Cereal Box Puzzles and other kid crafting goodness
Today’s toddler fun is totally brought to you by Jamie Dorobek’s book C.R.A.F.T.(Creating Really Awesome Free Things). Jamie is the innovative force behind the blog of the same name. Several months ago I received a copy of the book for review and with my dad’s passing and my own sickness, I haven’t been able to sit and enjoy this book until now. However, I’m super excited to have it in my arsenal of fun toddler activities for our upcoming summer.
The book is full of very inexpensive and creative arts and crafts projects to do with your children. It is definitely inexpensive because most if not all need materials that you can easily find in your own home. My 11 year old was stoked to get the book, but was a bit disappointed that many of the activities seemed geared towards really young children. However, there are few crafts in there that I think we can elevate for her older standards!
I sat down with my 3 year old and we perused the book together to find something to do. He immediately took to the cereal box puzzle! He kept yelling, “Pineapple Puzzle!!!”. My son LOVES puzzles. We’ve never made our own before. All it took was part of a cereal box (which we definitely had some that were already on their way to the recycle bin). However, any thin cardboard will do!
I drew the outline of the pineapple and my son colored it in. I added background colors just to make the whole puzzle vibrant and to help provide even more clues for solving. This is a perfect activity for visual-spatial recognition, shapes geometry, sizing, and math.
I noticed my cuts for each puzzle piece were a bit of a challenge for my 3 year old. So we made another one with the help of my 1 year old daughter.
For this one I added swirls and made the shapes basic rectangles. It’s a good “starter” puzzle!
What I love about the book is that each project has 4-color photographs to help provide great instruction. These activities are designed to help develop a child’s creativity, imagination, and fine motor skills. Therefore, it is perfect for toddlers, preschool-age children, and young homeschoolers. I intend on using the book from here on out to supplement my preschooling efforts at home!
~Lani