CLEVELAND — While cleaning out the guest room closet, I stumbled on my plastic bin of craft supplies. Having a kindergartener, I’ve amassed a strange collection of barely used feathers, pom poms, seashells, glue and craft sticks -- all of it like a treasure trove for any house with toddlers.
The craft sticks and pom poms were like hitting gold because I’ve been wanting to make these adorable wiggly worm puppets I saw on a craft blog for kids. But considering I’m now a “teacher” at home, I also turned this into an opportunity to “code” – or basically – practice making patterns.
Recognizing and creating patterns is a foundation for math skills, and in our world, eventually coding.
I only had red and pink pom poms. I told the girls they had to mix them together but in the same repetition. My oldest understood right away and decided on three red, three pink, three red, three pink. My 4-year-old needed some help, so I showed her that we can do one red, two pink, one red, two pink. As soon as I showed her, her face lit up. She got it.
Here’s how to put it together:
- Thread a needle with sewing thread
- String the pom poms along the thread, leaving a long tail of thread where the head would be
- Tie the end of the thread near the head to a craft stick and knot it
- Cut another piece of thread just long enough to connect the back of the worm/code-apillar to the other end of the craft stick
- Count three pom poms from the tail end of your puppet and tie the second piece of thread to the main body thread.
- Tie the last loose end of the second piece of thread to the craft stick
The girls immediately started playing with their puppets and talked about how much pink is in each of them (their favorite color).
If you have an extensive craft supply, googly eyes can be added to the front to create a face. Don’t tell them, but I also found googly eyes. But who knows how long this stay-at-home thing will last and I must ration my supplies.
Enjoy, everyone!
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