Posts Tagged ‘Shapes’
Ewww! Snakes and worms? Who would want to make snake and worm crafts? Kids! They love them . Here are some of our snake and worm crafts and activities for you and your kids to enjoy.
I can’t take full credit for this craft, instead I must admit it’s inspired by an episode of Team Umizoomi ( a show I just love). I like crafts like this because it allows my son to manipulate the shapes , as you will see though his favorite part was the cutting step, it went on forever! Even if your child isn’t into bulldozers find something they love and see if you can break it down into shapes.
- Gather your materials. You will need some construction paper in 4 colors ( brown, black, yellow and green), some kid scissors, adult scissors, markers or crayons and glue.
- Start by drawing a square, rectangle, and crescent on the yellow paper.
- Draw circles on the black.
- Invite your child to draw a construction site. The older they are the more time they will likely take, don’t fret if they make a scribble or two and declare that they are finished.
- Hand them the brown paper and tell them that’s the dirt and they will be making piles so they need to cut it into small pieces.
Mine cut.
And cut.
And cut. - While they cut , cut out the shapes.
- Time to glue – woo hoo!
- Add your shapes.
- Add glue for the cut paper dirt.
- Add the dirt too and let dry.
Construction Books !
Machines at Work
Road Builders
Construction Countdown
You can find more fun activities here :
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My son had these in his preschool class. I thought they were really neat and wanted to have one at home. Have you seen the prices of these? I know they are worth it, but if I can make one inexpensively…why not?
All you need are colored rubber bands, black paint (helps the rubber bands show up better), ruler, rounded tip nails, hammer, and a wood plaque. You can use any piece of wood, but the store bought plaques are already have smooth routed edges.
I bought the rubber bands, plaque, and nails at Walmart and spent only $5.50. Your prices may vary, but it should be close. Here are the exact nails I bought. I had a hard time finding adequate ones at the home improvement store.
I had my son paint the plaque black with a small roller. This provides a nice even coat with quick drying time.
While he was painting I marked the nails with a red marker. This way I could keep the height of the nails even. I just lined a bunch up and made one mark across then at once. It was very easy.
Once the paint dried I made a grid on the board of 1 inch squares. [When I make another one I will make 1.5 inch squares, to give a little more space.]
Then I hammered the nails until the red line was in the wood. This is what it looked like all done.
It looks a like a medieval torture device, but it isn’t sharp at all. It could still hurt someone if not properly supervised, though.
This is definitely for preschoolers and not toddlers. I would suggest supervising, at least the first few times it is played with.
My son had a great time with it. He was so excited and recognized this from his classroom. What a great way to practice fine motor skills and experiment with shapes.
We plan on making a few more for friends. They were such a hit.
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Kim is a contributing writer for No Time For Flash Cards, a mom to a toddler, a preschooler, and a foster parent, too. She juggles her day by trying out fun activities and crafts with the kids. After all, she is just a big kid herself. See what she has been up to over at Mom Tried It.15 Comments »
Sponge painting is a wonderful way for young children to explore paint, they don’t need to have superior fine motor skills to succeed at making a great finished piece of art, here’s the how to:
- Gather your materials. For this art activity you will need a regular kitchen sponge, some paint, a paper plate or the like to put your paint on, paper and scissors.
- Cut the sponge into some good hand size shapes for your child. We’ve been learning about shapes so I made some , but you can cut out fish shapes, letters..the sky and your cutting ability is the limit!
- Spread some paint on a plate or tray and dip your sponge in.
- I like to mix colors as we paint, it’s fun and keep the kids interested, as well as asking them what shape or picture they are making with the sponge.
” Brown Bear, Brown Bear” by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle is a favorite, kids love to read it over and over yelling out the next line before you get the page turned! It’s a great book to read when you are learning about colors.
” What if Zebras lost their stripes” by John Reitano is a poignant look at how zebras would treat each other if some were black and some were white. Great book for teaching multicultural themes or any day!
” Mouse Paint” by Ellen Stoll Walsh is a fun look at colors and what happens when they are mixed!
Believe it or not in almost 15 years of doing crafts with kids I had never done this! Thanks to Denise in Florida for the inspiration for this activity!
- Gather your materials. You will need some contact paper, various colors of tissue paper and scissors.
- Cut your tissue paper into all different sizes but keep the shape consistent.
- Make your sun catcher by folding a large piece of contact paper so that the front and back piece would be connected by a seam, so for a square I cut out a large rectangle then folded it in two.
You can make a triangle by cutting out a square and folding it in two. - Peak back the backing only as far as the seam. You can see in this picture the backing is still on 1/2 of the contact paper.
- Stick your shapes on, encourage your child to over lap them, and notice that they make a new color when that happens.
- Peel the remaining backing off and seal it onto the other side.
- Go catch the spring sun!
The Shape Song!
Do you know what shape this is?
What shape this is?
What shape this is?
Do you know what shape this is I’m holding in my hand?
Books!
“ The Greedy Triangle” by Marilyn Burns is a funny story about a triangle who keeps adding more and more sides until he is confused, but your preschooler will be learning all about shapes while fun. The author is a bit of a superstar in the teaching world, I am a huge fan of not only this book but her methods in general. If you are a teacher , especially elementary aged and aren’t familiar with her you should be.
” My Very First Book of Shapes” by Eric Carle is a great introduction into shapes, but won’t loose it’s appeal as your child ages. The book is split so the fun begins when you try to match the shapes! Carle’s distinctive collage illustrations are a delight !
” Flip a shape: Go! “ by Harriet Ziefert will keep busy toddlers interested in all the shapes that are made with a school bus , boat and more! The simplistic and bright illustrations coupled with the movements of the flip a shape, this book will be a hit with your toddler!
