Art activities for infants give your little learners the chance to explore, discover, and manipulate the world around them. Young children use infant art activities as a way to learn through various experiences. Best when flexible and open-ended, infant craft ideas can be anything! From finger painting to tearing up paper, infant art projects are a fun way for babies and parents to learn and grow together.
Art activities for infants give your little learners the chance to explore, discover, and manipulate the world around them. Young children use infant art activities as a way to learn through various experiences. Best when flexible and open-ended, infant craft ideas can be anything! From finger painting to tearing up paper, infant art projects are a fun way for babies and parents to learn and grow together.
Full of infant and toddler activities that are perfect for summer, The Encyclopedia of Infant and Toddler Activities is an excellent resource for arts and crafts that will keep you and your baby busy all summer long.
It is important to remember that, as an adult, your role is to help your baby discover new things using interesting craft materials, and then to sit back and watch them closely as they explore. Here are a few art activities that will help bring you closer to your little one as they experience their environment and become prepared for lifelong learning!
Tear It Up!
Materials:
- Old magazines
- Catalogs
- Newspaper
- Tissue paper
- Wax paper
- Paper towels
What to Do:
- Toddlers love to tear things. Let them tear pages from old magazines, catalogs, and newspaper.
- For an additional sensory experience, add textured papers such as tissue paper, wax paper, and paper towels.
- As the children tear the paper, talk about the sensations they are experiencing. “Doesn’t this tissue paper feel soft?” “This wax paper feels slippery to me.”
- Talk about the colors of the paper as the children ware tearing. “I see you are tearing read paper, Lewis.” Or “I like this brown paper towel, but it’s harder to tear than the red tissue paper.”
- Listen to the children and encourage their language. Observe their fine motor skills.
More to Do:
Art: Provide glue and sturdy pieces of cardboard. Encourage the children to use their torn pieces of paper to create unique, colorful, and creative collages. If children have trouble handling the glue bottles, provide nontoxic paste.
No Mess Painting
Materials:
- Buckets
- 1” paintbrushes
What to Do:
- On a warm day, fill a few buckets with a small amount of water, and then bring the buckets outside.
- Give each child a paintbrush.
- Invite the children to dip their paintbrushes in the water and “paint” the sidewalk, the building, the tables, or anything else nearby.
- The best part of this activity is that when the water dries there is no mess. But more importantly the children will love it.
