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Notorious for a propensity for mouthing things - many typical childhood crafts are off limits for your little "one." Here are a few craft ideas that reduce the probability of ingesting harmful materials while still delighting most any one year old. Supervision is not only still required while crafting with someone this young, but encouraged. It is surprising how much fun it can be to watch your little artist emerge!

Incredible Edible Crafts

1. Pudding Painting

Make pudding and give you little one some paper and let them finger paint with no worries!

2. You-can-Eat it Play-Dough

Instead of play-dough get a recipe for edible play-dough and let them enjoy making everything imaginable. Here is a website with ten different recipes for edible dough. It has everything from Kook-Aid Dough to Smooth Peanut Butter Play Dough. http://www.thefamilycorner.com /family/kids/crafts/edible_pla y_dough.shtml

3. Fruit Loop Necklaces

Get thin licorice and a handful of Fruit Loops. Let your child string the Fruit Loops onto the licorice and then they can enjoy eating their creation in its entirety.

Paper Products

1. Look Book

This one will require a bit of work on your part - but your one year old will love the benefits. Take a picture of all of many common household toys or places your one year old sees every day. (For example: snap pictures of your child's pajamas and toothbrush and ball and bed.) Let your child help you tape them into a photo book or slide them inside. Then you have a homemade book with pictures that your child can easily recognize. This also helps with language development.

2. Nature Collage

Take a walk outside and let your child grab leaves, grass and other items of nature. Put them into a bag and when you get home take them out and look at them together. Get some clear contact paper and let your child arrange them on the sticky side and then cover them with another piece of contact paper. These could be shaped into place mats or squares to be hung from a window.

Old Fashioned Supervised Fun

1. Coloring

Coloring with jumbo crayons while being supervised builds finger dexterity and is often a fun one.

2. Painting

Look for paint with water books. Take a Q-Tip and a cup of water and release your little artist.

3. Touch and Feel

Paste articles with different textures on a paper. Help your little one with the glue stick to get cotton balls and buttons on a page that you can look and feel together. Be careful and supervise to ensure safety on this one.

Learn more about this author, Deborah Cannon.
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