Make Roll Paper Cards

Sometimes, it’s the simple gestures—like a homemade card—that mean the most. Here’s a great homemade card idea that supports fine motor skills and creativity, in addition to teaching your child a little something about giving.

The object of the activity is simple: how many cool designs can you make with rolled up construction paper? Your child can either go for a realist motif (a flower, a sun, a person), or can get more abstract by coming up with her own designs.

What You Need:

• Several sheets of construction paper in a variety of colors
• Ruler
• Pen
• Scissors
• Markers
• Strong clear glue, such as rubber cement

What You Do:

1. Create your card by folding the construction paper in half. In pencil, draw out your design on the front of the card, including any text that you might want, such as “Happy Birthday.” Write any message you would like to include on the inside of the card, and remember to sign it.
2. Now, have your child cut up strips of construction paper in varying widths (you may want to whip out the ruler here.) If your child is making a sun for the cover of his card, for example, he should decide how many strips of yellow he will need, in addition to some red and orange for accents.
3. Now take your strips and roll them up into circles of different sizes. You can make it easier by rolling the strips around a pencil. You might want to roll some really tight and others fairly loose, depending on the look you want for your design. Lay the rolled paper out on your design until you are happy with how it looks—feel free to experiment. Would it look better to have smaller rolls inside bigger ones? Should some lay on their sides? Once you’re done, go through and glue them all down.
4. Wait at least half an hour for the rolls to dry, and then give it to someone special!