Crafts with a baby: did you know that you can start from 6 months?

by Joost Nusselder Updated on: December 30, 2020

Crafting with one baby: you will probably think, that is not possible at all, is it? Many mothers often can't wait to start crafting with their sweet baby.

You probably assume that you can't do crafts with you baby. Nothing is less true; With a little help, your darling can create a true work of art from the age of six months.

Great fun for the proud grandfathers and grandmothers, for Father's Day, or for Mother's Day to receive such a work of art. The work therefore always gets a place of honor.

Je baby of course it has to be steered, but with the right supplies and your help, this will work out just fine.

The SES brand, for example, has all kinds of 'My First' craft kits that are specially made for babies who are heading towards a toddler.

Good examples of these types of packages are the

• SES My First Color pencils XL and
• SES My First finger paint stamps

(view more images)

(view more images)

To keep your little one a bit clean while crafting is this Prénatal plastic sleeve bib very handy!

From toddler to toddler activity book collection

Educational games and coloring pages for 3 to 6 years

Your toddler and preschooler will love this e-book, along with the accompanying printables. He or she can play with it at every stage of development, together with mom and dad.

Buy at Bol.com

What do I need to tinker with my baby?

Keep in mind that it's really not about the outcome. It's there for you baby mainly to have fun and discover new things.

That is conducive to the imagination baby, his spatial insight and of course the fine motor skills.

Tinkering does not always have to be done with paint, pencils and cardboard or paper. There are many other materials that are well suited for this, just think of:

• Use babies' own hands and feet as a stamp, cotton balls, toilet rolls and finger paint.
• You can cut a heart out of colored paper and let your little one press his hands on it with a contrasting color of paint.
• You can also paint and stamp a heart on your hand and that of your baby
• Or smear the heart with glue, stick baby's photo in the middle and let your baby press cotton wool around it. Do it and of course send your little one a little bit more.

It doesn't have to look neat!

From what age can babies join crafts?

From the age of six to eight, babies can already 'help' a little and join in crafts, for example making a footprint or handprint.

If they cannot sit yet, you can also place them on their stomach near the drawing, possibly on a cushion. Five to ten minutes of 'painting' is more than enough.

For example, you need a nice piece of cardboard and finger paint. Make sure your little one's hand or foot is covered with paint and gently press the hand or foot onto the cardboard.

You can also 'stamp' two hands and two feet in various colors on the cardboard. Make it a real work of art, with the date and baby's name added. Great for framing.

You can also take a photo of the artwork and have it printed on a phone case!

Except with paint, a baby also enjoy crafting and fiddling with a piece of clay. Always keep an eye on things to prevent eating the clay.

A nice and safe clay to tinker with is, for example, beeswax clay.

Are there any more fun ideas to make?

Let your imagination run wild! There are so many possibilities if you use your imagination. It is also nice to give the works of art as a gift.

You will see that, in addition to the pleasure that you and your little one experience, the gifts will be proudly received by grandpa and grandma or daddy.

They will be placed in a special place in the living room.

1. Make salt dough
2. Textile paint
3. Stamps from toilet rolls

You can make salt dough with your little one, knead well and roll balls or molds.

You can also press baby's hand or foot into the dough, paint it if necessary and then bake the mold in the oven.

Create a work of art together with fabric paint on a t-shirt for dad or on a nice canvas shopping bag for mom. Have a work of art printed on a mug.

Make stamps from toilet rolls and let your little one dip them in different colors of finger paint, so that a cheerful design is created on the paper.

Let us baby For Father's Day, splash paint on a piece of paper and write on it 'My daddy is a splash!', success is guaranteed.

Great too, to keep some of these works and memories for yourself and to show your child when they are grown up: You could paste some crafts in a nice book.

From 12 months your little one can get started with markers and coloring pages are already discussed.

Why is crafting good for babies?

Crafting is very good for all children, even babies. Even if they are not yet very capable, the colors and shapes they encounter when crafting are stimulating.

Babies learn through crafting at an early age creative to be and they develop their fine motor skills by coloring, dyeing or kneading.

They enjoy it and develop their imagination. Although the works of art will certainly not be very neat, it is still nice to have this as a memory.

Moreover, playing around with paint and clay makes you baby very happy. Working together is good for your band. It is therefore good to let both parents take turns crafting the baby.

Are Babies More Motivated Than Toddlers?

Again and again, babies remain creatures that you continue to wonder about. No matter how small they are, they can and want to work hard for everything.

Of course, not everything always works out babyThat's a shame, but he learns from that. It's nice to see that he continues to have the motivation to continue.

You see this much less with toddlers. They give up more quickly or, after trying for a while, tell you 'that it doesn't work'.

Babies do not yet know whether or not something can succeed and so they continue to have that motivation and the urge to discover that keeps them going.

That is precisely why crafting is so small that it is important. Babies will do their utmost to achieve success with the materials you provide.

This is only possible if you support and stimulate him in this. The crafting session must of course be short-lived.

My advice is to just give it a try, but not before your little one has reached 6 or 8 months.

If you don't like the tinkering, try again a few weeks or months later.

I hope it will be a fun crafting adventure for both of you, have fun!

Joost Nusselder, the founder of Speelkeuze.nl is a content marketer, father and loves trying out new toys. As a child he came into contact with everything related to games when his mother started the Tinnen Soldaat in Ede. Now he and his team create helpful blog articles to help loyal readers with fun play ideas.