What better way to make learning fun than with crafts? Studies show that hands-on activities help children retain the information they have learned. It makes sense to put learning and crafting together. Here are some educational crafts for you to try.
Fun With Fractions
You can introduce new fractions or review what they have already learned with this fun activity.
Materials:
- Minimum of 3 white paper plates
- Scissors
- Markers and/or crayons
- A variety of “friends”, such as dolls, action figures, stuffed animals, etc.
Have the children decorate the paper plates with the crayons or markers. Let them decide if they want it to look like a pizza or a cookie. Then cut one plate in half, one in thirds, one in fourths, etc. Let the child decide which cookie/pizza would best work for the number of toy guests. Next, you can make up a story about the guests and have them either increase or decrease in number in order to create different fractions.
Bridge Building
Bridge engineering and construction is an exact science. Introduce this concept to your child with this bridge-building craft.
Materials:
- Toothpicks
- Mini marshmallows
Have the children look at age-appropriate books on bridges and their construction. This will assist you in getting an idea for your bridge design. Next, let the children construct their bridge using the toothpicks and marshmallows. Be ready to help if needed.
The toothpicks are to be stuck into the marshmallows to create the bridge. The marshmallows work to join the toothpicks. Several toothpicks can be stuck into the same marshmallow. Help the children solve design problems and use the opportunity to explain why certain designs won’t work.
For fun bridge facts and information for kids on the different types of bridges, see Easy Science For Kids’ post, Facts About Bridges for Kids.
Brown Bag Books
This craft uses brown paper bags to create a descriptive book. Here’s how to do it:
Materials:
- Brown paper bag
- Scissors
- Yarn
- Glue
- Paint, markers, crayons, etc.
- White and colored paper or card stock
- Stapler
- Hole punch
Have the child decorate one side of the bag using the markers, crayons, etc. This is where you will put the book title. (example: “Greg’s Color Book”)
Keeping with the color book theme, using several pieces of white paper that are cut to a size that fits on the bag. Next, write the name of a different color on each page. Have the children come up with 3 or 4 objects that would represent each color. Write down their objects on the correct color page. On the blue page write down the blue items and so forth.
Now staple together these pages to create the book’s pages or you can also use a hole punch and bind the pages together with yarn. Glue this to the back of the bag. Your child can then dump out and sort the bag’s contents according to the book’s pages.
Any time that you spend with your children working on their math or creating a unique craft item, is time well spent. When you combine the two you’re on your way to helping them learn better while creating special memories doing educational crafts. For more crafting fun for kids see our previous post, Kids Paper Crafts.