Lollyellen
03-05-2009, 01:45 PM
Every kiddo I've ever done this for, enjoys this very much...Use leftover crepe paper streamers and deck out your child's bedroom or playroom doorway - sort of akin to those hippie doorway beads I always wanted when I was seven and never got. :lol:
This can be adaptable to practically *any* theme you happen to be exploring with your toddler (or older kids - they love it too)...
We'll use an "ocean" theme for example.
Cut blue crepe paper streamers long enough to dangle about a foot or two from the floor when taped to the top of a doorway.
Instruct your little one to use *gentle hands only* with the streamers, because if they start to get crazy, the streamers will fall down. Forget about doing this with a big group of toddlers :lol: but I have found a very small choice group - or better yet, one at a time - will try to keep their hands from going nuts and yanking them all down. This is a good exercise in listening/following directions and cause/effect ("oh man, if I pull on them, they'll fall down and I won't be able to play with them anymore...shoot."). Also, you can model how to crawl under or through the streamers or stand up and walk through them, letting them ripple in your face.
So...after your streamers are up in the doorway, get creative and "embellish" them with things that represent whatever topic fascinates your kid/s.
Using the ocean example, you can have your child watercolor on paper, and then you sketch out (totally rudimentary or totally detailed - it doesn't matter) with nice big black Sharpie marker (oh, man, I'm just totally obsessed with Sharpies! I love those things!) the shape of ocean animals - fish, starfish, sharks, Nemo characters, whatever. Cut out wavy green construction paper seaweed to add to your 3-D montage - just be creative and enjoy sitting at the table creating with your kiddo - how important! Cut out your embellishments and staple or tape them to your streamer backdrop.
This project can be done with practically any theme - a jungle or zoo theme (green streamers with jungle or zoo animals cut out of magazines), a space theme (cardboard stars cut out and covered in foil and/or beautifully painted planets - circles you've cut out of white paper and watercolored with your toddler) against a black streamer backdrop! ...The possibilities are endless!
This can be adaptable to practically *any* theme you happen to be exploring with your toddler (or older kids - they love it too)...
We'll use an "ocean" theme for example.
Cut blue crepe paper streamers long enough to dangle about a foot or two from the floor when taped to the top of a doorway.
Instruct your little one to use *gentle hands only* with the streamers, because if they start to get crazy, the streamers will fall down. Forget about doing this with a big group of toddlers :lol: but I have found a very small choice group - or better yet, one at a time - will try to keep their hands from going nuts and yanking them all down. This is a good exercise in listening/following directions and cause/effect ("oh man, if I pull on them, they'll fall down and I won't be able to play with them anymore...shoot."). Also, you can model how to crawl under or through the streamers or stand up and walk through them, letting them ripple in your face.
So...after your streamers are up in the doorway, get creative and "embellish" them with things that represent whatever topic fascinates your kid/s.
Using the ocean example, you can have your child watercolor on paper, and then you sketch out (totally rudimentary or totally detailed - it doesn't matter) with nice big black Sharpie marker (oh, man, I'm just totally obsessed with Sharpies! I love those things!) the shape of ocean animals - fish, starfish, sharks, Nemo characters, whatever. Cut out wavy green construction paper seaweed to add to your 3-D montage - just be creative and enjoy sitting at the table creating with your kiddo - how important! Cut out your embellishments and staple or tape them to your streamer backdrop.
This project can be done with practically any theme - a jungle or zoo theme (green streamers with jungle or zoo animals cut out of magazines), a space theme (cardboard stars cut out and covered in foil and/or beautifully painted planets - circles you've cut out of white paper and watercolored with your toddler) against a black streamer backdrop! ...The possibilities are endless!