Preschool-aged children love lacing cards. Lacing cards allow children to practice “sewing” by threading a string in and out of holes in a piece of cardboard. This is a great activity to help develop your child’s fine motor skills.
Lacing cards can be found most anywhere preschool supplies are sold. The pictures on the cards can be anything from farm animals to construction equipment. They are enjoyed by both boys and girls.
If you want to be really creative, you can make your own lacing cards. All you need is a picture, a laminating machine ($20 at Walmart), scissors, a hole punch, and some yarn or a shoestring.
First select a picture. You can find many children’s pictures online. Just search for pictures or drawings of things that your child likes. If your child likes dinosaurs, then you could make a set of dinosaur lacing cards.
After you find a picture, print it out and use the laminator to laminate it. Next use the scissors to cut around the outline of the picture, leaving about an inch of space around the picture.
Using the hole punch, punch holes about an inch apart in the white space around the picture.
Tie a knot in one end of the yarn or shoestring. You may need to wrap the other end with scotch tape so that it will thread easily through the card.
That’s it! Your lacing card is ready for your preschooler to use. These are really easy and fun to make, and your child will really enjoy using them.
Keep in mind it may take your child awhile to get the hang of “sewing”. At around three years of age, your child may only be able to push the yarn through the holes but not understand the concept of threading it in and out of the holes. Just let them play with the cards and keep showing them how to do it. Eventually they will catch on and they will enjoy spending hours lacing different pictures and patterns.
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of five. For resources for the Christian family, including parenting, toddler and preschool activities, homeschooling, family traditions, and more, visit http://www.Christian-Parent.com
Children love turtles. This turtle paper plate craft is a fun, easy preschool craft project. To make this craft, you will need:
Your child will need two paper plates to make one turtle. Have your child use the green paint to paint the bottom side of both paper plates. Allow to dry.
Next cut out the arms, legs, etc. Using the scissors and brown construction paper, cut out four small rectangles for legs, a small triangle for the tail, and a circle for the head. You can outline them first with a pen if you wish, but it isn’t necessary. I just cut mine out freehand.
Glue the edges of the arms, legs, tail, and head to the top edge of one of the paper plates.
If you wish you can put some dried beans onto the plate so that when you glue the plates together the turtle will rattle when your child shakes it. This step is optional.
Next glue the second plate to the first plate. The tops of the plates should be glued together so that the painted sides are facing out. The arms, legs, etc., should be sticking out between the two plates.
Help your child glue the google eyes on to the head. Let your child use the felt tip pen to draw on a nose and mouth and to decorate the “shell” of the turtle, if they wish.
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of five. For resources for the Christian family, including parenting, toddler and preschool activities, homeschooling, family traditions, and more, visit http://www.Christian-Parent.com
