Toddler Art in January

Toddler Art is a 45-minute program I took over after a co-worker went on to a different library. It is for 1-2 year olds with the goal of having the group learn through all of their senses with various sensory activities centered around a certain theme.

In parent's terms, it's a chance for your kids to get messy and interact with other kids without worrying about having to clean up at home.

This is a fun program to put on and a chance for me to experiment with messier crafts than those we tend to pick for storytimes or other programs.

For this program, we usually have three sensory crafts and a sensory bin. This month's theme was snow.

This program went very well and everyone had fun. The group really enjoyed each craft, with no one having a particular favorite. 

We had a reporter come in and interview me and a few parents, as well as take pictures. The group appreciated this and it added to the fun. 

The kids really enjoyed painting with marshmallows, playing with the snowman busy bag, and especially the fake snow. The kids who don't like to get messy even enjoyed this one.

Artwork Station 1: Marshmallow Stamping. The group had to fill in their construction paper snowman cutout with white paint by using marshmallows dipped in paint. They added eyes, buttons, and a carrot to complete the snowman.

Artwork Station 2: Snowflake Painting. The group had to paint around their die-cut snowflakes with blue paint and then peel off the die-cut to reveal their snowflakes. I tried blue paint tape, but it was ripping off the paper when trying to peel it off. The die-cuts with double-sided tape in the center worked much better.

Artwork Station 3: Squishy Snowman in a Baggie. Black marker dots for eyes and mouth and a foam carrot for his nose. Shaving cream and glitter are mixed together and put inside the baggie, along with the carrot nose and taped closed. The kids have to line up the carrot nose in the baggie to where it should be on Snowman's face. I had to use black marker to draw on the eyes and mouth of the snowman because the cutouts were not sticking to the baggie.

Sensory Bin: Play snow with two cups of baking soda and 1/2 cup of white hair conditioner. The perfect consistency for me was two cups of baking soda instead of three. Adding too much conditioner makes it more like shaving cream and less like snow. This lasted for a full day before it hardened.