We all associate Dalmatians with the firehouse.  And since October is Fire Prevention Month (and also Halloween); we thought we would create a decorative holder that can hold pencils, crayons or that holiday candy and still keep with the fireman theme for the month!

          
Dalmatian Holder

Materials needed:

2 Styrofoam 8 ounce cups
1 clear cup
12" of red ribbon
1 1" black pom-pom
black marker
tacky glue
scissors
copy of paper with ears, arms and tail to color and cut.

Directions:

1.  Color "dots" or patches" on the limbs and one Styrofoam cup to form the Dalmatian's spots.
2.  Cut limbs, ears and tail out.
3.  Glue plain Styrofoam cup sideways on top of spotted cup, let dry.
4.  Glue on ears, arms, nose, tail and ribbon collar. let dry.
5.  Cut off excess overlapped ribbon from collar and cut a tongue shape out.
6.  Draw on eyes and mouth and whiskers if desired.
7.  Glue on tongue to drawn mouth  and glue paws to sides of clear cup.  Let dry.
8.  Fill cup with crayons, pencils or candies.
* A red constructions  paper fireman's hat can be made and glued on to the dog if desired.

This craft is terrific for addressing bilateral hand control.  It addresses graphic skills with the drawing of the spots, and scissors skills with cutting out the pieces.  Since the child is drawing on uneven surfaces, it puts graphic skills on the 3rd plane and provides a different sensory experience.
*See sequencing page for pictures that aid performance of this craft with developmentally delayed, PDD and autistic children; or just to introduce the concept of sequencing by asking "what do (did) we do next?"