Ok, beings that I cannot say no, my husband and I are both helping with our church's Awana program on Wednesday nights. I originally volunteered to be in the nursery to see if any other younger parents would help and leave their kids with me. Well, an older lady that got roped into helping told me she would much rather be in the nursery than helping with the older kids, so we switched jobs. ANYWAY...it's just her and Lily. Part of me feels bad, but I know this lady really, really enjoys it and it is good for Lily and I to have a little time apart. I feel like I'm connecting with the kids I help.
Anyway, this lady brings things from her home every week to have things to do with Lily. Lots of time it involves stickers, easy craft projects, and books (Lily loves to read and look at pictures). I am headed to the big city (and Hobby Lobby) today, so I was thinking about picking up some things to give Myrna to use with Lily.
Sorry for the long explanation, I don't know how to shorten any story, but any ideas of things (cheap) to buy for Myrna to keep on hand for Lily? I'm thinking I'll just have to get to HL and get inspired, but I was hoping for some ideas ahead of time.
Again, sorry I rambled.
Re: Church crafts for 2 year old?
beads (large not a choking hazard) to string? lacing cards? what 2 year old can resist play dough!?
When I was a daycare teacher (15-24 month olds) they really liked making pictures to go along with the stories we read. like, when we read farm stories, they had to glue cotton balls on the sheep shapes. my projects were notoriously messy ( i had a class of 8 boys and 1 girl) so I'm afraid that is all I got for church activities!
Thank you both! DH and I both help with older ages (I'm in charge of the 3rd and 4th grade girls, he is in charge of all the 2nd graders, and they are at two different times, so we each help with each other's kids), so we don't really know much about what to do with toddlers. I struggle with things to do with her at home. I know she likes to copy me and be crafty (loooooooooves to paint, but too messy for church), and if I am sewing while she's awake, she is on my lap.
I will definitely look into beads. I haven't introduced her to that at all, but I bet she would love it. She's not the type to put things in her mouth, so I'm not terribly worried about that, but I think it would be fun for her. She does love play dough too. Maybe I could make some next week and take it to church for her to play with. The church does need some new play dough anyway.
Lily loves her new little sister!
Lily Sue 8.17.2009
Forever loved and missed...Dot 6.14.10, Little Bit 8.20.10, Speck 3.16.11
Adair Leigh 3.27.12
Things that connect with Bible stories would be good, especially pre-cut shapes where the toddler arranges and glues. E.g. Burning bush = brown construction paper bush shape + red/orange/yellow tissue paper for fire; Good shepherd = sheep body + cotton balls; Fish and loaves = platter + cut out fish and bread; Noah's ark = boat + animal silhouettes
And I know it's not necessarily crafty, but finger puppets might work, too, telling stories/imaginative play with Bible character puppets. Maybe there could be a decorate your own puppet where puppet = cut-out on a popsicle stick?
the bean has a cute book about god creating rainbows, maybe you could find it and incorporate it into a fun craft that we used at her birthday party. i just cut lengths of various colors of yarn and put out bowls of froot loops, and let them make necklaces.
simple, tasty, fun.
Awana! I was in Awana as a kid (Firmly Awana Stands..Lead by the Lord's Command)...I could sing the entire song still.
Its a bit messy but managable with some wet wash clothes, but It would be cool to put paint on their hands and make art on paper plates (I saw some holiday themed ones like turkeys, trees) and some just fun ones like how to make a giraffe. Paint and paper plates are pretty cheap.
Also you could do the melting crayon pictures that are so big right now. To make it cheaper, get some cardboard, a box of 96 crayons (or some broken ones someone has sitting around) and have each kid pick like 4 or 5 and you be the one to heat it up to they melt (you would need to have/borrow a heat gun). So that way they help pick it out and see how cool it is but don't deal with the hot heat gun.