22 Very Simple Art And Craft Ideas For Babies

Image: Midjourney/ MomJunction Design Team

Babies’ interests are always changing as they are constantly growing. Thus, coming up with interesting craft ideas for babies can help them create something new and improve their creative skills while they are at it. Engaging in creative play nurtures your baby’s artistic skills and enhances their cognitive development, fine motor skills, and sensory experiences. Keeping children involved in crafting activities requires continuous supervision, and it also has numerous benefits and is worth it. Read on for some easy and indulging nursery decor ideas to keep your child occupied.

Benefits Of Art And Craft For Babies

Art and craft activities allow babies to explore paintbrushes, colors, markers, fabric strips, and textured papers. These creative activities also support the development of different physical and emotional skills. Here are some of the benefits of messy play or arts and crafts for children (1) (2)

• Builds critical thinking skills
• Develops fine and gross motor skills
• Helps with coordination
• Exercises spatial reasoning and enhances math skills
• Improves language and comprehension
• Enhances math skills and imagination
• Relieves stress and facilitates learning
• Encourages independent thinking and creativity
• Improves self-esteem and provides opportunities for self-expression
• Helps understand the relationship between cause and effect

Tips For Introducing Art and Craft To Your Baby

One must be careful while choosing age-appropriate craft activities and materials, as babies tend to put everything in their mouths.

• Use skin-friendly material and mild colors.
• Use eco-friendly and edible craft material.
• Try easy simple craft activities.
• Use hand-sewn or handmade soft toys.
• Avoid art that involves cutting and use of sharp objects.
• Monitor the baby continuously.
• Help the baby by participating in the activity.

22 Easy Baby Craft Ideas And Activities

Have a look at this curated list of quick and easy baby craft ideas and keep your baby active.

1. Edible playdough

Try edible dough with expert-recommended ingredients such as flour, salt, water, vegetable oil, cornstarch, and food-safe coloring to make the activity safe (3). Teaching a baby to make different shapes with this dough is fun. Animals, fruits, vegetables, flowers, utensils, clothes, transport vehicles, or anything else could be molded out of this edible dough.

How it helps: Promotes fine motor skills and enhances hand-eye coordination and dexterity.

2. Playing with rice

For this activity, hide the baby’s favorite snacks or plush toys under a heap of rice. Encourage them to work on their grip as they handle the slippery grains. Watch as they explore and uncover their favorite things, experiencing moments of joy. This exploration of hidden objects is both fun and educational.

How it helps: Enhances the baby’s grip and helps them understand the concept of object permanence.

3. Ice painting

To get colorful ice cubes, drop a single drop of edible colors in each compartment of the ice tray. Insert a craft stick into each compartment of the ice tray and set it to freeze. Once frozen, these colorful ice cubes with craft sticks can be given to the baby to paint on cards or hard sheets.

How it helps: Teaches babies about colors and temperature sensation.

4. Bubble wrap painting

Place a piece of bubble wrap on the ground with the bubbles facing up. The baby can apply colors on the bubble wrap. A piece of paper can be given to be pressed by the baby onto this painted wrap. When taken off, the paper is imprinted with colorful bubble patterns. However, choose paints free of xylene, toluene or benzene, methylene chloride, acids, and alkalis, as recommended by pediatricians Sophie J. Balk and Ruth A. Etzel (4).

How it helps: Introduces the baby to different colors and textures.

5. Spaghetti sensory play

For this, regular spaghetti is cooked and tossed with oil. Food colors are added and spaghetti is dried by laying on a parchment paper. It is one of the great sensory activities for 1-year-olds. The spaghetti feels slimy and slips through the babies’ fingers easily, making them enjoy this activity.

How it helps: Engages the baby’s sense of touch and encourages tactile exploration.

6. Sensory bead bags

This is a great mess-free sensory play activity to develop babies’ language skills. Sensory bead bags are also effective for babies who suffer from Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) (5). The bead bags could be filled with beads of different textures, colors and even beads that produce sounds. When the beads bag is pressed by the baby, there can be many possibilities; as there are varieties of beads such as butterfly beads, Christmas ornaments, money beads, ocean creatures, plants, animals, and birds’ beads. Supervision is essential during this activity, as babies may try to bite the dough, and the beads used could pose a choking hazard (3).

How it helps: Provides a mess-free sensory experience that promotes texture recognition.

7. Stamped apple art

Cut an apple into two halves and let your baby dip one half in some edible color to create a stamp. Now, hold this stamp and make a colorful impression on a paper. You can create small or large shapes and patterns in the half portion to add more variety.

How it helps: Enhances creativity and encourages exploration of new objects.

Quick tip

Buy some bathtub paint soaps, fill the bathtub with room temperature or lukewarm water, and let the fun begin! The best part is these bathtub finger paint soaps wash off completely, leaving no mess around.

