Easy & Fun Summer Crafts for Toddlers

Summer is a magical time. Yes, moments can be stressful, especially if you have young children to entertain, but with longer days and plenty of good weather, it’s a wonderful opportunity to make memories with your little ones.

Simple summer crafts, like those we enjoy at our day nurseries in Exeter, are a wonderful way to capture these moments in your child’s early life. With toddlers, it doesn’t have to be complicated; just give them some exciting colours and objects and let them have fun! Here are some of our favourite easy summer crafts for toddlers.

Hand-Print Drawings

Painting with handprints is a classic children’s craft. It’s super simple, all you need is a child-safe paint and some paper, and plenty of newspapers to prevent permanent messes!

Hand paintings are a wonderful, tactile activity for little ones. Not only is it a good form of expression, but it also helps with their sensory development and fine motor skills. These paintings also make for great keepsakes.

You can get toddlers to just make a print of their hand, or you can add shapes alongside it to create hand-shaped flowers, chickens, ice creams or whatever else you can imagine.

Nature Painting

This is a wonderful craft that can be paired with other nature activities for toddlers for a fun-filled day out.

Wherever you visit, try to collect some objects (responsibly, of course) – it might be pebbles or seashells on the beach or sticks and leaves from the forest. Collecting objects like this can be great for sensory development, and they can even help teach some new words!

When you get home, bring out the toddler-friendly paints and get creative with your newfound objects. Maybe the twig can be painted like a caterpillar, or the stone can be covered in handprints; be creative and have fun. Eventually, you’ll have a great collection of colourful seasonal treasures!

Pavement Chalk

What a wonderful way to have some fun in the summer sun. Find a safe, open space such as a driveway or patio, and let your toddler be creative with easily-washed pavement chalk.

Pavement chalk is usually thicker than regular chalk, so it’s easy for small hands to grasp. Let your toddler draw whatever they like and talk through their creations to encourage even more development.

Pavement chalk can also be used for outdoor games such as letter recognition or drawing each other’s outlines, creating hours of fun for the whole family.

Egg Box Boats

This is a fantastic craft idea that only requires a few household items and provides plenty of opportunities for little ones to get involved.

Simply open an empty egg carton, cut it in half, and you have two boats ready to sail upon the high seas – or a paddling pool. Then you can add accessories such as a paper sail held up with a straw and a little character to ride the boat.

Toddlers can get involved with decorating the egg carton boat and the sail, and are bound to have fun watching it travel over the water.

We hope these easy summer craft ideas for toddlers help you and your little ones make the most of summer!