Toddler High Chair Craft Activities

Edible Finger Painting

• Let your toddler make edible works of art with the stroke of his fingers. Cut white construction paper to fit your child's high chair table. Create homemade edible paint that won't harm your child. For simple cornstarch finger paints, combine two parts cornstarch with 1 part cold water in a bowl. Add about 4 parts boiling water to the mixture to create a hot, custard-like goo. Once fully cooled, separate the goo into several different bowls and add all-natural food coloring. Your tot can get messy creating her masterpieces and you won't have to worry if she gets some in her mouth. For a tastier finger painting session that can double as snack time, divide Greek yogurt into individual bowls and add food coloring to each, allowing your toddler to eat and paint away.

Playing with Craft Dough

• Your toddler can create 3D works of art in her high chair using child-safe craft dough. Make your own using food-safe ingredients, just in case your toddler decides to taste her work. For a simple dough, combine 2 parts baking soda with 1 part cornstarch and 1 1/2 parts water in a saucepan on a stove and bring to a boil. Pour the hot dough onto a large plate and refrigerate to cool before kneading it for a few minutes. You can separate the hot dough before putting it in the refrigerator and add a few drops of food coloring if you want colored dough. Encourage your tot to experiment with the dough, squishing it between her fingers, rolling it into balls and using cookie cutters to create shapes. You can re-use the play dough by storing it in an air-tight container, or you can allow your toddler's creations to air dry overnight.

Fun with Glue

• Messy glue and paper projects are ideal for when your toddler is in her high chair, saving your walls and other surfaces from sticky messes. Let your toddler tear colorful construction paper into tiny pieces of paper and non-toxic school glue onto a white sheet of paper. Encourage her to create simple shapes with the torn paper, such as a face, a tree and the sun. Another idea is to have your toddler scribble with glue on construction paper, then help her pour glitter all over the glue and shake off the excess onto the high chair table. You can also let your toddler experiment with textures, having her glue colored rice and sand onto poster board, or creating a picture out of torn and crumbled pieces of colored tissue paper. Be sure to supervise these activities closely and clean up the materials as soon as your child is done playing.

Fruit and Veggie Art

• Your toddler can create stamp art using pieces of cut fruit, such as an apple cut in half and dipped in a non-toxic paint. Show her how to press the fruit firmly onto the construction paper on her high chair table to create an imprint. You can also use cut potatoes, celery, okra and green peppers for stamping. For completely edible stamp art, you can use simple Greek yogurt with food coloring for the paint. For another edible activity, give your child pieces of fruit cut into pieces no larger than a 1/2 inch in size, to prevent choking. Have her create faces on a paper plate using the cut-up fruit, such as blueberries, cantaloupe, bananas, watermelon and strawberries. Take a picture to preserve her creations before she eats her fruit faces.