8. Colored rice art

Rice grains can be added to vinegar and organic food colors to obtain colored rice. Draw a simple sketch on a sheet by gluing the sticks. The baby can drop the colored grains onto this sketch. The grains stick to the glue, forming beautiful art. You could also let the baby scribble through the scattered grains using their fingers to encourage sensory play.

How it helps: Improves hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and imagination.

9. Ribbon clouds

Adults can help babies in this activity. Just cut out clouds on a piece of cardboard. Get your child to either paint them or decorate these with cotton, glitter, or any other craft’s decor accessory. Now sew all these clouds together to complete the look.

How it helps: Enhances creativity, imagination, and color recognition.

10. Paper plate fruits

Draw sketches of various fruits on colored paper plates. Let the baby try painting these sketches according to the colors of the fruits with the help of art supplies that conform to ASTM [American Society for Testing and Materials] D4236, or  Approved Product seal from The Art and Creative Materials Institute as recommended by pediatricians, Sophie J. Balk and Ruth A. Etzel (4). Another option is to use ready-made stickers of fruits, and let the baby stick them on the plates.

How it helps: Stimulates pictorial memory, as the baby relates to the names, colors, and shapes of fruits.

11. DIY scented rainbow bubbles

The sheer joy of having colorful scented bubbles is incomparable as babies love to play with bubbles. As a DIY activity, adults need to arrange for:

• Dish soap
• Glycerin
• Essential oils
• Food coloring
• Bottles or jars (with lids)
• A smooth stick with a loop at one end. (Avoid wire as it may hurt the baby)
• For various colors:

Cinnamon: Red

Sweet orange: Orange

Lemon: Yellow

Peppermint: Green

Vanilla: Blue

Lilac: Purple

Grapefruit: Pink

You have to prepare the scented colorful soapy liquids and pour in small pots for babies. Babies hold the blowing stick, dip it in one pot and blow bubbles. They can repeat this for all pots one by one. The result is rainbow bubbles all over. Bubbles allows young, curious minds to explore the concepts of science in its most simple form.

How it helps: Educates the baby about different scents and colors.

12. Felt princess crown

This craft should be performed by an adult in the presence of the baby. Even though the baby participates passively, they can learn a lot by watching. You would need:

• Colorful felt
• Glitter iron-on
• Cricut maker
• Iron or easy press
• Sewing machine or knitting needles and thread

Cut out the princess crown using a cricut maker. Then fuse the glitter iron-on to the crown using an easy press or an iron. Using a sewing machine, a thread, and needle, attach the extended straps to the end of the crown. To tie the crown onto the head, elastic ribbon could be used.

How it helps: Introduces the concept of cause and effect and enhances problem-solving skills.

Quick tip

You may also add matching tulle fabric at the bottom of the crown to give it an uber-chic look. These fabrics are available in various colors, shapes, and sizes.

13. Shaving cream clouds

Making the baby learn about the rain and the clouds is easy. It could be achieved using household stuff such as shaving cream which can help in making clouds. Fill a clear cup/glass with water and add a layer of shaving cream to it. Several drops of blue food coloring can be added to this mix. When these shaving cream clouds get too heavy, the drops fall through as rain. Explain to the baby that when water droplets grow heavy in the sky, it rains

Shaving cream mixed in with colored ice cubes in different shapes can also be used for a fun sensory experience. Mother of three boys, Kate Naylor, writes, “My boys helped me squirt the shaving cream into the bin and push the ice out from the ice molds. We played for a good hour before it was time to go inside and tub for the night…My three (her three-year-old son) loved throwing the ice on the ground and watching it break into pieces. Toward the end, he sat in the shaving cream and thought it was so funny he had shaving cream on his toosh. My 23 month old loved grabbing a piece of ice and washing the shaving cream off with a hose (i).”

How it helps: Enhances language skills and critical thinking.

14. Thumbprint keychain

Some clay crafts for kids could also be fun. Take a piece of clay and embed the baby’s fingerprint or thumbprint on the surface of the clay. Take a keychain and secure the imprinted clay at the end of the keychain. This activity works as a way for you to save a few personalized keepsakes of your baby’s tiny hands and feet.

How it helps: Exercises hand-eye coordination and improves emotional bond with parents.

15. Confetti bookmarks

Babies can try making these bookmarks under adult supervision. Beautiful and colorful confetti bookmarks inserted in the story book enhance a baby’s experience of listening to stories, looking at pictures, and creating pictorial memories. You will need:

• Clear sheet protectors (heavyweight ones make a sturdier material)
• Confetti
• A fuse tool or a sewing machine
• A hole punch maker
• Ribbon (for embellishment)

Fill the clear sheet protectors with colorful confetti and seal the edges by a fuse tool or sew it. Punch a hole and tie a colorful ribbon through it.

How it helps: Lays the foundation for the habit of reading.

