Activities for Preschoolers - Teaching Your Child Through Play - Construction Paper Activities for Preschoolers

 This activity can help your child to understand the concept of time.

What You Need:

• colored construction paper
• safety scissors
• white craft glue

What To Do:

• Choose a special event that is coming up in the near future.  Count how many days are left until that event.  It can be a birthday, a holiday, a vacation, or any special event.
• Cut 8-inch by 1 1/2-inch strips of colored construction paper.  Have your child pick his/her favorite colors.  Make enough to have one strip for each day until the event.
• Glue the strips into circles as you would to make a paper chain.
• Make a chain from the links, using one to represent each day.  Keep it as a strip, not attaching links to form a circle.
• Hang them by a string, yarn, or put them on a hook where your child can safely reach them.
• One link can be removed each day.  This will give your child an idea of time that they can understand.
• If you have more than one child you can make one for them together, or one for each child separately.

Share this idea with other parents you know.  They may want to make one with their child for an upcoming event.

This activity will help your child with problem solving and number recognition.

What You Need:

• red construction paper
• safety scissors
• marker

What To Do:

• Cut out ten 2-inch to 3-inch heart shapes.
• Then cut each one in half in a jagged shape, each one in a different way, like a puzzle piece.
• Write a different number, from 1 to 10, on one half of each heart shape.
• Mix up the pieces.

How To Play:

Your child can find and match the pieces that go together, then name the number on each half.

(you do not have to number the heart pieces in order, ex. one half can be labeled 3, other half labeled 10)

What You Need:

• construction paper of various colors
• safety scissor
• washable markers

What To Do:

• Cut strips of paper into strips 11-inches long by 1 1/2-inches wide.
• About 3-inches from each end of a strip, carefully cut a slit half way through the paper, at the top on one end and the bottom of the other end. (see pictures)
• Have your child color designs, and maybe eyes for their fish, on the strips with markers.
• Roll the paper so that you can slide the slits into each other.
• Gently pinch a crease in the middle of the strip.
• Have your child hold their fish up high, then let go. The fish will twirl down to the floor!

 Anyone with young children would benefit from having a container of scraps of many different things.  Include things such as scraps of wrapping paper, pieces of cardboard (especially corrugated cardboard), ribbon, old buttons, yarn, plastic lids, wire, paper clips, cardboard tubes, etc.

What You Need:

• container of scraps
• white craft glue
• safety scissors
• various kinds of tape
• large sheets of paper
• anything else that you have around that could be used safely for a creative project

What To Do:

Put out the materials and give your child lots of time to create something from the scraps.  Encourage him/her to be creative, but do not tell them what to make.  You will be surprised at the original and creative results!!

*This activity is recommended for children age 3 and older due to small pieces suggested for the scraps in this activity which could  be a choking hazard for children under 3.  Adult supervision is required.)