I am trying to think of activity ideas that I can buy that are less than $5, and preferably that require no prep work. I want to have a stash of things I can keep hidden but pull out in desperate times. Here are a few things we have already:
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@Bao: if you go to Michael's right now, they have Valentine's stuff half off. In the Valentine's area, they have these cute little bracelet packs by Creatology. like this: http://bit.ly/1PiGMig They come with beads and cord to make necklaces or bracelets. You can also add in some pipe cleaners which make it easier to thread the beads and not worry about them falling off the end. The VDay section also has other crafts you can buy as all-in-one kits and just set them out. Our favorites are anything with stickers.
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Alex Toys have these reusable activity pads. Basically like a whiteboard that your kid can use and wipe off for another time. DD1 loves that.
I also have a pack of construction paper on hand and save paper and let them use the backside to color on. DD1 enjoys just cutting paper. I know at daycare they keep a huge tub for them to cut paper into to minimize mess. -
In another life, I though I was going to be a scrapbooker, so I had tons of stickers and embellishments that were just hanging around.
I bought one of those rolling cars with 10 drawers and made it into an art center for my son. I stocked it with sheets of tissue paper, glue sticks, glitter glue, stickers, crayons, markers, etc and as I see things on clearance in Michaels, I add to it.
I really like those foam cut outs, the ones in seasonal shapes as the basis for things. I have hole puncher and we've used ribbon to make garlands.
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@Bao: ditto what @mediagirl: said. We buy the foam sticker crafts from the holiday sections at Michael's all the time and they keep her occupied for a nice chunk of time. The dollar store sometimes has these too.
I also pull out beach rocks that we've collected and she can paint them with water and a paintbrush. She loves that.
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Hmm. Color wonder paints are a good option for our house but they may be over $5 (but last a while). I dont worry about smocks or anything.
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Yes, white board books are a big hit for us. She has a how to draw animals one and a letter one.
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@looch: ha! In another life I was a scrapbooker and now I just let my kid play with all of my supplies.
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@mediagirl: Yup! Now with a crafter child its nice to have all those supplies!
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Target usually has cheap little crafty things in the front. I go through every so often and pick up a few. They change pretty frequently, but I have a little stash of stickers, coloring books and crayons, and memory games right now.
Btw, if you are looking at M&D sticker pads, I highly recommend the "re-usable" ones unless you have an older toddler. Mine is 2 and she doesn't like the ones that stick permanently. We got a couple re-usable sticker pads about a year ago and we still use them pretty often.
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When my dd is bored, she wants to bake. super cheap and the whole family benefits!
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Alex Toys has little craft kits that are around $5-7 on sale. It is kind of expensive for what is in the box (precut stickers, paper, glue stick, etc) but everything is precut and the kid just assembles. We have a few of those projects for rainy days and LO loves them.
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Also love the michael's seasonal craft kits. Easy, cheap and come with each everything you need. Lo goes nuts for them.
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@Bao: Ooh, another thing my daughter loves is to cut out magazines and glue the pictures down in a collage. If your youngest wants to be involved, I keep an envelope of cut out images in the craft drawer and she could use a glue stick .
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