Every time it's the birthday of someone close to us, we always make them a homemade card.

Such a lovely activity that will not only help them to practice a variety of skills (see tips at the bottom) but also help to instill some pride in their work.

The delight of them handing over something they put their time and effort into is priceless.

 Set out all the materials for your card so your child can see and access them easily. Here we used a variety of coloured and textured paper, glue, little paper shapes from cutters, glue and stamps.

 As this activity was to be given as a gift, we practiced our stamping on scrap paper to begin with so that she could learn the proper technique to get a clear and complete print. This can be harder than it sounds for kids.

 Stamping on the good copy. Hoorah, the practice paid off. Got it right first time!

 Arranging shapes of paper onto the card to see what will look good. I encourage this BEFORE gluing as it saves them changing their mind and ripping it up again

 The final design that she settled on. Now to glue it in place!

Gluing the individual pieces 

 Taking the time to try and get them stuck back in the same place. This takes memory and concentration

 Sticking the final piece in place

 After dictating her message for the inside of the card, she decided that needed some colour as well. Paper punched strips of coloured paper worked well here.

 The front of the completed card

Inside the completed card

Some tips:

- Involve your child in choosing the materials, colours etc so that they are individual to the person the card is for as well as giving your child some ownership over their creation. If your child is quite young, present them with just a couple of alternatives ie, "Would Grandpa like a blue card or a green card?"

- To simplify this activity, cut out all the pieces for the front of the card and allow your child to stick them on as they like. Alternatively, provide stickers and write the message in the card for your child.

- To extend this activity, let the child do the cutting etc themselves, let them attempt some of the writing etc

- Help your child build their literacy skills and understanding by talking with them about how to write a card, the sort of messages that go into a card, what they'd like the card to say, the purpose of the card and so on.

- Having your child dictate to you as you write down (before they can write, of course) really personalises your card (as well as the obvious literacy learning)

- Use any materials you have at hand. You don't have to rush out and buy greeting stamps and paper cutters/punches! (It's just what we used this time)

Debs :)

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For this fun and easy activity we split it into 2 segments. Painting the crown with water colour paints and cut out sponge shapes and after it dried, adding the decorations.

We used 2 pieces of cardboard to "measure" around Maddie's head and then I cut them to size, stapled the 2 pieces together and cut the points out.

The idea was to do sponge prints on the crown with water colour paints 

 However, she decided she'd rather paint the whole thing using a sponge piece

 When the crown was dried, it was time to decorate! Together we talked about what "embellishments" she'd like on her crown and set them out for her.

Using fine motor skills to peel stickers off a sheet and stick them on.

 Gluing

 Glittering!!

The crown all finished and ready for imaginative play!

Some tips:

- This is an easy activity for kids of all ages and you can decorate however you please with whatever you have on hand.

- To extend this activity, have your child do the measuring of their head and the cutting of the crown points.

- Talk about what you are doing with your child. Use new language and descriptive words like, "embellishments" This will help with their language development.

- Repeat the activity as many times as you like using different crafty ways to decorate each time.

- Once your crown is finished, use it for imaginative play. We have a whole set of them in our "fantasy tub" next to our dress up box.

- Further extend this activity by finding and reading together books about Kings, Queens, Princesses and Princes. A favourite series at our house is, "Little Princess" by Tony Ross.

Debs :)



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