Free Everyday Play by Christy Isbell

the laces from several pairs of shoes (adult-only step).
    • Challenge your child to pair up the shoes with the correct laces.
    • Show him how to lace the shoes, using verbal directions, such as:
    • Start at the two holes near the toe of the shoe.
    • Pull the shoelace through each hole until the two sides of the lace are equal.
    • String the lace through each hole.
    • Help him hold a shoe in his lap or put the shoe on his foot.
    • Watch him lace and tie the shoes and help him as needed
    • After he finishes lacing his shoes, encourage him to put on a fashion show and walk around in the shoes he laced.
More Fun!
    • There are various ways to lace shoes. Encourage your child to make his own lacing patterns.

Clay Sculptures: Self-Portrait
    Improves your child’s hand skills and gives her a chance to experiment with a variety of tools in play
What You Need
    modeling clay | wax paper | variety of tools, including rolling pins, stylus (piece of wood shaped like a pencil for carving clay), craft sticks, toothpicks, child-safe scissors, plastic knives, and small mallets | mirror(s) (hand-held or standing) | air-tight storage containers
What to Do
    • Talk with your child about how artists make sculptures. Go to your local library and ask the librarian to help you find books about sculptors, both classic and modern, for example: Michaelangelo, Rodin, Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, and Ruth Asawa. Share these books with your child.
    • Place a piece of modeling clay on wax paper, and show her the various tools she can use to create her sculpture.
    • Encourage her to make a self-portrait.
    • Suggest that she look at herself in the mirror before and during the process.
    • This project may continue over several days. Store the clay in air-tight containers overnight, or cover the sculptures with moist towels so that the clay does not harden. Resealable plastic bags or plastic wrap also work.

Magic Rocket
    Develops your child’s confidence in using his
hands to construct objects
What You Need
    paper towel rolls | wrapping paper rolls | paper plates | child-safe scissors | tape (masking, duct, or electrical) | construction paper | various materials for decorating (markers, crayons, star stickers, or paint)
What to Do
    • Set out the materials on a work surface.
    • Show your child a picture or read a book about a rocket or spaceship. Two good choices are Roaring Rockets (Amazing Machines) by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker and On the Launch Pad: A Counting Book about Rockets by Michael Dahl.
    • Encourage your child to build his own “Magic Rocket” by taping materials together. Paper plates can be cut in half to make wings or a propeller. Use the construction paper to make a cone-shaped tip of the rocket ship.
    • Help by holding materials or cutting tape, as needed.
    • Once he finishes constructing his “Magic Rocket,” he can decorate it with markers, crayons, or paint.
More Fun!
    • Create a telescope. Tape two or three paper towel rolls end to end to form a long telescope.
    • Create binoculars. Cut a paper towel roll in half. Tape the two parts side to side to form binoculars.

Nature Prints
    Develops your child’s ability to grasp tools effectively
What You Need
    collection of objects from outdoors (flat objects with texture work best) such as leaves, bark, grass, flowers, rocks, or shells | thin, white paper such as typing, tracing, or onionskin paper | small crayons and pieces of crayons
What to Do
    • Talk to your child about print making.
    • Show her the method of print making by placing a flat object under a piece of paper, and use a piece of crayon to rub across the paper.
    • Discuss the collection of nature items.
    • Encourage her to explore the objects and make her own prints.
More Fun!
    • Talk to your child about some of the reasons why certain objects do not make a print. Encourage your child to collect items from around the room to discover if they will make a print.

Off to Work