Many toddlers enjoy finger painting and this is a great way to teach your toddler about different textures. Adding things to paint, such as oatmeal, coffee grounds, rice and sand, provides a wide range of textures for kids to create with. With this project, let kids use their hands to paint with so they can feel the different textures. Use paints that are safe for young children and provide proper supervision during this and any craft project.
Toddlers enjoy puppets of all types. Teaching them to make finger puppets from a variety of materials feeds the imagination and teaches textures. Some materials you can use to make finger puppets from are felt, cotton balls, pipe cleaners, yarn and wood sticks. When working with toddlers, it is necessary to precut items for the puppets. Glue sticks made from safe ingredients makes gluing quick and simple.
Filling a balloon with candy and air is the beginning of an Easter egg piñata. Simple glue, made from flour and water, is safe for toddlers to use. Have the kids dip paper strips, from newspaper or brown paper bags, into the glue mixture. Instruct children to cover their balloon with wet paper strips. A string tied to the knot in the end of the balloon allows it to hang from the ceiling to dry. Once the piñata is dry, pop the balloon with a needle. You can incorporate textured painting to decorate the egg piñatas, providing toddlers with a wide variety of textures to work with and learn about.
With cornstarch, water and food coloring you can make slimy goo. The slime feels hard until you pick it up. When you pick it up it runs through your fingers. You can add a variety of textures by incorporating Silly Putty and Play-Doh into the project. This allows toddlers to note the differences in texture among similar substances.
After teaching toddlers about several different textures, see how much they have learned by playing an identification game. Blindfold one child at a time and have them touch one of the objects and identify it. Do this for each child, using different objects. Then give everyone a prize, such as a recipe book that contains a recipe for slime, clay and textured paints for kids to use at home.