Q. “I’m a college student, and I just started working at the child-care area of a fitness center for the summer. We need some craft ideas for preschoolers besides coloring.”

—A student in Davidson, N.C.

A. Forget crafts. For kids coming in at different times, set up water, sand and Play-doh stations they can cycle through at their own pace.

A pretend beach could simply be a low rectangular bin on the floor with a few inches of sand, small buckets, sifters and shovels. Place a disposable tablecloth underneath to give the kids a place to squat and to contain the sand. Rice serves the same purpose as an alternative to sand.

In minutes, the little kids will have forgotten that mom or dad left them in child care.

Water has a similar soothing quality. Get a couple of big buckets, add seashells or plastic cars and provide small plastic squirt bottles — one per child playing at the station. Expect pretend car washes, or fascination with shells that change colors and fill with water. While mom’s getting a workout, her child can exercise fine-motor skills by operating the squirt bottle.

Children also calm down and build their hand strength by squishing play dough and poking things into it, such as pieces of straws. Cookie cutters are too difficult for many preschoolers to manage. A plastic placemat or tray will define each child’s work space. Allocate a small amount of the same color for each child to avoid creating a brown blob of clay.

Focus on open-ended centers throughout the room for a peaceful child-care setting. For a low-cost, take-home project, use paper plates and popsicle sticks as the basis for masks. The only teacher prep will be to glue or tape the sticks to the plates, and set out crayons and markers within reach of each artist. Or offer glue sticks and paper scraps to make collages on construction paper.

Two volunteers at a Vacation Bible School who describe themselves as “not creative” face a similar dilemma: How to develop crafts related to biblical parables for children in fourth and fifth grade and keep groups busy. The kids also would be cycling through the art stations at different times.

As kids get into grade school, they become more task-oriented and buzz through craft projects. Areas that are for a process — sifting sand, rolling dough — instead of a product reduce annoying “What do I do next?” whining.

To address the typical volunteer’s woes of “too much teacher preparation,” “low budgets for supplies” and “not enough to do to fill the time,” the answer is not more, more, more. The approach of open-ended sensory experiences such as an indoor gardening station, combined with a few take-home projects related to themes, works in a Bible school setting as well, experienced teachers find.

Like daycare workers and church volunteers, a mother in Buffalo, N.Y., wants inexpensive, simple ideas for her son’s third birthday party. Sure to be hits: Pipe cleaner and pasta necklaces; squirt bottles of water to “paint” the driveway; and homemade play dough scented and tinted with raspberry lemonade powder in individual take-home portions the kids can play with at the party. Keep the guest list and party short, the cake icing minimal, and go with the flow of fun.Can you help?

Q. “My 18-month-old boy and 3-year-old girl generally get along well, but playtime is becoming difficult as my son is becoming more interested in what my daughter is doing. For example, she’ll set up an elaborate picnic of play food only to have him destroy it like Godzilla. Playing board games when he’s around is impossible. Until now, I’ve been telling her to be patient, saying, ‘Babies can’t be naughty.’ But he’s in toddler-hood now. At what age can I start reprimanding him for messing with her things, and how should I do it?”

— A mother in Raleigh, N.C.

If you have tips or questions, please e-mail us at p2ptips@att.net or call Parent to Parent at (704) 236-9510.