Toddler
Crafts Clean Up
and Safety Tips
Doing
crafts with your toddler can be a lot of fun, but it can also get
messy and even dangerous if unsafe items are in reach for your toddler.
There are many things that you can do to keep craft time with your
children, playgroup or classroom safe and keep the mess of the projects
to a minimum.
A
very good tip to remember is to have a trash box or basket that
is at the table or area of the floor that you are doing your work.
Hopefully the crafts that you are doing with your toddler are not
creating too much garbage but it helps if you can quickly discard
any bit of paper you have trimmed off. Having a trash box or basket
will help you keep your craft area clean and will eliminate little
bits of paper and other things from reaching the hands that may
want to chew or even eat them.
Another
good tip is to try is do all of the cutting that the project requires
ahead of time before your toddler is involved. Young children don't
want to wait around while mom or dad cut out the paper. They will
be eager to help with the cutting and frankly when they are too
young, helping with cutting the paper is not an option. As well
as having all of the cutting out of the way it can be helpful to
have all the supplies that you need for your craft projects together
before you have your toddler sit at the table or on the floor where
you are doing the crafts. This way you won't have to get up and
get something in the middle of the project and leave your toddler
alone with the crafts supplies you already have out.
Keep
any supplies that you need for the craft but your toddler is not
allowed to use for safety purposes off the table (or if your working
on the floor, off of the floor) where you are doing the crafts.
This way curiosity will not get the best of your child and you won't
have to worry about them getting hold of such an item as a pair
of scissors.
Encourage
your little one or little ones to help with clean up before they
begin to play with the craft that they made. Having it a rule that
everything needs put away and cleaned up before they can move on
will help you make clean up time go faster and help them learn about
responsibility. Something else that can speed up clean up time is
having a bin or box for all of your crafting supplies, allowing
you to have all you need easily at your side as well as making it
easier to put everything way quickly.
Remember
that arts and crafts with your toddler is a lot of fun for the both
of you and it will be much more fun if you are not stressed about
the clean up and if there isn't anything unsafe about it.
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