Shape Shark

The Shape Shark

You'll have to forgive me, for yes, I did a lame twist on a JAWS quote.

In June, we had a week with a Shark theme.  This was separate than our ocean theme, basically because I saw enough cute shark crafts to fill the week, and kids love sharks.  I thought about making a paper mache shark to hang from our ceiling (the paper mache hot air balloon and horse were a big hit), but time was short so I skipped a few steps and made my Shape Shark instead.  Unfortunately, this was before I started blogging, so I don't have step by step pictures, but here is the finished product:

(I know, I know, it isn't the world's most convincing shark, and it needs to be re-glued.  

Sorry! He gets a lot of use.)

I only needed a few supplies for my shark: a box that once held Valentines, cardboard scraps, masking/painter's tape, gray paper, glue, googly eyes, and white craft foam.  I cut out a mouth and used the scrap cardboard to form a shark shape, including fins and a tail.  I cut a 2 inch thick white foam strip, about 6 inches long, then cut zig zigs down the middle for the teeth.  I cut these to fit the mouth, then stapled them in (white glue won't hold them).  I used plenty of masking tape to make the surface less smooth, then glued on my gray paper.  Then I glued on my googly eyes, and I was finished.  Shape Shark was born!

To play with Shape Shark, he "swims" around the circle so all the kids can see him, while I hum the theme to Jaws.  At the end, he "splashes" into our blue center circle.  I get out a set of wooden shape blocks that we have, with circles, squares, diamonds, triangles, and some thick foam glittery star stickers.  (You can use anything, even paper, but these are just the right size and weight for little hands to push them through Shape Shark's teeth).

The first time we played with him, I explained that he was a nice shark, and that he LOVES to eat shapes, but that his teeth can't hurt people.  I let each of the children feel his foam teeth, and pat his rough gray head.  Then, I ask him some questions, and he nods or shakes his head to answer them.  Sometimes he whispers in my ear, to tell me what snack he would like next.

For the youngest kids (aged 2), we just focus on feeding him.  Some are overcoming fear of new things, some are working on fine motor skills, so I only ask that they pick up one block and put it in his mouth.

Once they've mastered feeding, then he asks for something of a specific color (anything yellow).
Next, he will be hungry for something in a specific shape (any diamond).
Then, he will only eat something that is a specific color and shape (red triangle, orange square).
If you are working on two step directions, Shape Shark might want a purple circle and THEN a blue star.

Shape shark might have a vest he wears that makes him hungry for letter flashcards, or numbers from your UNO deck.  Who knows?  I don't use him this way (yet), but he might like to find words that start with "B," or proper nouns, or a multiplication problem whose product is 56.  He's fun to look at, fun to feed, and I think kids of any age will really enjoy Shape Shark!

Touching the Alphabet

Touching the Alphabet

Do you have children who are struggling with their letter sense?  How about kids who love to touch and feel everything?  Do you just need more sparkle in your life?

Here's a fun, inexpensive, easy to do, hands-on display for the Alphabet.

What you will need:

• Posterboard 
• Glitter in various colors
• Hot Glue Gun
• White School Glue
• Small Paintbrush

Note:  I used half sheets of white posterboard, but I think bigger pages or different colors could make it more interesting to look at.

What you do:

1. Section off your posterboard.  Give yourself plenty of room to draw a capital and lowercase letter.  I did six letters per page.
2. Draw your letters in pencil.  I did fairly thin letters but thick ones would be good, too.
3. Here is the tricky part.  Trace your letters using a hot glue gun.  Make as thick of a line as possible over your letters. This takes time and patience, and I can't tell you how many times I accidentally strung out the glue.  The good news is that very thin strands of hot glue will come off of paper pretty easily.  Just roll your fingers over them after they dry.
4. Wait for the hot glue to dry.  Your letters are now 3-D.  Time to make them colorful.
5. You want a thin layer of white glue on top of your dried hot glue.  The glitter can get clumpy if you use too much.  I drew thin lines of glue over my letters with the nozzle, then used a small paintbrush to totally coat the top and sides with glue.  I kept tissues handy so that I didn't get any glue puddles in the corners.
6. I did one letter at the time, as I was using different color glitter for each.  I fully coated the glue with glitter and shook off the excess onto a piece of scrap paper, then turned the paper into a funnel and put the glitter back into its bottle. (I know you know how to use glitter.) 
   

You're done!  Your alphabet is now three dimensional, it catches the light, and it feels just a little scratchy to fingers that touch it.  The kids will want to run their hands over this again and again, learning the shapes and motions to make upper- and lower-case letters!