ינהאַלט
2 – 5 years: The important thing is to go with full hands!
די געמעל. It is the queen activity, in all its forms: with the finger, with a sponge, with stencils… Start by distributing aprons and preparing the space to avoid damage, with the essential plasticized tablecloth that will delimit the area of activity. You can put it on the ground to avoid unintended fallout. Among the clever accessories: super practical junior easels that allow little ones to paint at the right height, ‘nursery’ brushes with an ‘anti-sag’ collar or even ‘anti-leak’ paint cans, whose contents do not tip over when they tip over.
Salt dough. A timeless one that allows you to knead, model, paint at the same time? Here is an express recipe: – 1 glass of fine salt, – 1 glass of lukewarm water, – 2 glasses of flour Mix the water and salt in the bowl, add the flour, knead for 5 minutes. You can also add food coloring. The dough should be soft, a little elastic. Form a ball, and distribute to the children in small quantities. Give them pastry cutters, rolls, with which they can make simple shapes. Leave to air dry for several days. The child can then paint and varnish his work. There are also ‘ready to use’ kits which include molds (farm, circus themes, etc.) and all the necessary ingredients.
See our video His first salt dough in 7 steps
In video: first salt dough session
Modeling clay. Kneading is excellent gymnastics for developing finger skills. For the little ones, it should be very flexible. And for those who wish to keep their work, we can choose it “hardening”. Also available in themed kits (zoo, jungle, ocean).
Large wooden beads. They love it, and it’s also good for improving dexterity and training to coordinate your movements. Watch the youngsters carefully so that they do not put them in their mouths. And also… Creative pouches that allow you to assemble pre-cut cardboard pieces in the shape of funny animals, to paint or color. Self-adhesive stickers, simple shapes, to create colorful mini-paintings.
At the beginning, we don’t strive for perfection. As much as possible, we let the child do it on his own while accompanying him. And too bad if the shapes are not pretty. The important thing? He paints, he patrolls, he kneads the material… and achieves something by himself.