I discovered I had a bit of a collection of different coloured and patterned paper napkins the other day and thought they'd be great for a collage and some fine-motor tearing practice.
I was impressed by the learning that I'd not even anticipated.
Ages: 2+
(See Handy Tips at the bottom for ideas to Simplify and Extend to meet your child's needs)
Materials: Paper napkins, paper, glue, paintbrush
So, here's how it turned out for us:
I provided some pieces already ripped up in order to encourage her to tear the napkins. Great fine motor skills.
Problem Solving. Tearing the napkin while it was folded up was so tricky. Opening it out made it thinner and easier to tear through. We talked about layers, thickness etc.
She discovered one of the napkins was lined with a bumpy pattern. This gave us opportunities to talk about textures, patterns etc.
Lots of pasting
Hang on! This napkin was easy to tear even when still folded. We discovered different types of paper were easier or harder to tear through.
You don't have to always paste things flat
Colourful, creative FUN!
She pleaded with me for scissors so I gave in and let her have some. She discovered cutting paper napkins was more difficult than standard paper.
The finished piece
Handy Tips
- Simplify this activity for younger children by providing the paper already torn or by helping them to tear it. Encourage them to talk about the colours and pattens of the paper napkins
- Extend this activity by having your child make an art piece from their torn paper napkins and have them tell you a story about it. Write it down for them or have them write about it.
-Mix it Up by providing the paper napkins with a few different materials eg scissors, paint, water etc
- Demonstrate and discuss particular skills if your child is new to these techniques such as tearing paper and how to tear around shapes etc.
- Use new language and descriptive words like, "layers" and "problem solving" This will help with their language development.
Here are some more Activities to help practice Fine Motor Skills and Creativity
(click the picture to take you to the activity)
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Debs :)
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