![[Childcare] A roundup of summer craft ideas to enjoy with 2-year-olds](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/QG8hgNLvofs/maxresdefault.webp)
[Childcare] A roundup of summer craft ideas to enjoy with 2-year-olds
A fun summer for children.At around age two, children’s minds and bodies grow rapidly, and the ways they express themselves expand.In childcare settings, it’s nice to incorporate ideas that let children feel the season of summer while enjoying crafts.However, if you always use similar methods, things can sometimes feel a bit dull.So here, we introduce summer craft ideas you can enjoy together with two-year-olds.There are many ideas, so please use them as inspiration and enjoy summer with the children!Because the things children make are treated as works, we use the term “seisaku (制作),” meaning production/work, in the text.
[Childcare] A roundup of summer craft ideas to enjoy with two-year-olds (1–10)
Playing aquarium
Here’s a fun pretend-aquarium activity that lets you feel cool during the hot and humid days of July.
Use blue plastic bags as a stand-in for the ocean and make your fish swim through it.
Create your favorite sea creatures—like whales, fish, starfish, and jellyfish—and you’ll encounter all kinds of ocean life.
If you also hang plastic bags from the ceiling and stick the sea creatures on them, the whole space will feel like an aquarium.
The best part is that people of any age can enjoy it!
fluffy shaved ice
Let me introduce fluffy shaved ice that looks delicious, too.
Put cotton and food coloring into a bag and mix them to dye the cotton.
It might be fun to imagine what flavor you’re making as you go.
Stick double-sided tape onto the shaved-ice base you made, then attach the cotton.
The key is to layer it on loosely to create a fluffy, voluminous look.
Dissolve paint and glue in water to mimic condensed milk, and drizzle it over the shaved ice.
Your tasty-looking shaved ice is complete!
Vivid Fireworks Made with Straws
Let’s have fun making fireworks with straw stamps.
To make the stamp, cut several slits into one end of a straw and flare them outward.
Give the kids some paint to dip the stamp into, then have them dab it onto black construction paper.
Just pressing it creates shapes that really look like fireworks.
Overlapping looks beautiful too, so prepare paints in various colors and let them express fireworks freely.
Once finished, you can hang them on the wall and enjoy a little fireworks viewing.
Summer wall display using paints
In summer, even if things get dirty, the laundry dries quickly, doesn’t it? Here are some summer wall art ideas using paint that are perfect for July.
Put paint on bubble wrap wrapped around a paper cup, and stamp it onto the center of a sunflower like a stamp.
The bubble wrap’s texture makes the sunflower look three-dimensional.
For the water yo-yos you often see at summer festival stalls, mix glue into the paint and gently flick the brush to add color.
You’ll get wonderfully accidental patterns.
You can display them however you like, but decorating them in a festival stall style for a summery feel is also recommended!
Cute watermelon lantern
https://www.tiktok.com/@peta_peta_anyo/video/7391119811519991058Fun craft time! Here’s a cute watermelon lantern idea.
It’s perfect for anyone who wants to make lanterns together with children.
You’ll need construction paper, origami paper, a toilet paper roll, paint, cotton swabs, and more.
Dab black paint with a cotton swab onto red origami paper like a stamp.
You can also use round stickers for this step, so choose based on the child’s age and development.
The rounded shape is adorably charming, isn’t it?
[Cotton Swab Stamps] Transparent Jellyfish
https://www.instagram.com/p/CvChLauJNtj/Let’s make a cool, breezy jellyfish using a cotton swab stamp.
First, cut a clear file into the shape of a jellyfish head and stamp on it.
Use white acrylic paint and enjoy stamping freely.
Add round stickers for extra patterns to make it cute.
Prepare a border for the jellyfish head with construction paper and attach it to the clear file using double-sided tape.
Then cut cellophane (raffia) tape to a suitable length, stick it on as the jellyfish’s tentacles, and have the children split the tape—done!
[Footprint] Cute Watermelon Decoration
https://www.instagram.com/p/CeuGCmMBiPX/Here’s a slightly unique watermelon craft idea that uses children’s footprints.
First, make footprints using red paint.
Overlap two footprints slightly to form a triangle shape, then add seeds with black finger-stamp dots or round stickers.
Attach green construction paper along the bottom to create the rind.
Decorate with paper tape or origami, and you’ll have an adorable footprint watermelon! It’s a perfect summer craft and a great way to record your child’s growth.