Lacing Cards

As we do different activities here at Rainbows and Gumboots, I'll be adding photos and descriptions for family and friends to see.



Here is what you need:
~A roll of clear "contact paper" or "mack tack".
~Some sort of paper to cut into shapes. We used old paintings that I didn't want to throw out, but that were taking up space and looking sort of clutter-y. Another idea is to use colouring pages.
~A hole punch. A single hole punch is best, but I couldn't find mine ANYWHERE today, so I had to use the three hole punch. Wow... I wish I had the one hole punch!
~Scissors
~Yarn
~Enthusiastic child(ren)




Cut shapes from the paper. Cut around the outlines of your simple colouring pages, or maybe do a theme shape or two. This is my fancy leaf cut out of a piece of paper which we finger painted on a couple of weeks ago.



Cut some of your clear plastic "paper stuff" I've provided this photo so you can see what it actually looks like, if you have no clue what I'm talking about. This bit came off of a roll that cost under $10, and I think it's over 3 yards long.



This is me putting the film over my leaf. If you have a laminater, you can obviously use that instead. This way is cheaper, but laminating is more "permanent".



After you've coated it, trim off the excess, and then punch holes into it. Here you see our "Turkey" coated, but with no holes, and our "Hand" with holes and yarn laced through.




The ends of the yarn will become frayed easily, and will be hard to thread through the holes. When I was a kid, I'm pretty sure my lacing cards came with a large plastic needle. I just used some of the contact paper and wrapped a bit around the end of the yarn. It worked great.

I love this project. They were fun to make, and they're fun to lace. Lacing helps to develop fine motor co-ordination, and it's a quiet activity that requires a child to sit and think while they manipulate both the card and the yarn.

A few tips:
~Punch the holes through both the paper and the plastic. If you punch it just through the plastic, it'll tear easily. This won't be an issue if you're actually laminating the project.
~Don't leave the yarn too long. I don't know if I'm alone on this, or what, but I found it really hard to figure out how long to make the yarn for each card. If it's too long, it just gets tangled all over the place, and if it's too short, then you can't finish the card. If someone can figure out a fail-proof way of figuring out how long to cut the yarn, be sure to let me know!
~Make sure you tie the yarn through the first hole. Your kid will get very frustrated with the task if the yarn keeps on coming out!

Have fun!