Father’s Day Toddler Craft (or how to salvage a craft gone wrong)

Do a Father’s Day craft with your toddlers they said. It will be fun they said.

So here I am trying to do something simple and enjoyable with my son – a craft. He loves them. He loves to glue. He loves to paint. He loves to cut. I try to play into that with our activity ideas. So here I am trying to do a fun craft for Father’s day, so I can share it with you lovely readers in plenty of time to do one yourself, and we hit a major Pinterest fail.

You see, I started out with one of my favorite things – a paper plate craft. I wrote out “DAD” in Washi tape. Then I gave my kiddo some paints and let him decorate. The plan? To do some dabbing, some lines, some silly patterns only a 3-year-old can understand.

What happened instead? So a good friend of mine (Inez) suggested using egg cartons (empty, of course) as paint holders. So you don’t make a mess with the rest of the paint container. Great! I cut one in half (the 18-egg one) and thought we’d use a couple of them. Nope. I was wrong. I brought out to my kid a container with 6 gaps. And he was insistent I fill all 6! Should have cut it into smaller pieces!! Anyway, so I gave him 6 colors. A bit of each. But what did he do? FULL COVERAGE. He painted over and over and over until my little white plate with green DAD letters turned into a brown mush. The end.

Well, not the end. I tried to salvage it. I’m a blogger after all, “make it work, people!” Right? So I cut DAD out of it and cut the rest into slivers. And I let him glue it onto another paper plate. And when I showed Daddy, he said hey that’s cool he made a camo design. *WIN* Cause Daddy is a soldier, so it worked out after all.

Not what I envisioned, but it ended up fine. So here you go, how to make a Father’s Day craft with your toddler, have it all messed up, and still salvage it.

Father’s Day Toddler Craft

Supplies:

• Washable Paints
• Washi tape
• Paper Plates
• Scissors (preschooler safe scissors)
• Glue
• Newspaper or packing paper for a mess-free workspace (or play outside)
• Egg carton (empty)

More Father’s Day Crafts for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Here are some more lovely father’s day ideas from fellow members of the Influential Mama Network. Which, if you’re a blogger or mama influencer, you should totes join!

Easy Father’s Day Popsicle Stick Craft Seaside Sundays. I love this! And check out another amazing father’s day ideas list from her blog.

Awesome DIY for Dad – King of the Grill Apron! Healthy Happy Thrifty Family

Hug Monster Father’s Day Card Muddy Boots and Diamonds