Why buy greeting cards when your kids can make them?
Whilst this is still a simple craft and we're working on our Creativity and Fine-motor skills, ultimately, the most valuable part about making greeting cards with children, is the Literacy involved.
Ages: 2+
(M was 3 years old. See the Handy Tips at the bottom for ideas to simplify or extend to meet your childs needs)
Materials: Carboard, foam stickers, letter stickers
(Obviously you can use whatever you have on hand)
Fold/cut your cardboard to make the right sized card. (We used black sparkle cardboard here... try getting black cardboard, lightly painting with glitter glue and leaving to dry)
Have your child decorate the front of the card as they like using the provided materials
We actually found a Happy Birthday Sticker. If we didn't have that, I would have had my daughter spell out the words using the provided letter stickers.
Finding the letters of "Uncle Dave" provided a great opportunity to practice letter recognition and spelling
*hint.. for younger children, write the words they're wanting to spell on scrap paper and let them match and find the letters to spell the words
The inside of the card is as (if not more) important to the front.
While they are very young, always encourage them to draw (remember this is pre-writing) something and to tell you about it. Keep bringing their focus back to the purpose of the card and who it's for.
As my 3y/o daughter is pre-writing she then dictates what she wants the inside of the card to say and I write it in. (Word for word! So cute haha)
Handy Tips:
- Simplify this activity by helping suggest to your child the type of things you would expect to say on the type of greeting card you're making (eg.. most birthday cards use the words, Happy Birthday etc). Write the words for them and let them find corresponding letters to practice their letter recognition. Focus on the creativity and design and use this chance to start teaching them about letter writing.
- Extend this activity by encouraging your child to brainstorm ideas for the front and inside the card. Have the child write the inside of the card themselves with any assistance needed. Work on letter writing and start to encourage them to see the punctuation used.
- Letter Writing is a style of writing that you can teach your child about. Start with the basics of how we start and finish a card/letter (ie. Dear _____ , From _______ etc). Talk about different variations and how you might write to someone you didn't know well as opposed to someone close to you.
- Mix it up by using a variety of different craft materials to embellish your cards. Eg sequins, patterned paper, ribbons etc.
- Talk with your child about what they are doing. Encourage their creativity and use this time to discuss colours, patterns, borders etc. It's also a great time to talk to your child about the person they're making the card for
Happy playing,
Debs :)
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