16. Homemade sidewalk chalk

Sidewalk chalk is typically a large and thick piece of chalk available in multiple colors. It is mostly used by children and adults for drawing on pavements or concrete sidewalks. Your baby may use the floor of the house for this activity. This art activity improves the child’s fine motor skills. You will need

• Plaster of Paris (dry powder)
• Tempera paint
• Silicon mold
• Water
• Disposable cups
• Plastic spoons

Mix POP, water, and paint. Pour the mixture into the molds and let it dry. The colorful sidewalk chalks are ready for use. Chalk-making sparks creativity and strengthens hand muscles as children mix the ingredients.

How it helps: Improves concentration and teaches basic motions such as stirring and pouring without spills.

17. Baby created wall art

Provide your baby with paper and crayons, and let them scribble to their heart’s content in this messy play activity. Mixing organic food colors in a cereal makes a safe paint for babies. Babies may dip their hands in this color and make impressions on paper. The paper can also be laid on the ground, and the baby may put their feet in the color and create footprints on the paper by walking on it.

How it helps: Enhances self-esteem, self-expression, and cognitive skills.

18. Baby-safe marble painting

This simple craft idea is easy to create. Bring a cardboard box, paper, marbles, and some paints. Now tape the paper inside at the bottom of the box. Drop a few dollops of paint and marbles inside the box. Close the box, shake it well, and watch the baby have fun discovering how the box makes sounds.  

How it helps: Strengthens the muscles of the arm and improves auditory skills.

19. Baby abstract art

Place some paint spots on a canvas and cover it with plastic. Let the baby spread colors with their hands and try to go after each paint spot. Help the baby spread the paint evenly and avoid random globs of paint. Remove the plastic after completing the activity and let the canvas dry. The baby may enjoy how colors blend and spread over the canvas. 

How it helps: Improves color recognition and imagination.

20. Art with carpet square samples

You will need the following supplies for this craft.

• Organic food colors
• Medium-sized rubber bands
• Carpet square samples
• Painter’s tape
• Paper plates
• A long piece of butter paper

Tape the long piece of paper to a smooth and flat space. Next, tape the paper plates next to the butter paper. Pour a color of paint on each paper plate. To make it easier for the baby to hold the blocks of carpet squares, slide a rubber band over each carpet square. Push the rubber band into the carpet. Now, let the baby hold this carpet square sample and dip it in the plate with color. As the baby stamps this on the taped paper, a beautiful design emerges.

How it helps: Enhances creativity and spatial awareness.

21. Mess-free painting

If you are looking for more painting ideas for kids, here is one more but a unique kind. Cleaning the mess after a painting session with your baby can be a cumbersome task. Mess-free painting is a simple activity that will help you have a good time with your baby. You’ll need ziplock bags, colorful washable paint, and strong tape. Put different paint colors in the bags, seal them, and tape them to a flat surface. Let your baby touch and move the paint around inside the bags without making a mess. Just take off the bags and clean up quickly when they are done.

How it helps: Allows the child to explore different colors and textures.

22. Diaper trike

Want to have a good bonding time with your little one? Get creative and make a tricycle with rolled diapers. Create two wheels, make a cardboard frame, and add more rolled diapers for the seat and body. Stick on handlebars in the front and decorate with ribbons and baby items.

How it helps: Enhances creative thinking and could also help with toilet training.

Infographic: Benefits Of Art And Craft For Babies

Art and craft are an excellent way to keep your little ones entertained and engaged for long periods. In addition to that, they also have several benefits to impart to your baby’s overall development. We have listed a few of those benefits in the following infographic, so you can refer to them whenever you want and share them with your friends and family.

Illustration: Momjunction Design Team

Illustration: Very Simple Art And Craft Ideas For Babies

Image: Dall·E/MomJunction Design Team

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Erin DeCarloCraftsperson

Erin DeCarlo is an avid crafter and greeting card business owner. Her expertise lies in creating handmade paper crafts and DIY home decor. She has sold handmade greeting cards and gifts on Etsy and in local stores over the last nine years.

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Harshita MakvanaB.Com, PG Dip

Harshita is a graduate in commerce and holds a PG Diploma in Patent and Copyrights Law from NALSAR University. She has also pursued CA and has more than three years of internship experience in auditing. Her love for travelling has taken her to various parts of the world, and writing the travelogues was what brought out her love for content writing.

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Rohit GarooBSc, MBA

Rohit Garoo is a writer-turned-editor with over 9 years of experience in content writing, editing, and content marketing. He did his bachelors in Science at St. Xavier's College, Hyderabad, and masters in Business Administration at Osmania University.

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Nisha BharatanB.Tech

Nisha Bharatan is a writer with six years of experience. After completing her engineering from Savitribai Phule Pune University, she did content marketing courses to complement her interest in writing. Nisha discovered her passion for writing in 2016 when she started documenting her journey into motherhood.

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