Guest Blog from Jaimie Priamo
Do you ever get overwhelmed trying to keep your kids busy and learning? Yes, me too! As a mom of two toddler boys, I make it my mission to create simple, meaningful crafts for my kids. Being crafty doesn’t mean you have to spend lots of money or make something extravagant. For me, it means figuring out how to use basic household items to create something fun. Below are the steps to make a paper plate jellyfish that is also a learning resource! That’s what I call a parenting win!
Materials:
- Paper plate
- Rainbow colored pipe cleaners
- Paint and paintbrush
- Fruit loops cereal
- Googly eyes
- Glue
- Hole puncher
How to Create the Jellyfish:
To begin, go about ¾ of the way down the paper plate and cut in a wavy pattern to resemble the bottom of a jellyfish. Next, use the hole puncher to punch a hole on each wave. The hole puncher is great for developing fine motor skills because the squeezing builds up their strength. The jellyfish above ended up with 5 waves, but you can do whatever works best for you!
Next, let your child paint the jellyfish! It’s always fun to see what colors they choose. Once the paint dries, glue the googly eyes onto the paper plate. Then, attach the pipe cleaners to the holes of the jellyfish. The pipe cleaners will be used to string on the fruit loops. You’ll want to bend the pipe cleaners to give it the wavy effect like the jellyfish trailing tentacles.
Learning Extensions:
When creating crafts for my kids, I love to target different skills as an extension to their art time. For this jellyfish craft, we started by reading a book about the ocean to get their minds thinking about the different creatures of the sea. It led to great discussion and questions.
After creating the jellyfish, provide your child with fruit loops. Have your child practice color recognition by stringing the fruit loops to the pipe cleaner that matches. For example, the red fruit loop will go with the red pipe cleaner. While they are doing this, have them practice naming each color. This activity is not only a great way to practice color recognition and matching, but it also works their fine motor skills by putting those tiny fruit loops onto the pipe cleaners! To extend this activity, you can have your child count how many fruit loops are on each pipe cleaner at the end. I love this craft because it works on so many unique skills.
Encourage Creativity and Fun:
This craft has very little prep and is meant to be an easy way for your child to learn while expressing themselves through art. You can learn so much from your child, so let them guide you and see where they take this activity. Afterward, my boys used the jellyfish for pretend play. I can’t wait to see where your child goes with their learning!
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