At the tender age of 20 months, little ones start to develop fine motor skills and cognitive abilities that make crafts an engaging and educational activity. Contact paper, with its simple use and colorful appeal, offers a world of creativity and learning. Let's explore some age-appropriate crafts for 20-month-olds using contact paper.
Supervised craft activities at this stage foster your child's development, encouraging them to grasp, pull, and manipulate objects, which are essential skills for their age. Moreover, they begin to understand cause and effect, colors, and shapes - all of which are heightened through contact paper crafts.
Sticking and Ripping Fun
One of the simplest and most enjoyable contact paper crafts for 20-month-olds involves sticking and ripping. This activity helps children develop fine motor skills and sensory understanding.
Stick and Rip: Line a table with contact paper, sticky side up, and let your little one 'stick' various objects onto it. They'll love the tactile feedback and the simple joy of making things adhere. After sticking, encourage them to carefully rip off the objects. The more they rip, the more they're strengthening their hand muscles, paving the way for tasks like writing and holding utensils in the future.
Using Different Textures
Vary the objects you use with the contact paper to introduce different textures. For instance, they could stick and rip fabric, paper, or even fruit (but make sure to clean up afterwards).
Shape and Color Fun: Ensure the objects you provide are various shapes and colors. This not only makes the activity more engaging but also starts to introduce your child to basic geometry and color recognition.
Contact Paper Collages
Another engaging contact paper activity for 20-month-olds is creating collages. This encourages creativity and helps develop fine motor skills, along with color and shape recognition.
Pre-cut Shapes: Before starting, cut out shapes from construction paper or printed images. Ensure they're large enough for your 20-month-old to grip easily. Use these to create simple collages on contact paper.
Following a Theme
Provide your child with pre-cut shapes that fit a specific theme, like animals or vehicles. Seeing the final image emerge encourages them to pay attention to details and make connections.
Sticking and Peeling: With this age group, it's best to skip the trying-to-stick-it-right-the-first-time phase. Let them experiment with placing multiple shapes where they think they should go. They'll enjoy peeling them off and trying again!
Contact Paper Stained Glass
For a more structured approach, create contact paper 'stained glass' art. This introduces the concept of cutting, which is beneficial for developing their scissor skills.
Heart-Shaped Art: Draw large heart shapes on contact paper and let your toddler cut along the lines (with supervision). Once done, they can stick them onto a window for a beautiful, shimmering effect. Remember, perfection isn't the goal - the process of cutting and sticking is where the learning happens.
As they grow and change, so do their crafts. But for now, watch as your 20-month-old discovers the wonder of creating with contact paper. Their joy and curiosity are the best signs that these crafts are setting them up for a lifetime of creative learning."