There is something about summer that makes crafting feel completely different. You can take it outside. You can let it get as messy as it needs to. You do not have to worry about paint on the carpet because the whole thing is happening on the patio in the sunshine.
Toddler crafts do not need to produce anything particularly beautiful to be worth doing. The act of mixing colours, pressing hands into paint, cutting paper, and sticking things down is what develops fine motor skills, creativity, and focus. The finished product is a bonus. A lovely, fridge-worthy bonus, but still a bonus.
Here are 20 of the best summer crafts for toddlers, organized by theme. Some take five minutes. Some take an afternoon. All of them are genuinely doable with a child under four, and all of them are perfect for the season.
Sun and Sky Crafts
The summer sky gives you so much to work with. From bright sunshine to cotton-cloud collages, these crafts are inspired by everything happening above your toddler’s head on a beautiful summer day.
1. Paper Plate Sun
Paint a paper plate bright yellow or orange and cut strips of yellow cardstock or foam for the rays. Let your toddler glue the rays around the edge of the plate while the paint is still slightly tacky. Add a smiling face with a black marker once it dries. Simple, colourful, and completely satisfying for a two-year-old.
2. Cotton Ball Cloud Collage
Paint the top half of a piece of blue cardstock with a lighter shade of blue for the sky. Let your toddler glue stretched-out cotton balls onto the upper half to make fluffy clouds, then use handprints or fingerprints in yellow to make a sun in the corner. This one looks genuinely lovely framed.
3. Rainbow Tissue Paper Art
Cut tissue paper into small squares in every colour of the rainbow. Draw a large arc on white cardstock and let your toddler crumple and glue the tissue paper squares along each stripe of the arc. The result is a beautiful, textured rainbow that catches the light beautifully.
4. Watercolour Sunset Painting
Wet a piece of watercolour paper all over with a damp brush. While it is still wet, let your toddler paint stripes of orange, pink, red, and yellow across the page. The colours will bleed into each other and create a gorgeous sunset effect without any technical skill required. This is one of those crafts that always looks stunning.
Ocean and Beach Crafts
Whether you live near the coast or nowhere near it, ocean-themed crafts are a summer staple. They involve sensory materials, beautiful colours, and subjects that toddlers are always excited about.
5. Handprint Crab
Press both of your toddler’s hands in red or orange paint with the fingers spread wide, then overlap the two handprints in the centre so the thumbs face each other. Each finger becomes a crab leg. Once dry, add two googly eyes and a little smile. This one always gets a huge reaction when they see what their handprints turned into.
6. Shell Printing
Collect or buy a selection of shells with interesting ridged textures. Press them into a thin layer of paint and then onto paper to print their pattern. Layer different shells in overlapping colours to create a beautiful abstract beach-inspired print. Let your toddler experiment with pressure and angles.
7. Paper Bag Jellyfish
Blow up a small round balloon and paper-mache over it using torn strips of newspaper and a flour-water paste. Once fully dry and the balloon is popped out, paint it in soft pinks, purples, and blues. Cut long ribbon strips and glue them hanging from the bottom for tentacles. Hang it from the ceiling in their room.
8. Sand and Glue Sensory Art
Let your toddler draw a simple picture on cardstock using a thick layer of craft glue, then sprinkle clean sand over the glue and shake the excess off. Once dry, they can paint over the sand texture with watercolours for a beautiful layered beach-inspired artwork. The tactile element makes this one especially engaging.
Garden and Nature Crafts
Summer is the season where nature gives you the most to work with. Leaves, flowers, seeds, sticks, and petals are all free craft supplies waiting just outside your door.
9. Leaf Print Wrapping Paper
Collect a selection of leaves with interesting shapes and vein patterns. Apply a thin layer of paint to the front of each leaf using a brush, then press it firmly onto kraft paper or white paper. Peel back the leaf to reveal the print. Layer different leaves and colours until the whole sheet is covered. This doubles beautifully as wrapping paper for gifts.
10. Pressed Flower Suncatcher
Press a selection of small flowers and petals flat between two books for three or four days. Once dry, arrange them between two pieces of clear contact paper and press firmly together. Cut into a circle or simple shape and punch a hole at the top. Hang in a sunny window and watch the light come through the petals.
