Thursday, December 10, 2009

Quick Activity: Christmas Lacing Cards

I don't know what the weather's been like where you live, but it's been plain wack-a-doo around here. I'm knocking on wood right now because in the last three hours the temperature has dropped probably twenty degrees, and it actually feels wintry, just a little. But last week, it was hot, it was humid, and it was raining--a lot. One morning last week with both little ones home and no outside play, I needed a busy kid activity. I glanced over at the Christmas decorations and saw, conveniently next to my yarn basket, my stash of last year's cards. I save them for ornaments, gift tags, and who knows what else. On this day, they would become lacing cards, and who knew they would buy me a good half hour of mama time.

I chose cards that had large images, so that punching their outlines was feasible.
I cut an appropriate length of yarn for lacing and used scotch tape to make the ends easy for little hands to thread.Big B and little b traded cards, made new designs, and practiced their fine motor skills for much longer than I had anticipated. The cards make a fine addition to their very own Christmas table, growing each day with sweet activities just for them, complete with a little tree, lights, and ornaments they can yank off as often as they'd like.

2 comments:

Liz ~ A Natural Nester said...

Great idea! I'm going to make some of these up today. Please share with us what else is on the kids' Christmas table... I love this idea.

Kangaroo said...

Thanks Mama B! Right now on the table are...
--miniature tree, decorated
--paper chains
--santa hat
--the lacing cards
--christmas books
--christmas finger puppets
--pinecones
--little wooden christmas candleholders and wooden candles

I know this last one is weird, but they came in a huge bag of unpainted wooden holiday figurines I'll be using to create a winter scene, and they didn't really belong--and Big B and little b love putting the candles in and out of the different holders!