper for them to add and make creations. Everything at this age was experimenting rather than product based.

They helped with measuring, pouring and rolling homemade cookies.

Sand box or we used a baby bath filled with bird seed. He had as much fun creating hills, avalanches and pouring and dumping and he was outside.

I have lots more ideas in my recent blog entry. http://play-activities.com/blog/craft-activities-refuser/

I have lots of play activities for the under 5s as well.
http://www.play-activities.com

Have fun!

Hi J. - First off, find a big roll of butcher paper or craft paper - the white kind - I got one roll free just by asking the butcher (after I made a purchase of course) It's usually 18" wide so it's easy for little ones to stay on the paper when finger painting or coloring with crayons or markers.

It's also an easy way to make a homemade banner for fun occasions - (I write the message and the kids color and decorate)

If you don't have a wipe down table, you might consider putting a vinyl table cloth on the table. Or better yet, just lay one down on the floor and work there.

Playdough is always a hit at this age and is a good mom and me activity.

You could try some glue activities - either on foam, paper or a paper plate - use big foam shapes, stickers, pom poms, big buttons, wadded up tissue paper, colored feathers, even scraps of of felt, construction paper or scrapbook paper. You could help her with the glue and she could do the sticking - or better yet, make the glue a little thinner with some water and let her apply it with a paintbrush. You can even add just a little bit glitter or food coloring to make it a color.

Here's a couple of craft ideas you could help her with at this age or at least soon.

Watermelon: Cut a large triangle out of red construction paper and another curved piece of green paper to make the rind. Let her press her fingers into black stamp ink and let her put finger prints on the red paper to make the seeds. Apply glue and then help her put the green paper rind into position.

Caterpillar: Glue or staple together 3 or 4 small paper plates in a rolling pattern to make the body of the caterpillar. You could use colored plates or help her paint the plates with washable paint or use markers or whatever strikes your fancy. Glue on pompoms or buttons for feet and decorate with whatever you have that looks fun. Finish up with a glued on googly eye, smile and feathers or curled up pipe cleaners for antennas.

Butterfly - cut paper into a butterfly shape and decorate with whatever strikes your fancy - wadded up tissue paper, stickers, etc. Finish up with googly eyes and feathers or pipe cleaners for antennas.

Have a great time!

Stickers...lol. I buy them at the dollar store and we have fun making cards and decorating papers with them. We've also used several of the "make and do" books from Usborne. and my dd loves to color...generally with a pen and paper. I got her an easel for her 2nd birthday because it is a favorite of hers. We buy extra's of the paper to go on the easel and we roll it out on the kitchen floor and draw our hands, feet, her body, anything she wants. Hearts. We've also done finger paints and something really fun is to fingerpaint with pudding. You have fun eating some treats while you paint. There are so many fun colors out there now!! Playdough is also a hit--I haven't done homemade like one of the other poster's suggested--but the store bought works good for us. dd did put it in her mouth once and it came right back out--not so yummy as the dog food I guess!
another thing we have done is make necklaces. Yarn and frootloops are fun. My dd loves to use beads as well. and we play with sea shells and create things with them on paper. I have a drawer in the kitchen that has her art supplies in it so she can access them anytime, paper, crayons, pens etc. She drew on the wall once. I've been lucky I think. She loves to draw on the easel--so that has worked out well.
feathers and yarn make fun necklaces too (we got that idea from the Treehouse Museum)
We also put on music and dd makes up dances for me to watch, and learn with her, exploring all the arts!
We have lots of windows in the house and so we get the dry erase markers out and draw pictures on the windows sometimes too.

I found another request that may help:
http://www.mamasource.com/request/2168777362219466753

Also, I have some favorite websites that I think you would really like and find helpful:

Fisher-Price online games - once your child is old enough you can put them on your lap and play on the computer:
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2601&e=gamesBy...

This is the free online version of Family Fun Magazine - they have lots of great stuff and ideas for families:
http://familyfun.go.com/parenting/child/feature/toddlers-...

This is a church magazine produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has lots of great lessons and activities for children. Any part of it is printable and I highly recommend you take a look at this one:
http://www.lds.org/gospellibrary/pdfmagazine/0,7779,594-7...

This is a great website I saw on a TV show. It is full of activities, crafts and you can recieve a weekly/monthly email full of fun things for you and your kids:
http://wondertime.go.com/

I hope these help and good luck!

I did this with my daughter when she was a little older then 15 months, but I don't think she's too young. At that age they can handle a glue stick well enough (or with help) so have her glue tissue paper that you have torn up onto anything. Old cereal boxes, paper, anything you want really. I just rip up a bunch of tissue paper that we have saved from all the birthday parties we've had. Because I know I'll never use it all! This is a great craft for any age (my 4 year old loves it too) because they love using the glue stick and as long as they can pick up the paper they can just put it on the glue. You could also glue for her and then have her put the paper down. Just a suggestion that we like. Good luck!

color, finger paint with paint or food, building blocks sand or mud creations, introduce her to nature and butterflies

www.dltk.kids is a fun resource for children crafts- My children love to cut and paste and color since the time they were about 18 months- I helped them with kid sissors and tearing paper. If you don't mind a mess, watercolors are fun- playdough is good to, I used to put my youngest in a highchair where I could see him and he would play with playdough forever- easy clean up too. I would be able to clean while he was occupied, all I had to do was keep an eye on the tasting of the playdough. However he was using a binki still and if I gave him a binki he wouldn't even try to taste it. Really crayons and blank paper are the best tools for a child... It is hard not to want to give them more though. There's some pretty cool craft stuff out there.

If you don't mind the mess, finger paint is always a huge hit. Also, my 2 year old is totally into shapes right now...loves them. I put a sheet down on our kitchen floor and drew shapes on colored paper with glue. I gave her glitter to sprinkle in the glue and let her go to town! She loved it, made a big mess and is very proud of her glittery shapes! When all was done, I just folded the sheet so the remaining glitter would fall into the crease, shook it down the crease and into a bowl for later use (there was LOTS of unused glitter all over the sheet).