craft with toddlers Archives - Let their light shine!

Black paper collage to make those colours pop! There is nothing wrong with using pastel coloured sugar paper or the off white recycled sugar paper but black paper makes a great alternative. You can really enjoy the colours of the collage. They stand out and the collage looks vibrant.

All you need to make a black paper collage

Good quality black paper that can take plenty of glue. If you want to you can use card.
PVA glue and glue speaders (Glue sticks are an option but PVA works better in this activity as it will stick all the collage materials so that’s what we used for this make)
Collage materials – card shapes (ours were from a charity shop and I’m pretty sure were once part of a make your own greetings card kit), feathers, stickers, tissue paper, pictures from magazines, ribbon, fabric pieces, yarn
Light coloured crayons – white, yellow

To make – This is a great craft for letting children choose what to use. I like to lay out all the collage materials in a way that makes it easy for young children to see what there is. A couple of ideas are to sort the collage materials by colour or type. Before the children begin decant some PVA glue in to shallow containers that won’t spill easily. Then let the children create. Some children will want to pack their paper with loads of materials and others may be happy with one or two things on the paper. Let them choose what they want to do.

Collage on black paper toddler group craft

Take a look at this helpful article about collage and young children.

The article mentions collecting recycled items for a collage ‘busy box’ which is a great idea. Ask your friends and family for donations of yarn and fabric offcuts, paper and greetings card pictures, ribbon – all sorts of things we can use for collage.

Here’s a blog post about craft supplies – some bought and some collected!

Craft supplies you need for toddler group! – or would really like, come in all shapes and sizes (and price ranges!). Here are some ideas of what you need (or would really like) when doing crafts with young children in toddler group or at home.

Some craft supplies can be bought especially for doing crafts at home or in toddler group but there are others that you possibly already have or friends and family can collect for you.

Craft supplies for toddler group and home

Craft supplies you might like to buy

Paint
No spill paint pots
Paint brushes
Aprons (you can go old school and use old men’s shirts – children wear them backwards – buttons at the back. Use them and then wash them.)
Glue (PVA can last ages)
Glue spreaders
Glue sticks
Paper plates – round, square, white/black or coloured.
Paper cups/pots
Doilies
Wax crayons
Petit four cases
Cup cake cases
Wreath shapes
Sugar paper
Lollipop sticks
Stickers – stars, themed stickers for example animals, sea creatures.
Pipe cleaners

Of course you don’t have to buy everything on this list. Prioritise items like wax crayons, paper and glue. See if there is a local scheme for sharing supplies.

Paper can be very expensive so save paper from packaging if you can. Card is great to use so try to reuse packaging.

Craft supplies you may already have (or know someone who does)

This is the list to get excited about! Craft items for toddler group that are free are a bonus. Once you start looking you will see opportunities for free craft supplies all over the place.

Greeting card pictures. Collect all year round and especially at Christmas. Just ask donors to tear the picture from the greeting section of the card if they can.
Wrapping paper (all sorts including shiny paper)
Tissue paper – often used for wrapping flowers/gifts/breakables
Yarn/wool – Lots of knitters and crocheters will have yarn in small lengths in a variety of colours. Ask for donations.
Fabric – sewers will have scraps you can use for collage.
Cardboard tubes
Cereal boxes
Netting from fruit packaging
Natural collage materials – leaves, petals (make sure these are non-poisonous. Take a look at this post for more info.
Ribbon (this is often used as handles on gift bags)
Magazine pictures
Garden catalogue photos of plants/vegetables
Paint colour sample cards from DIY stores
Egg cartons (these should be clean, i.e no sign of any egg!) Children can be allergic to egg so take care.

It’s good to be on the look out for materials you can use – charity shops are great for finding bits and bobs!

Some supplies you need only buy once – non spill paint pots and good paint brushes. Glue spreaders will last and a good quality PVC cloth to cover the craft table will last years. (You can use newspaper but just check the content first!)

Here are some crafts that use a variety of the items listed