Activity:
Halloween Bats
Create some flying bats with your child this Halloween season. This is a great activity for helping your little critter learn how to mirror the construction of simple shapes so they're even on both sides. In a word: symmetry!
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What You Need:
- Black construction paper
- Tissue paper, (cut into 7 strips approx. 2" x 18")
- Glue stick
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Googly eyes
What You Do:
- Have your child fold a sheet of construction paper in half, hamburger style. Then have him cut it along the fold line. Set one half to the side.
- Ask him to fold the remaining piece in half again.
- Encourage him to draw one bat wing starting at the fold. The tip of the bat wing will be towards the open edges of the paper. The wing should have a total of 4 points, or "V" shapes, with the last one ending at the fold. The last one will only be half of a "V."
- Have him cut out the wing following his lines. Open up the fold and flatten out the bat body. It should be symmetrical; the left side should mirror the right side.
- Ask him to glue one tissue strip on the bottom "V" of the bat.
- Now, have him glue a tissue strip onto the next "V" shape on the right, and then mirror it on the left. Continue this until all of the "V"s on the bat have tissue streamers glued to them and the bat looks balanced.
- Now, ask him to cut the bat head out of the other half of the black paper. Make sure he includes two bat ears.
- Glue the head onto the bat body, and add some googly eyes.
- Make a few more bats! If your little one is having fun, you might even want to make a whole cloud of 'em.
- Have him hang his bats up inside, or put them outside where the wind will rustle the streamers, and he can watch as his bats fly through the night skies on Halloween.
