CFC 26: Craft activities for young children

CFC 26 looks at craft activities for young children, the benefits they bring, and how to provide them safely. The links on this page take you through each learning outcome: suitable craft activities for different ages, describing an activity for each age range, identifying benefits, considering health and safety risks, and recognising the learning children gain. This introduction helps you connect those pieces into one clear approach: creative activities should be enjoyable, inclusive and safe.

Craft activities support children’s creativity and development, but they also build practical skills. Cutting, sticking, painting, printing, threading and modelling all help children develop fine motor control, hand-eye coordination and concentration. Craft also supports language: children talk about colours, shapes, feelings and ideas. For many children, making something is a powerful confidence boost—“I made this” is a big moment.

This unit asks you to list craft activities for babies over 6 months, children aged 1 to 2 years, and children aged 3 to 5 years 11 months. The main point is choosing activities that are safe and developmentally appropriate. For babies and younger toddlers, craft is often sensory and exploratory, such as safe finger painting (edible or non-toxic), large mark-making with chunky crayons, or simple printing with sponges. For 3 to 5 years, children may manage more structured activities such as collages with a range of materials, simple threading with large beads, cutting with child-safe scissors under supervision, or making cards and models.

You will also describe one craft activity for each age range and identify the benefits for the child. Strong descriptions include what the child does, what the adult provides, and how the activity is adapted for the age group. Benefits might include building fine motor skills, encouraging creativity, supporting independence, practising turn-taking, and helping children express feelings. Craft can also be calming and can help children who find spoken communication difficult to share ideas in a different way.

Health and safety is a major part of this unit. Craft materials can carry risks if chosen or used poorly. Risks might include choking hazards (small items like beads or buttons), allergy risks, sharp tools, toxic materials, slips from spillages, or children putting materials in their mouths. Safe practice includes choosing non-toxic resources, checking age suitability, supervising closely, setting clear rules, and keeping small parts away from younger children.

You will list aspects of health and safety risks and identify how to deal with them. In practice, this might include preparing the space, using protective coverings, keeping water and cleaning materials safely managed, and storing resources securely. You also consider hygiene: handwashing after messy play, cleaning surfaces, and making sure shared tools are safe and clean. If a child has an allergy, you follow the setting’s procedures and avoid materials that could trigger a reaction.

The unit also asks you to identify support a young child may need during craft activities in relation to health and safety. Children may need reminders about not putting items in their mouths, help using scissors safely, support with turn-taking, and reassurance if they get frustrated. Some children need adaptations, such as thicker crayons, larger tools, or a simpler range of choices. The adult’s support should help the child succeed without taking over. If you do everything for them, they lose the learning and the pride.

Here’s a practice example for toddlers: in a nursery, children make a “sticky collage” using large pieces of tissue paper and glue sticks. The adult models using the glue stick, offers just one or two colours at a time, and supervises to prevent paper going into mouths. Children practise grasp, hand control and choice-making. For older children: a pre-school group makes simple “nature crowns” using card strips and safe glue to attach leaves collected outside. Children practise planning, sequencing, and talking about what they’ve chosen.

CFC 26 also asks you to identify the expected learning from each craft activity described. Learning can include recognising colours and shapes, developing vocabulary, improving fine motor skills, learning to follow simple steps, and building concentration. Craft can also support social learning, such as sharing materials and complimenting others’ work. It can support emotional learning too: children express pride, frustration, persistence and joy through making.

As you work through the links on this page, keep your answers grounded in realistic early years practice and always prioritise safety. By the end of CFC 26, you should be able to list suitable craft activities across age ranges, describe and explain benefits, identify key risks and how to manage them, explain the support children may need, and outline the learning children can gain through creative craft activities.

1. Know the benefits of craft activities for young children

2. Understand health and safety when providing craft activities for young children

3. Know the learning which young children can gain from craft activities

  • 3.1. Identify what would be the expected learning for the child in each craft activity described

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