Color paper outlines and connect with brass fasteners to make animals come to life.
Simple brass fasteners are found in most office supply stores and are often used to join papers together in place of staples or paper clips. Brass fasteners are also a valuable addition to your preschool classroom projects as they bring animals to life and make animal games more exciting. Brass fasteners have a sharp end, so be careful when allowing preschoolers to handle them.
Shadow Puppet
Start with heavy black paper and a white sheet or piece of paper, add a flashlight, craft sticks and brass fasteners and you end up with an amazing shadow puppet show for your preschoolers to enjoy. Help preschoolers use basic shapes, such as circles, rectangles and triangles, cut from black paper to form an animal, such as a cat or dog. Use a small hole punch or sharp pencil point to poke holes where the head, legs and tail meet the body.
Connect the pieces with brass fasteners popped into the holes. Tape craft sticks onto the head and limbs and show preschoolers how to manipulate the puppet in front of a flashlight and behind a white sheet to make a shadow puppet show.
Chomping Shark
Print a template of a shark. Draw the bottom of the mouth and the fin on its belly on a different piece of paper. Let preschoolers color or paint the shark shapes and cut out when dry. Attach the lower piece of the mouth and fin to the body of the shark with a brass fastener so preschoolers can make the shark open and close its mouth.
Fishing Game
Teach preschoolers about magnets and animals in one game using brass fasteners. Print out cards with different animals that share characteristics, such as animals with fur, feather or scales. Punch a hole in each card with a sharp pencil point and attach a brass fastener to it. Scatter the cards in a kiddie pool or large shallow bin. Help preschoolers tie one end of a piece of string to a stick, then tie a magnet to the other end. Use the fishing rods to catch the animals, then sort them by characteristic.
Dynamic Dinosaur
Bring dinosaurs and other four-legged creatures to life when you use a template or outline and brass fasteners to make moving creatures. Let preschoolers color or paint their animal of choice, then separate the legs, head and tail if applicable. Poke holes through both pieces where the parts will attach and insert a brass fastener so students can manipulate the animals so they appear to move. If desired, glue paper pieces to thin cardboard or card stock for a stronger craft.
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