St. Patrick’s Day Craft: Tissue Paper Clovers

More Holiday crafts for the Elliot family!  Today, we made Tissue Paper Clovers.  Clara declared that hers was for the baby (awww!).  And how appropriate since baby should be arriving very close to or maybe even on St. Patrick’s Day!

What you need:

• Green construction or card stock paper
• Marker
• Scissors
• Glue
• Green tissue paper
• Optional: tongs, q-tips, clothespins

What you do:

• Draw a clover on your green construction paper and cut it out.  For older kids, have them try to cut it out; it’s a great way to work on higher level cutting skills incorporating curves and angles. 
• Tear your tissue paper into smaller pieces and then roll the pieces up with your fingertips.  This is a perfect activity for working on improving hand strength, in-hand manipulation, separation of the two sides of the hand, dexterity, and grasping skills – all of which are foundational skills for a good pencil grasp and for various other fine motor skills, such as buttoning, zipping, or tying shoes.
• Prepare your clover by covering it with glue.  If your child is able, have them squeeze the glue and spread it out.  This is a simple way to activate those hand muscles!
• Have your child use their fingertips, encouraging use of a pincer grasp (thumb and index finger), to grasp the tissue paper pieces and put them on the clover.  OR get out various tools that will not only help to develop grasping and fine motor skills but will also improve tool use.  While it is easier to grasp and manipulate with the fingers, using tools helps to improve eye-hand coordination and ability to functionally use utensils, such as pencils, silverware, scissors, etc.  Simply use the tongs or the clothespin to pick up and transfer the tissue paper pieces.  Or use the q-tip by dipping it in a small amount of glue, picking up a tissue paper piece, and putting it on the the clover.  You may have to use your other hand to help take it off the q-tip, which is a great opportunity for a messy play experience.  And there you have it!  Another fun way to sneak in easy skill building crafts!