I’m always looking for fun crafts and activities for my toddler and preschooler. Pinterest is usually my go-to resource and although I’ve found alot of cute ideas there, I’ve also encountered many “fails”. You know- the articles and videos that make it look super simple but you find out pretty quickly once you get started that it’s nowhere near as easy (or fun) as it looks? Yeah…
So, when I find some “wins”- fun projects that are (somewhat) easy, keep the kids interested, and turn out how they are supposed to, I share them! I recently scrolled through Pinterest with Hadley and she chose some activities that she wanted to try. Below is an *honest* review of each project along with a “how-to”. And because I’m a little extra every now and then, I added ratings for level of difficulty, mess factor, and Hadley gave each project a kid approval rating.
- Nails & Toes
I originally saw this idea on Instagram and I know I saved it, but can no longer find it anywhere. I don’t know if it got deleted from IG, or from my saves, or what happened. If you know who originally posted this idea, please message me so I can give credit where it’s due.
This project basically requires some sturdy paper (we used poster board), something to trace with, and nail polish. The girls loved getting their hands and feet traced which surprised me because we do alot of craftivities involving their hand or footprints. They were so excited for this one though. I traced each set of their hands and feet and then drew on nails. I let the girls choose a few nail polish colors from my stash of polish that I rarely use (basically the old and cheap stuff). Then they went to town painting their “nails”. I had to teach and remind them to dab the brush on the tip of the bottle to prevent too much polish. I also had to remind them to paint nails only for this project because they wanted to paint the whole hand and foot. You might not care about that but I wanted them to practice staying in the lines. My only rule was polish on the paper only (Ev tried to do her own nails a few times).
The ratings:
Level of Difficulty- 5 stars (super easy)
Mess Factor- 4 stars (not messy at all but the potential is there because of the nail polish- secure the surface areas and monitor use- you don’t want any littles trying to eat it or paint anything other than the paper).
Hadley’s Approval Rating- 5 stars (loved it!)
For this project you need: a cheap ice cube tray, washable kid’s paint, and popsicle sticks. The original project called for one teaspoon of water and one teaspoon of paint mixed into each cube of the ice tray. I doubled it though and used a ratio of 2 teaspoons water + 2-3 teaspoons of paint for each cube. Hadley and I completed this activity while Everly was napping so I added the water and paint and Hadley stirred with the popsicle stick, mixing it together and then leaving the stick in. Once we filled all cubes, we popped it in the freezer. The instructions I used called for 2-3 hours in the freezer but ours stayed in overnight. I did check them after 2 hours though and they were frozen.
Level of Difficulty: 5 stars (easy peasy!- especially if you have all the supplies at your house already).
Mess Factor: 4 stars (little to none, but the potential is there because of the paint. Be sure to use an empty egg carton or muffin tin when separated paints because they melt pretty quickly).
Hadley’s Approval Rating: 4 stars (she loved mixing the paints and of course, painting. It would’ve gotten a 5 but the paint cubes melt pretty fast so they didn’t get as much artwork out of them and they would’ve preferred).
3. Lemonade Stand
My girls love to play kitchen, restaurant, ice cream stand, etc. so I thought it would be fun to do our own lemonade stand. It was also my take on this pouring station activity that I knew Everly would really like. Plus…lemonade is so good! We made the lemonade together and I divided into 2 pitchers, then I set out different sizes of cups and we played. I didn’t get any pictures of this activity but it’s pretty self-explanatory. I made a little cardboard “Lemonade Stand” sign just for fun. An additional idea would be to use coins to pay for the lemonade and make change.
Level of Difficulty: 5 stars (ridiculously easy if you can make -or buy- lemonade).
Mess Factor: 2 stars (depending on how good of pourers you have, this one can get messy. We were outside and in play clothes so we were okay with a little spillage).
Hadley’s Approval Rating: 4 stars and Evie agrees.
I knew my girls would be all about this one. I bought several small toys at the Dollar Tree and frozen them in small storage containers (also from the Dollar Tree). The key for this project is to work in layers instead of filling it up all at once. I filled the container about 1/3 full of water and added a few toys. Then I put it in the freezer for an hour. I returned to it and added another 1/3 of water and more toys, then froze it again. Lastly, I returned and filled the remainder of the container with water, added more toys, and froze it again, keeping it frozen until we were ready to play. Another tip: be mindful of the toys you use- don’t go for toys that can fill up with water or that would break if they are hardened. The Dollar Tree is a great place to find cheap toys. And another tip- use the coldest water you most possibly can. Even so, it won’t be as cold as the frozen ice so it will start to crack and the toys will float back up. As you can see from my pictures, most of the toys had floated up. I just flipped the ice blocks over after they came out of the container.
When you are ready to play, remove the ice blocks from the containers. I filled a bowl with warm water and gave each girl a measuring cup to fill and pour on their ice block. I also gave them some spoons and other utensils. I controlled the hammer because I didn’t want them to accidentally hurt themselves. The girls had fun breaking the toys free from the ice. I think they had the most fun eating the ice.
Level of Difficulty: 3 stars (overall, not hard. However, compared to the other activities, it was more frustrating because the ice kept melting as I added more and more water. If you have a solution to this- let me know!)
Mess Factor: 2 stars- you will definitely want to break the ice outside. It flies everywhere and it melts so you’ll have a pool of water.
Hadley’s Approval Rating- 3.5 stars (Both girls liked the idea but struggled to free the toys and needed a lot of help. They both made me laugh because they were super concerned about the toys being frozen. I think Evie even said, “Mom! Why did you do that to my toys?!”
A fun twist on sidewalk chalk, this project was probably a little more fun for me than the girls, but they enjoyed it still. Here’s what you need:
1 cup flour, 2 4oz. bottles of washable school glue, 6 cups shaving cream, gallon ziplock baggies, sandwich size baggies, and squeeze bottles (optional).
Mix the flour, glue, and shaving cream in a gallon baggie being careful to knead it into a mixture but not spilling it out of the bag. Then, divide it into 4 smaller sandwich baggies. Once in the smaller bags, add 10 food coloring drops to each bag to create your colors. You can leave the foam paint in the smaller bags and cut a hole in the corner OR you can squeeze it into a bottle.
TIPS: This one can get very messy, so watch the baggies closely. Mine kept coming open and I’d lose some mixture. ALSO–> as you can see from the pictures, the mixture doesn’t divide into very big amounts. What’s pictured here is from 2 batches. It ended up being just the right amount for us. You can use the paint immediately or store at room temperature and use within a week or two. Here’s some of our creations.
Level of Difficulty: 4 (The directions are easy to follow but it’s a little tricky to divide into the bags. I think I’d do better next time with this project).
Mess Factor: 2 (Super messy!)
Hadley’s Approval Rating: 4 (They had fun squeezing it out but it was a little hard for them to get out of the tubes and to draw pictures. I had a blast with it though!)
Let me know if you try any of these ideas. What are your favorite summer projects to do with your littles? Share the summer fun!
