I love how the simplest things can bring a smile to a child's face. My four-year-old, Austin, asks to do crafts every day. It is hard to come up with fun and cheap things to do that won't cause a big mess. I also like to do something that we won't just throw away right after he is finished with it. Craft time at our house is a great teaching opportunity, if you do it right. For example, with this project we did, I drew the shapes that needed to be cut out and had my little guy cut the pieces out himself. This helped him to practice his scissor skills. Instead of using a boring glue stick, I put Elmers glue on a plate and gave him Q-tips to use to spread the glue onto the pieces.
You may remember making something similar when you were little. I can't take credit for the paper bag puppet idea. I think they were invented fifty years ago or something like that.
I think the best part of this project is the freedom. Just put a pile of supplies in front of your artist and let their imagination run wild.
This was the second puppet we made. You can see the marker was running low. The nose is made from a pom pom. The rest of the parts are cut with circle punches from construction paper. This preschool craft was free to make and it was really fun.
Even my 17 month old had lots of fun with the puppets once they were done. He thinks all animals make growling sounds so he was walking around with a fierce paper frog.
What are your favorite things to do with your kids for craft time? I'm always looking for ideas so leave me a comment.
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