Easy Activities Kids Can Do at the Table

Planning quiet activities for children to do while sitting at a table does not have to be expensive or difficult. It is easy to plan creative table time activities for children to participate in if you use your imagination and a few supplies and materials you probably have around the house. Keep kids happy and independently engaged in something other than video games or television.

Cotton Swab Painting

Instead of painting with paintbrushes, use cotton swabs. Since cotton swabs are disposable, the painting activity can be cleaned up quickly. The swabs can make thick or thin lines depending on how much paint is loaded on the tip. They are ideal for mixing colors, as well as painting puffy clouds or long straight lines. Cover your table with newspaper and have children drop used cotton swabs onto the newspaper when they are finished with them. When the painting activity is over, the whole mess can be rolled up and thrown away easily.

Salt Dough Ornaments

Mix one cup of salt with one cup of flour. Slowly add 1/2 cup of warm water while mixing. Use your hands to mix the dough, slowly adding more water 1 tbsp. at a time if the mixture is too dry. Have children use cookie cutters or plastic knives to create flat shapes for the ornaments. Poke a hole in the ornament before it dries so that it can be threaded. Let the dough ornaments dry overnight. They can be painted and decorated the next day.

Bead and Button Art

Provide children with a spool of elastic thread, several large safety pins, and a large bucket of small colored beads and buttons. Have children thread the beads onto the elastic and safety pins to create jewelry for their friends and family.

Toothpick Sculpture

Give children a box of toothpicks and a large bag of miniature marshmallows. Allow children to explore the materials on their own and create sculptures and structures. For a more focused activity, draw a picture of a sculpture or structure and ask children to re-create it. If you have more than one child participating in this activity, make the re-creation of the structure a race. As an extension activity, give children certain parameters to build within. For example, ask the children to build a pyramid using only five marshmallows and eight toothpicks.