Brilliant Collection of Art Activities for Toddlers

Sometimes it can be hard to get little kids interested in art, and just having a lot of materials available might not be the best way to go for a kid who gets overwhelmed easily (or a parent or teacher who doesn’t want a lot of stuff out all the time).

So rotating art invitations, with specific materials that can be used together, is a really great way to give kids access to different supplies and techniques without having everything out all the time.

How We Montessori has a great collection of different rotating art trays she’s done with her two-year-old, both to remind her of the available options and to inspire us to try different things with our kids.

There are 18 ideas here, from using a white marker on black paper to working with clay, playing with dot stickers and more.

It’s also a great reminder that art activities do not have to be a huge production to be successful or grab a kid’s interest. Often simpler is better, especially for little kids.

Do you have any favorite art activities like this that your kids always love? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: How We Montessori.]

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Playdough Learning Activities

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

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