There is an extra element of fun and realism when an art project goes beyond two dimensions. Instead of painting a picture of a whale, let your preschooler make her own whale toy using a paper bag and a few art supplies. This project will allow your little one to work on fine motor skills, number sense, and increase her scientific knowledge about whales.
What You Need:
- Paper lunch bag
- Blue paint
- Paintbrush
- Old newspaper or scrap paper
- Rubber band
- Tape
- White glue
- Markers
- Blue construction paper
What You Do:
- Let your preschooler paint all exterior sides of a paper lunch sack with blue paint. Set aside to dry.
- Draw a three by four inch rectangle in the blue construction paper and help your child cut it out.
- Holding the rectangle horizontally, help her make cuts two-thirds of the way down from the top of the rectangle, spacing the cuts 1/4 inch away from each other. This should create a long "fringe" on one end of the rectangle.
- Wrap the base of the rectangle around a marker to create a tube shape. Secure with tape and remove from the marker. This will be the “blow” spouting from the whale’s blowhole.
- Help your child crumple up pieces of newspaper or scrap paper. Let her stuff the pieces of paper into the blue lunch sack. Ask her to estimate how many crumpled pieces of paper will fit into the sack. Count how many pieces of paper it actually takes to fill the sack. Was it more or less than her prediction?
- Make a tail by securing the ends of the bag with a rubber band.
- Cut a small hole into the top of the bag for the whale’s blowhole. Stick the blue paper “blow” into the hole. Secure with white glue or clear tape.
- Help your child draw a face onto the whale with markers.
What is a blowhole? A blowhole is like a whale’s nostrils. He keeps the blowhole closed while underwater and then opens it at the surface to exhale and inhale. The mist you see coming from the whale’s blowhole when he exhales is called the blow.
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