October 2008-Crafts of the Month- Skeletons
Ahoy there Mateys! It is that time of year where children love to dress up and pretend- and Pirates are always big on the list! If you have a pirate, you usually have a skeleton. When you study about your body, you learn about skeletons, and with Halloween this month-you have skeletons. So we have several skeleton ideas we know your children will love making.
Skeleton Treat Container
Materials Needed:
Empty plastic gallon of milk container
Exacto knife
Black paint and brush and/or marker
Red Marker
Directions:
Rinse out container and let dry.
Have and adult use the Exacto knife to cut the two sides opposite the handle side out and down about 3-4 ", to create an opening to hold the treats.
Paint or draw on skeleton facial features and let dry.
Use handle of jug to hold Skeleton and carry around to receive treats, or leave on desk to hold papers, etc.
This activity is good for position in space skills and for drawing on surfaces differing from paper.
Skeleton Lace Up
Materials Needed:
Piece of white construction paper ends folder toward middle
Scissors
Markers or crayons
Hole Punch
Yarn or ribbon for Lacing
Directions:
Draw a skeleton shape on the folded paper that have the edges go off the sides so they stay connected.
Cut out the shape with the scissors.
Using the markers or crayons, draw on the skeleton's facial features on both sides.
Punch 5-6 holes on each edge of the folded side (like on a shoe tongue for lacing).
If this is for a beginner cross lacer, circle every other hole with one color of marker. Leave the other holes plain.
Give the child two pieces of yarn or ribbon in two different colors tied together with a knot at the bottom.
Have the child lace up their skeleton, just like they would a shoe.
Tie the top ribbon together into a bow and hang.
This activity is great for graphic drawing skills as well as for ADL skills of lacing. The lacing requires eye-hand coordination and repetitive pinch grasp.
Cross lacing is a 4-5 year old skill. You can adapt this for 2-3 year olds by just cutting a plain skeleton head out and then punching holes at intervals around the edges of the skull. Punch fewer holes for the younger child and then have them lace in and out around the shape. We laminated ours and send them home with the children, so the parents can work on lacing and tying skills at home with their children.
Skeleton Lollipop
Materials Needed:
Round Lollipop
4-6" square of white tissue paper or Kleenex
4-6" piece of pipe cleaner
fine markers
Directions:
Cover the lollipop with the tissue. Pull tissue around lollipop and twist slightly at stick area.
Tie at stick with the pipe cleaner to secure tissue to lollipop.
Draw skeleton facial features onto tissue.
These skeletons can be stuck in cupcakes, in foam, pinned to coats or hung from string.
This activity is a great bilateral motor control activity and requires repetitive sustained pinch grasp. Tactile Proprioception is addressed in trying to get the tissue on the lollipop tight but without tearing it.
