Fun Messy Outdoors Craft Activity for Toddlers

Creativity. I'm a creative person by nature and I love to get my hands dirty.

What I don't love as much is to clean up after the fun has ended. And I despise it, even more, when I have to clean up after the crafty activities with my 2-year-old. I love watching her explore her creative side ... but man she can make a mess.

So one day, I had what I like to think is a pretty brilliant idea.  I took the craft outside. It was truly a very freeing experience for us both.

I will briefly outdoor the activity below. I also whipped up a scrapbook layout of the fun we had, so please scroll to the bottom to check that out as well.

 

Fun Messy Outdoors Craft Activity for Toddlers

Materials Required:

• Large roll of butcher paper (I got mine for cheap from IKEA)
• Cheap paint from a $2 store
• Foam paint roller
• Variety of Stamps
• Masking tape
• Messy coat for your daughter/son

Instructions:

1. Tear off a large piece of butcher paper from the roll.
2. Adhere this to your fence using masking tape.
3. Pop some tubs of cheap paint on a small chair or table that is within easy reach for your daughter/son.
4. Pop the messy coat on your child.
5. Let them loose to explore their creativity.

Do expect to get some paint on your fence. But honestly, it is paint, a bit of color and who the heck cares about the fence anyways. We had an absolute ball and highly recommend it. Not only are you allowing your child to be creative without boundaries, but you are doing it outside in the fresh air, with the sound of nature surrounding you.

I think these pictures of her having fun, says it all.

And as for my creativity? Well as fate would have it, her enjoyment and excitement of this messy outdoors painting tired her out a bit. And within no time at all, she was having a nap. That meant that it was time for mummy to get creative. So I pulled out my scrapbooking supplies, my die cut machine, printed off these photos and got scrapping.

 

The Scrapbook Layout

The creative process inspired a bit of creativity with my own work. Here are some ideas of things to try with your next scrapbook layout:

1. Buy white core cardstock. Lay some chipboard letters underneath the cardstock and use some sandpaper to sand away the color of the cardstock - leaving the white core exposed.
2. Use some fun bright swirly patterned paper to echo the feeling of the paint being swirled onto her piece of butchers paper.
3. Use your scrapbook die cut machine to cut out some fun stickers to use as the title.
4. When trimming your photos, leave a slight white border. I knew my photos were color heavy and slightly on the 'dark' side. The white border helped to lift the photos away from the dark cardstock behind it.
5. Layer all of your pieces and play with positioning before adhering things down.  I always have my pieces all laid out, before carefully lifting up corners and to adhere everything down in place.
6. Add some journaling around the edges of photos of blocks of paper.

Creativity is good for all of us, no matter what age we are. I love inspiring my daughter to be creative and to get outdoors as often as we can.

 

Leave me a comment:

What great outdoors craft activities do you enjoy with your child? I would love to read about it.

Fun Messy Outdoors Craft Activity for Toddlers is courtesy of: https://www.thebestvinylcutters.com