Make going back to school fun with this surprising pop up book! Your child can create a classroom design filled with desks chairs, tables, and more that will pop up to life each time a page is turned.
This activity will encourage your child to think spatially, increase fine motor abilities, and hone crucial problem solving skills all while using her imagination and artistic creativity. Additionally, the classroom pop up book activity promotes sequencing and narrative development, supports early literacy skills, and helps to build memory recall.
What You Need:
- Sturdy paper such as card stock
- Construction paper
- Glue or glue sticks
- Stapler
- Tape
- Scissors
- Markers and/or crayons
What to Do:
- Help your child to create a very brief narrative. It should follow a sequence such as "first you take the school bus to school, then you sit down for story time, next you have lunch," etc.
- Decide on a desired book size. Fold the card stock to the size and cut if needed. The books may have as many or as few pages as your child would like.
- Staple (only adults should do this step) the book together on the crease. Add a piece of tape over the staples to prevent injuries from sharp edges.
- Ask your child to create a cover by drawing with marker or crayon. If your child is struggling to draw the images that she wants, try breaking down objects into shapes. For example, a school bus may look like a long rectangle, with a smaller square in front, and circles for wheels. Help your child to write her name on the front.
- Using the construction paper, have your child draw small versions of classroom or school objects and people. This may include desks, chairs, a teacher, friends, or any other school related item.
- Cut out each school object or person. Leave a small rectangle shaped tab (in proportion to the size of the object) at the bottom.
- Fold the tabs so that they are under the objects and people, creating a pop up stand.
- Open the book to the first page (both sides of the folded paper will count as one page). Ask your child to draw the first selected school scene with markers or crayons.
- Add in the pop ups by gluing the tab to the pages. Once dry, fold the objects and people pop ups back to a flat position before turning the page.
- Repeat for the next pages.
Extend this activity into a library of pop ups by trying new subject matter and adding different art process such as collage or painting to the pages.
By Erica Loop
Erica Loop has a MS in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education. She has many years of teaching experience working in early childhood education, and as an arts educator at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.
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