Recommended Age: 4 to 5 years
Purpose: This exercise builds on the child pattern making skills and engages them in creative processes through using a rage of materials
Level of Parent Involvement: Low, mainly modelling and supervision
Prerequisites
- The child should have had experience in making patterns and following a sequence
- The child must have had experience in using scissors and be able to cut out squares from a strip of paper
Materials
- A small paper plate OR a piece of white card, a medium size plate and a pencil to make the circle for the snail’s body
- Strips of coloured paper (3-4 different colours)
- Scissors
- Glue stick or craft glue and a brush
- Coloured pencil or marker
- Snail template
- Placemat
- Tray or basket
Preparation
- Print the snail template (see PDF)
- Place the materials in a tray/basket
Steps
- Invite the child letting them know that you are going to show them how to make a paper snail
- Show the child the tray with the materials, the child may bring the tray to the table
- If you are not using a paper plate, invite the child to draw around the plate to create a circle on the white card
- The child may cut out the circle to use for the snail’s shell
- Show the child the strips of coloured paper
- Invite the child to cut out squares of paper from the strips
- The child may now sort the coloured squares into piles
- Starting at the outer edge of the circle, show the child how to stick the squares on making a pattern with the colours (for example; blue, red, yellow, blue, red yellow), working your way from the edge to the centre of the circle to create a spiral
- Leave a small space for the snail’s head
- Invite the child to cut out the snail’s head when they are finished making the pattern on the shell
- The child may stick the head onto the shell
- The child may draw eyes and a mouth onto the snail’s head
- Once finished the child may return the tray with the materials to its place
Variations
- None
