Crafty things for vegan toddlers to do?

[mellie-bellie]

I've been racking my brain these days, trying to think of things for my 25mo to do to keep him busy. We have no TV, so I read to him a lot during the day (we get 15-20 books from the library every few weeks). He spends a lot of time playing with his trucks, cars and trains, and I try to get to the playground daily if it's not raining, but other than that, I sometimes can't think of things to get him.

I'm thinking he may be at the age where he'd like art stuff, but I'm not sure if any crayons or paint are vegan. Also, keeping the environment in mind, I think chalk and a chalkboard may be better than crayons and paper. Is chalk vegan? Anyone know any of this info?

I can tell his drive to learn is very high, hence the fact he can get bored easily, playing w/ the same toys day in and day out. Any suggestions/ideas on what I can do to keep my lil one busy, learning and content?

Thanx!

[Erin Pavlina]

Check out this link, from PETA, for vegan-friendly craft supplies.

http://www.greenearthofficesupply.com/

[sophie]

I find playdough is a good activity for that age group, you can make your own quite easily and cheaply.
Also, how about collage, pasting lots of pictures and scraps onto paper? You can use almost anything for this. One fun thing to do (though I guess it depends on the season) is going on a nature walk and finding things to use in a collage, eg leaves, sticks, flowers (you can press these first if you want), shells, seeds etc.
I think art is really important for children, my daughter spends a lot of time drawing and creating, and there shouldn't be a prob finding vegan art supplies... good luck!

[GranolaMommy]

Big bowls of beans or grains. They LOVE this and my little guy can sit for ages with a bowl of beans, especially if I give him another bowl and a cup to move the beans back and forth.

And then there's goop - mix corn starch and water. It forms hard when you squeeze it and then melts all over your hand. Pretty cool to do!

[Deborah Barrass]

Hi Melissa, I've just bought a great book from a charity shop called Fun Ideas For Kids by Mimi Wellisch ISBN 0 - 7529 - 0086 -2.
Although not all ideas in there are suitable for vegan I'm sure most could be adapted.
2 interesting ones that I'm going to try for my children (Tabitha almost 3 and Felix 15 months) are ;

* A LOCK BOARD. 50 x 50 cm pine board (painted ). Screw on a number of different locks of all sizes and shapes and attach keys with a piece of string. eg. door lock & chain, bathroom type lock 1 vertical and 1 horizontal, a latch lock that needs lifting and a padlock. I wish I could put the picture onto computer as it looks much better than it sounds !! It is said to help with fine finger movements and exploration.

* EYE DROPPER EXPERIMENT. Using paitn dyed water or food colouring let child fill 3 eye droppers with diffrent colours then drip them into a jar of clear water to watch the patterns swirl around. Can be repeated as often as child wants !! Promotes fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

There are loads of other simple ideas in this book - hope these 2 are of interest.

I think chalk must be vegan as a natural product though I don't know if colourings added during manufacturing are vegan. My children do have chalk.

Good luck. Regards, Deborah Barrass