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today is a guest post from Deirdre at JDaniel4’s Mom. Monday is Columbus Day, so she’s showing you a fun craft that you can do with your kiddos or your class next week. after you’re done reading, pop over and check out some of the other great activities that JDaniel4’s Mom has to offer 🙂
I am thrilled to be sharing this craft on Crayon Freckles today. What a wonderful opportunity to share with you , while Andie takes a small break.
I don’t know about your children, but my son has had trouble learning how to use scissors. He has been most comfortable holding them with two hands instead of just one. This Columbus Day boats craft was designed to give him the opportunity to practice cutting on a variety of materials that are various thicknesses
I put out a wide variety of types of paper and cardboard for my son to cut. There were magazine pages with scenes that would look like water, part of a tissue box, construction paper and felt to explore. The beauty of cutting waves out of these materials is that it doesn’t matter how rough or ragged the paper looks once it is cut. Waves are not perfect in the way they look in nature and they can look ragged in a craft too.
Holding the paper with one hand really seemed to help my son cut a little better and forced him to cut with one hand.
When all the waves were cut out, we moved on to assembling the boats Columbus took on his voyage to the New World. I cut out the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria prior to starting the craft. I also cut small raisin boxes into sections. We used the top and bottom thirds of one box and the top third of another. Three coffee stirring straws were also gathered to act as the ships’ masts.
My son held the raisin box sections in place as they dried. We later threaded the coffee straws through slits in the masts. Then we put glue on the masts and held them on until they dried.
I love that we were able to work on cutting skills and holding paper. It was almost like exploring a new world of just like Columbus except we didn’t get to visit the Bahamas like he did.
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Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as a elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 4 year old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog’s FB page.
Thank you so much for having me guest post today!
What a BEAUTIFUL picture. I LOVE IT! and reminds me that we "need" to get our little boats out again!
I love this craft. I'm going to make this with our children.
What a cute craft!!!!
That's a cute easy craft for the kids!
It really is super easy to make.
We liked the way it turned out.
Have fun! The best part was that it really didn't matter how neatly you could cut.
What fun you will have!
This is adorable!
Look at those little hands! SO sweet! Great craft idea. :0)
Thank you so much!
I do too, but they are growing bigger everyday.
Such a great craft for scissors practice. I love the way the waves turned out. 🙂
What a great idea! So much fun, x