11. Painted Terracotta Pot
Buy a small terracotta pot from any garden centre. Let your toddler paint it with acrylic craft paint in any pattern they want, dots, stripes, or full abstract coverage. Seal it with a coat of outdoor varnish once dry. Plant a cheerful marigold or small succulent inside and display it on the doorstep.
12. Twig Frame
Collect four straight-ish sticks of roughly equal length. Let your toddler help you bind the corners together with twine or hot glue, with you handling the hot glue gun. Glue or tie on small flowers, leaves, and berries. Add a string of twine to the back for hanging. Place a small photo inside the frame for a beautiful nature-inspired display.
Frozen and Food-Inspired Crafts
These crafts combine the best parts of summer, cold things, edible ingredients, and the pure joy of making something you can either eat or watch change. They are also some of the most sensory-rich options on this list.
13. Frozen Watercolour Ice Painting
The day before, pour watercolour paint mixed with water into an ice cube tray. Push a wooden lolly stick into each cube before freezing. In the morning, pop the cubes out and let your toddler use them to paint on white paper. The ice melts as they paint, creating beautiful, watery, blended colour effects that no brush could replicate.
14. Fruit Stamp Art
Cut a lemon, orange, strawberry, and apple in half. Press each cut side into paint and stamp it onto white paper. The natural textures of the fruit create incredibly beautiful prints. A cross-section of an orange looks like a stained-glass window when stamped in orange paint. Your toddler will not want to stop.
15. Melted Crayon Sun Art
On a very hot day, place a piece of white cardstock in direct sunlight. Let your toddler press crayons directly onto the hot paper and draw. The heat from the sun partially melts the crayon wax as they draw, creating a dreamy, blended effect. This only works in strong direct sunlight, which makes it a perfect high-summer activity.
16. Cornstarch and Water Slime
Mix two parts cornstarch to one part water in a large bowl. Add food colouring if you like. The result is oobleck, a non-Newtonian fluid that is solid when you press it and liquid when you hold it loosely. Set it up outside in a tray and let your toddler explore it with their hands for as long as they want. Endlessly fascinating for toddlers of any age.
Keepsake Summer Crafts
These are the crafts you will actually keep. The ones that go in a box or up on a wall and resurface years later when your child is grown. They take a little more time but they are worth every minute.
17. Summer Memory Handprint Canvas
Buy a small stretched canvas. Let your toddler press their handprint in the centre in a bright summer colour. Around the handprint, write the date, your toddler’s age, and a few words about their favourite things this summer. Seal it and hang it. In five years it will be one of your most treasured possessions.
18. Photo Transfer Plate
Print a favourite summer photo in black and white onto regular printer paper. Coat a plain white ceramic plate with a thick layer of photo transfer medium, press the photo face down, and smooth out air bubbles. Let it dry overnight, then wet the paper and rub it away gently to reveal the image transferred onto the plate. Seal and display.
19. Summer Journal Decorated Cover
Buy a plain notebook or journal. Let your toddler paint, stamp, and collage the cover using summer-themed materials, shell prints, flower stamps, and bright colours. Once dry, seal with mod podge. Use the journal to stick in mementos from the summer: ticket stubs, pressed flowers, a crayon drawing from each week. A whole season in one book.
20. Tie-Dye Pillowcase Keepsake
Buy a plain white cotton pillowcase. Do a tie-dye in your toddler’s favourite colours. Once it is rinsed, dried, and unfolded, use a fabric pen to write the year and their name somewhere small and discreet on the corner. Let them sleep on it all summer. Wash it at the end of the season, fold it, and put it away. Pull it out when they are older. That is the whole keepsake.
Sloane’s Take
“Keep a dedicated summer craft box on a low shelf your toddler can reach. Stock it with paper, paint, glue, googly eyes, cotton balls, and a few seasonal items like shells or pressed flowers. When they ask what to do, point them at the box before you suggest anything structured. You will be surprised how often they come up with something creative entirely on their own, and all you have to do is sit nearby and let it happen.”
Final Thoughts
Summer crafting with toddlers is less about the output and more about the ritual of sitting down together, getting a little messy, and making something from nothing. It is one of the best things you can do for their development and one of the most enjoyable things you can do together.
Pick a few favourites from this list, gather your supplies at the start of the week, and keep everything accessible. The easier it is to set up, the more often you will actually do it.
Which summer craft are you most excited to try with your toddler? Tell us in the comments below!
