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It's raining again. The park is all muddy and wet. Your child has watched more videos then the "experts" would ever allow. What to do next with your pre-school aged child? How about a craft you can do together? Here is a great creativity cultivating craft for your next rainy day.
To create your hanger mobile you will need two wire hangers, a couple of yards of ribbon, yarn or string, colourful construction paper, stickers or cookie cutters that match your theme, scissors, glue, and glitter. Ask your child to choose what kind of theme they want their mobile to have. If you need help with ideas here are a few to consider. Space, jungle, bugs, hearts, flowers, or farm are all popular themes amongst kids ages 3-5.
Start by unwinding the hanger hooks. Next, intertwine the two hangers so that their bases make an "X". Then twist the hanger hooks together and bend down to make a loop. You will eventually hang your mobile from this loop. You may want to use pliers to manipulate the wire as it can be sharp. Pick out your ribbon and begin wrapping the hangers. Start at the loop you just made and be sure to wrap up any sharp edges. When you get to where the hangers cross at the bottom use the ribbon to secure the connection by wrapping it several times around the "X" then continue. Secure the ribbon in place with a small dollop of glue when you have wrapped the hangers completely. Once your mobile is ribbon wrapped you can begin to cut different lengths of yarn or string. Cut out whatever shapes you and your child have decided to hang from your mobile using construction paper and scissors. Some shapes that go well with the themes mentioned earlier are stars, spaceships, (if you have Styrofoam balls they make great planets), monkeys, elephants, snakes, giraffes, bees, ladybugs, butterflies, flowers, hearts, rainbows, clouds, cows, pigs, dogs, horses, chickens, and barns. If you have cookie cutters that match your theme use them as a template to trace out the shape and have your little one cut it out. If you don't fancy yourself an artist and don't have cookie cutters or stencils, then stickers will work. Pick out colourful paper and cut into circles, squares, and triangles. Let your child decorate with stickers and/or glitter. Spread a small amount of glue on the shape then sprinkle glitter on glue. You can create sparkly stars or glittery hearts. Be creative and have fun with it.
Use the end of the scissor blade to poke a small whole to thread the yarn or string through your cut out shapes. Tie a knot and attach to various points on your hanger mobile. You can either tie the string to the hanger or attach with glue. If you have opted to use Styrofoam balls you can use a pen to poke a hole all the way through the ball and then feed your string through or just tape your string if you don't want it too complicated. Encourage your child to participate as much as possible with ideas, cutting string and shapes, and especially with the glitter. Now that your mobile is complete you and your youngster can find the perfect place for it to hang.
Rainy days aren't all bad. Just look at it as a great opportunity to spend some quality fun time with your kids. Don't get too hung up on the mess or whether the craft looks perfect or not. Enjoy your child's creativity, encourage their fine motor skills with cutting and stringing, and ask them questions about the theme they've chosen. Great questions to get them thinking are why did you pick this theme? What do you like most about it? What letter do these shapes start with? Can you count how many shapes we've cut out? Every day is filled with opportunities to learn and have fun with your kids.
