Fine Motor Skills: Paper Plate Weaving

Continuing on with our half term activities we discovered this post over at Pinterest for weaving using a paper plate.
Here is R's first attempt (she is eager to make more!)

Not bad eh? Especially if you read the sparse instructions on the original post for how to thread the warp threads.  

Here's how we did it.

First we chopped "spikes" into the rim of the paper plate.

Then we took a ball of wool for our warp threads (in this case we used white)

We tied one end of the wool to one of the spikes to secure it.

Next we took the wool across the front of the plate to the opposite spike.

Working clockwise we put the wool round the back of the spike then back across the plate to the next spike clockwise from where we started.

We continued going behind the spike and then across to the opposite one all round the plate.

We were left with a star shape of threads on the front of the plate and loops round the spikes (but no threads across the centre) on the back.

Next get your weaving thread - you could use a small ball of wool but we found a length threaded into a darning needle was much easier.  Tie the end of the thread to the warp threads where they cross in the middle of the plate to secure.

Weave away.

As an aside if you have an odd number of spikes (like we did) you may find that the normal over-one-under-one ends up with the same threads being on top or below on each round (if you look at the pink circle above you will see what I mean) either alternate as you add a new length to your needle, or plan it better than we did and use an even number of spikes!

Cutting and Sticking: Leaf Wreath

Paper plates make the perfect thing to stick objects on to make a wreath.  We made ours using leaves cut from paper but we could have used real leaves (Germany isn't big on the poop scoop as a result I am not big on using anything from where people walk their dogs! - parks and pavements included; we have already come a cropper in the three months we have been here -yuck!).  It also gave us the opportunity to practise scissor skills, something A as a left-hander needs.
I put together a page of leaf outlines (cut and paste from activityvillage.co.uk) and printed these on plain "autumn" coloured paper as well as white paper so the kids could do their own colours.  The yellow went down especially well with A for whom this has become an all time favourite colour ever since he found out it was the favourite colour of his best friend Rebekah.
All the kids had to do was cut them out and stick them on.

We made a chain of wreaths so they could all hang on the front door, that was infinitely more fair than banishing one wreath to the garage door and the other round the back of the house.

F is for Fish: submarine portholes

If you could explore the bottom of the sea in a submarine what would you see out of the window?

First we took a paper plate each and cut out the centre to give us a ring this is our porthole. R and A did this themselves once I had made an initial hole in the plate. Don't worry if the ring splits a little as you cut this will be stuck back together in a minute.

Then we took some clear sticky-backed plastic (aka book film or contact paper) and cut out two circles a little bigger than the hole in the plate

Then we took some coloured tissue paper and cut out some fish.

To assemble take one of the circles of sticky-backed plastic and stick it on the back of the paper plate. Turn the plate over so that the front of your "window" is sticky. Arrange the tissue paper fish on "window". Seal in with the other circle of sticky-backed plastic.

Display on a window so that the sun can shine through!

Easy!

B being only 2 did a basic one which I prepared for him but both R and A did all the cutting themselves. R decided to do her fish all kinds of sizes and added blue "waves". Make it as basic or complex as you want.


As an afterthought we decided that the pictures would look even better if they had a submarine silhouette as a "frame". We left our sub plain due to lack of time but we could have decorated it as well.


This kind of idea would also make a great bulletin board art display with pictures mounted in the windows of a sub, or boat, or car, or rocket ......Hmm I wonder what aliens you might see on Mars out of the window of your rocket....

50 Paper plate crafts

Having just moved countries we had to leave most of our stuff behind in the UK and unfortunately our spare cash has been going on furniture and kitchen equipment but this week I managed to slip in some paper plates. Here is the "inspiration search" I did before we make our own stuff this week.

50 things for kids to make with paper plates

1. Pumpkin
2. Bumblebee
3. Easter bunny
4. Sunflower
5. Peacock
6. Canteen
7. Wreath
8. Handprint basket
9. 3D hearts mobile
10. Maracas
11. Snowman
12. Poinsettia (or other flowers depending on the colours you use)
13. butterfly lifecycle mobile
14. valentine heart crown
15. rainbow streamers
16. wall pocket
17. butterfly puppet
18. ladybird puppet
19. Angel
20. Owl
21. Duck
22. Rabbit mask
23. octopus
24. chinese pottery
25. mothers day flower pot
26. hickory dickory clock
27. same again but standing up
28. puffer fish
29. tambourine
30. stegosaurus
31. spiral snake
32. dream catcher (sadly no pictures)
33. cutlery windchimes
34. bird feeder
35. mini meals
36. paper plate pig (stands up)
37. orbitting object paper plate
38. hedgehog
39. emotions plates
40. paper plate porthole
41. noise maker
42. lantern (no pictures)
43. suncatchers
44. cat (no picture)
45. windsock
46. spider
47. turtle
48. fish bowl
49. apple
50. flying saucer