Superhero Cuff Craft

Dressing up is a must at our house. My son is never just chilling in his own clothes there is almost always a costume, some accessories or at the very least a hat to support his pretend play that starts when he wakes up and ends when we wrestle him into his PJs for bed. This craft was done spur of the moment when my scarf wrapped around his shoulders was simply not enough costume to be a superhero. It was so easy and if you don’t have foam on hand, felt, paper or even stickers would be great options. The foam has held up really well, we made this almost a month ago, and it’s still going strong.

1. Gather your materials. You will need a toilet paper roll ( or wrapping paper/paper towel tube ), some paint, sparkly sticky back foam ( great option for those afraid of letting your kids loose with glitter shakers), scissors and a paint brush.
2. Start by cutting some buttons out of the foam. I asked my son what shapes he wanted but did the cutting myself.
3. Next cut the roll open. Round the edges with scissors.
4. Add the foam. When making props to play with skipping things that need to be glued on is usually a safe way to go. Also, anything they have to peel the backing off is a great fine motor skill activity, so it’s fast and worthwhile!
5. Add paint – this is optional. We chose to paint after the foam because sticking the foam on wet paint is futile and painting around the shapes is another good fine motor skill activity as well as hand eye coordination which is your child is a beginning writer like mine they will benefit from as much pressure free  practice as possible.
6. Let dry … a little tip I sometimes use when I need things to dry faster for pictures … or eager kids who want to play superhero before bedtime( can you tell he was crying in the picture above? The tears were instantaneous when I told him he’d have to wait for the paint to dry.) Take some paper towel and blot the paint. If you are careful, only the excess comes off.
7. Play!

Superhero Picture Books

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Super Duck (Duck in the Truck) by Jez Albourough was ok, I liked it but my little man didn’t.  Here’s the thing the book is part of a series, and we haven’t read the other books, we grabbed this one because of the super hero theme and Super Duck was only kinda super. I like the rhyming text it flowed well, the rhymes were never forced, but it was just too young for my son who is 4.5  to enjoy it. He didn’t find Duck funny, but I am sure other kids would. It’s a fun silly book, just don’t grab it for a kid who is expecting body armor, x-ray vision, and golden lassos.

Supersister by Beth Cedena wasn’t full of x-ray vision or super powers either but my son adored it. Kids are unpredictable. This story though is sweet and also has a little but of mystery to it , which upon reflection could be one reason why my son liked it so much. Supersister is a little girl who is brave and helpful, and we witness that when she lovingly ties her mom’s shoes for her before zooming off to school. Okay so I preach about pre-reading books, but rarely do it and reading this I was so worried the mom was going to be in a wheelchair or hospital bed and that’s why she needs her daughter to tie her shoes.  I lean towards the dramatic, so I doubt you’d even be thinking that and my son didn’t either. Nothing tragic has happened to mom, she is just very very pregnant. Supersister is practicing her role as a caregiver and older sister! My son loved that since he takes his still fairly new role of big brother very seriously. Cute book for new siblings especially!

Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero by Alex Cottringer was exactly the kind of superhero book both my son and I were looking for. Eliot is just a calm quiet boy by day but by night he saves the world!  It tapped into my son’s imagination right from the start and he was hooked. He loved the action, and I loved that unlike the more character driven superhero books the plot is high on action and saving and low on violence and aggression. My son loved that scientists were working with Eliot, and that he had to travel to the Himalayas as part of this mission to save the world. I loved it to because it totally promotes and makes science and geography extra cool!  All in all a great book although the text would have been too long for my son a year ago at 3. I’d keep this one for the 4 and up crowd.