Clothespins - Page 2 of 8

The Foil Pan Water Bridge

Steps:

Place your pan on a flat table and fill it halfway with cool water.
Hand your child several colorful clothespins to hold.
Show them how to squeeze and clip the pins onto the rim of the pan.
Space the pins out in pairs across from each other.
Ask your child to rest a craft stick across each pair of pins to create a bridge.
Once the bridges are ready, give them a few fuzzy pom-poms.
Challenge your child to use their pincer fingers to set a pom-pom on a bridge.
They must be very careful to keep the bridges from falling into the water!
See how many pom-poms they can balance before the pan is full of bridges.

Safety Tip:
Always supervise your child during water play to prevent any risk of slipping or spilling. Small pom-poms can be a choking hazard, so keep them away from younger siblings.

The Ribbon Tail Rescue

Steps:

Use your scissors to cut several pieces of ribbon into short lengths.
Clip a colorful clothespin to one end of every ribbon piece.
Securely clip the other end of the ribbons to your child’s waistband.
Make sure the ribbons hang down like long animal tails.
Ask your child to reach around their back with one hand.
They must use a strong pinch to open the clothespin and rescue the ribbon tail while keeping their body standing as still as possible.
Challenge them to see how many tails they can catch!

Safety Tip:
Always supervise your child during play to ensure they do not put small materials like clothespins or ribbons in their mouth.

The Ribbon Ladder Rescue

Steps:

Use masking tape to secure two long ribbons vertically onto a wall.
Space the ribbons about five inches apart so the sticks fit between them.
Ensure the ribbons are pulled tight from the top to the bottom.
Give your child a handful of clothespins and several colorful craft sticks.
Ask them to hold a craft stick horizontally against the two ribbons.
Show them how to clip the stick to the ribbons using the clothespins.
Repeat this to build several rungs all the way up the wall.
Once the ladder is finished, they can use their fingers to climb it!

Safety Tip:
Always supervise your child to ensure they do not pull the ribbon off the wall or put materials in their mouth.

The Bubble Wrap Pincer Pop

Steps:

Place a small sheet of bubble wrap on the table.
Use markers to color five bubbles red and five bubbles blue.
Give your child a clothespin and ask them to pinch it open.
Challenge them to use the clothespin to squeeze and pop only the red bubbles.
Switch hands and try to pop all the blue bubbles with the other hand.
Listen for the pop sound every time they squeeze a bubble!

Safety Tip:
Always supervise your child to ensure they do not put small pieces of plastic wrap in their mouth.

The Clothespin Cliff Climber

Steps:

Place the shoe box on its side on a flat table.
Use masking tape to stick five index cards vertically along the side of the box.
Make sure the cards are spaced out like steps on a ladder.
Use markers to draw a small start flag on the bottom card and a finish flag on the top card.
Have your child use a clothespin to clip onto the bottom index card.
Challenge them to unclip and move the clothespin up to the next card without the box sliding.
Continue until the climber reaches the top flag!

Safety Tip:
Always supervise your child during this activity to ensure they use the clothespins safely on the cards.