{"id":4776,"date":"2013-05-03T08:01:29","date_gmt":"2013-05-03T14:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/melissa.depperfamily.net\/blog\/?p=4776"},"modified":"2013-05-02T23:03:36","modified_gmt":"2013-05-03T05:03:36","slug":"not-a-flannel-friday-cake-circles-clothespins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/melissa.depperfamily.net\/blog\/not-a-flannel-friday-cake-circles-clothespins\/","title":{"rendered":"(Not a) Flannel Friday: Cake Circles & Clothespins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over on Pinterest, there are 9 bazillion clothespin activities<\/a> for preschoolers, which usually involve having kids clip marked clothespins onto matching buckets, cups, or pieces of cardboard…the blue clothespin to the blue cup, for example, or the clothespin with a capital A on it to the lower case A written on the cardboard strip.<\/p>\n

This type of thing is a lot of fun because it’s a kinesthetic, play-based way for kids to explore different concepts, and boost fine motor skills besides. I liked the idea so much I wanted to offer a clothespin activity to our storytime providers. And I wanted every child to be able to manipulate the clothespins, not just watch the leader do it. Which meant I needed 25 pieces of sturdy cardboard times 8 library branches…so, yes, it’s true, I ordered 500 six-inch cardboard cake circles from a bakers’ supply company. How fun is my job?<\/p>\n

For my first set I chose farm animals, because I knew “animals” would be a more accessible idea to a broader age range than letters, shapes, colors, or numbers. It also fits in a number of different storytime themes: Farm, of course, but also Noisy & Quiet, or Big & Small, or just tucked into storytime after a book featuring one of those animals. In Word, I created a 6″ circle shape. I found some darling clip art animals in Microsoft Word, and placed them around the edge of the circle, and printed them out in color. <\/p>\n

\"cakecircle\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then it was a matter of cutting out the paper circles and gluing them to the cardboard…a great job for a volunteer, if you have one. (Or you could bring them home and make your girls help you with assembly while you all watch Dr. Who.) <\/p>\n

If you don’t want to or can’t purchase the cake circles, you can certainly use chipboard cereal or soda boxes from your recycle bin, and make strips instead: <\/p>\n

\"horizontalstripfront\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"horizontalstripback\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, what do you do with these guys? Give every child a board and a clothespin. Tell the grownups that the children should try to move the clothespins themselves, using the pads of their first finger and thumb. If the kids can’t squeeze hard enough with their fingertips, the parents should help them out. Then try one of these activities: <\/p>\n