On Friday, Stanley came home with a print out of 2D and 3D shapes.
As is his thing at the moment, they were soon cut up. So on Saturday morning I thought I'd come up with the perfect bit of mother and son craft activity: cut out lots of shapes and make some bunting, Hurrah!
I've got loads of this foam stuff that we bought from our local craft shop in tons of colours. It's very easy to cut, so was just right for the job (felt would have been nice, but not so easy to draw on, plus I didn't have any!)
Out came the shapes puzzle.
I've got a soft spot for this toy as I used to play with it at my Grandma's on our regular Tuesday visits after school . This isn't the actual one, but very similar (found on Ebay)
The shapes are a good size to draw around, so we used them for the templates. The general idea was that I would draw the shapes - Stanley would cut.
There were well over a hundred shapes in the end. Even his dad came in to lend a hand.
Stanley actually drew around one shape in total and cut out two! As is usually his way, he busied himself on his own project. I no longer get frustrated about this, as it's nice that he's just engaged with something creative, sitting with me, sticking, colouring and cutting and not dashing off to watch Doctor Who or whatever.
Rectangles were his favourite, so he had a little collection of these going on while I kept on chopping.
Once this was done I went off upstairs to sort out the sewing machine. I put all the shapes into colour coded piles and then shouted him away from the TV.
Stanley passed me the shapes (more like threw, but never mind) as I sewed - team work at last.
So whilst the kitchen is empty and we still decide on the floor, I quickly hung up our morning's work and said 'well done mummy!' (He'd gone back to the TV by then).
We had a few left over so we've got a little one to take to school - with a nonagon and a decagon thrown in for good measure.
Two shape related things I've bought recently -
'I am a Shape' card set from Francesca of
Mrs. Eliot Books
(Mister Maker was a big hit in our house for a while, so I know that
song very well and couldn't resist) and this little
postcard from the triangle queen, Kerry of
The Seventy Tree (sale on in her shop right now!) Happy to know there are others out there, lost in shape land.
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| Mrs. Eliot Books |
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| The Seventy Tree |
I just hope Stanley doesn't go and cut them all up.....
love it! what a gorgeous garland, i love that foam stuff, so satisfying to cut. your stanley sounds a lot like my isi - been a bit of a slog trying to get him to do anything creative with me. he's finally got into drawing, but would prefer to be in front of the telly. it's an everyday battle. thanks for the mention! postcards should get there today/tomorrow. x
ReplyDeleteThe garland looks fantastic - well worth all the snipping! I have to say that my girls are just as bad at sticking with a project like this. They never want to do it MY way, always have their own ideas. It's terribly frustrating!
ReplyDeleteThanks you two, and I just thought it was a boy thing! Stanley's little friend Edith is soooo into craft stuff, she even set her own shop up at the top of their stairs!
Deletepretty! i think i'll do this as a collaborative activity with my preschool class :)
DeleteYey - go for it, I hope they are all a bit more enthusiastic than my little boy was about it all - he like the final result though!
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