Construction Paper Guitar

Using a large piece of cardboard or construction paper, draw the shape of the guitar’s body. If the child is able to draw it by himself, allow him to do so. Otherwise, let the child trace your drawing, using a thick marker.

Ask the child to cut out the shape, following the lines. Depending on the child’s skill level, make the line thicker, and provide support as needed. Once the child cuts out the guitar’s shape out, ask him to draw or trace a circle in the middle of the guitar’s body. You can use a round object to help with drawing an accurate shape.

Instruct the child to cut out the circle, providing support as needed.

Using a single hole puncher, carefully have the child punch three holes on either side of the circle he just cut. Using 3 rubber bands, ask the child to cut through them so they are now one long string.

Instruct the child to thread each rubber band across 2 parallel holes, and tie on each end. Provide support as needed for tying the rubbers in place.

Using another piece of cardboard or construction paper, ask the child to draw or trace a rectangle. Instruct the child to cut it out, and use the glue and tape to attach it to the top part of the guitar’s body. To make the guitar look more life like, ask the child to draw lines continuing from the bands up the stem of the guitar.

Lacing Pictures

Use the hole puncher and the index cards to punch holes in different directions or create different shapes.

Give the child a lace and show him/her the proper sequence to lace these holes.

Have the child lace the picture without skipping any hole.

Paper Plate Web

In this activity, pipe cleaners are optional.

Help the child to cut out a large circle from the center of the paper plate, leaving about 1-inch from the edge, and creating an outer ring.
Ask the child to punch holes all around the outer ring.

Give the child a long piece of yarn and instruct him to string the yarn through the holes he punched. Have the child string the yarn from one hole to the next going back and forth to form a web.

On the construction paper (preferably black or gray), draw a medium size oval for the spider’s body and a smaller size circle for the spider’s head. Let the child cut out the shapes you drew to make a spider. You can also ask the child to draw a spider and cut it out.

If you are using pipe cleaners, have the child punch 3 holes on each side of the oval (the spider’s body) and place a small piece of pipe cleaner in each hole (to form the spider’s legs).

Have the child glue the spider on the web or attach the spider to the web by banding the pipe cleaners onto the yarn.

Fun Jar

Use a large, empty, and clean jar for this activity.

Provide the child with pipe cleaners and/or straws and instruct him to insert the items through the holes on the jar’s lid.

You can ask the child to sort the items by color or size before placing them in the jar.

If using a jar that has holes and a small opening on the lid, you can use additional items to place through the opening, such as pom-poms, buttons, large beads, coins, etc.

The child can use tongs or tweezers to catch the items before dropping them through the large opening.

If you cannot find a spice jar, you can use a regular container and poke holes in the lid, using a hole-puncher or cut holes with scissors.

Hats for All

Draw a line from the outside edge of the paper plate into the center.

On the construction paper, draw different shapes (note: some ideas for shapes your child can cut are red, blue, and white stripes, stars, or circles for 4th of July, hearts for Valentine’s day, or flowers for springtime).

Provide the child with a pair of scissors and ask him to first cut along the line you drew on the plate and then cut the different shapes you traced on the paper.

Overlap the edges of the paper plate to create a hat shape and staple them together.

Have the child glue the different cut out shapes on the hat.

Finally, help your child poke two holes on each side of the plate and put the lace through each hole.