15 Summer Crafts for Toddlers

Summer crafts for toddlers, to help your little ones stay busy all summer long!

Summer crafts for toddlers, to help your little ones stay busy all summer long!

Summer crafts for toddlers, to help your little ones stay busy all summer long!

It may not technically be summer yet, but tell that to the school district. Here in Atlanta, school is out, and that means lots of mom-and-kiddo time. This calls for an arsenal of summer crafts for toddlers to keep those baby hands busy (and, preferably, messy!) all summer long.

15 Recycled Summer Crafts for Toddlers

1. Binoculars – This is a great project for a huge age range. Julie has made it with her older girls, and I’ve made them with my toddler and the other kids in his preschool. Make these, then go on a fun nature walk together!

2. Walking Stick – This would be a good craft to go with the binoculars. Then, you’ll really be nature walk ready!

3. Fireworks Stamping – Grab a TP tube or empty paper towel roll, and make fireworks stamps.

4. Quick Jam – Use the summer’s berry bounty to make jam with your toddler! We made this jam recipe with strawberries and with mulberries that we foraged in our backyard. He was so proud!

5. Bubble Wrap Stomp Painting – Take advantage of the warmer weather to do some super messy crafts, like this one. Of course, there’s no need to buy bubble wrap. Just wait for some to come in the mail. It always does, doesn’t it?

6. Rain Sticks – This looks so perfect for a rainy day, and you can really let your kid go to town with the paint! Bonus points if you’re brave enough to let your toddler do the hammering.

7. Homemade Finger Paint – Let your kids help you choose and mix the colors, then send them outside to paint their hearts out!

8. Sand Art – Toddler sand art is shockingly beautiful. If you’re not comfortable letting your kiddo use glass, use an old plastic container with a tight-fitting lid instead. Think clean peanut butter jars.

9. Grow Something – Kids love digging in the dirt. Last summer, my son read The Carrot Seed, then loved planting actual carrot seeds and monitoring their progress. Just make sure that if your child wants to “pull up the weeds around the seed” they’re not actually pulling up the carrot seedlings. Green garlic is another fun food to grow with kids.

10. Rock Painting – Toddlers might not be super precise with their rock painting, but I can tell you from experience that they have a blast doing it! We painted rocks, then let him choose where to display them in our garden.

11. Build a Fairy Garden – Raid your stash, the thrift store, and your kid’s toy chest for fairy garden goodies. My son LOVES playing with the one at his school.

12. Popsicle Flags – Is your kid a popsicle addict like mine is? Save those sticks to make cute flags! They look cute stuck into potted plants.

13. Grass Head – Grab a lonely sock – come on, I know you have one that lost its partner long ago! – and help your toddler turn it into a cute, recycled homemade chia head!

14. Plantable Paper – Paper making is a great activity to do outside, and your kids will love planting it in pots or in the garden!

15. Suet Cakes – Let your kid help you mix up these suet cakes, then hang them with twine in the garden, and watch the birds visit the bird buffet!

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