Summer Boost
Activity:
Jack-o'-Lantern...Lanterns!
Jack-o'-lantern faces create a spooky ambiance in your home! Your child will love making these adorable Halloween jack-o'-lantern lanterns. While creating this spooky decoration, he'll also be learning how to accurately measure in centimeters. By carefully measuring out 1 cm segments to cut across the lantern, he'll create a place for light to flow through. Have him experiment with cutting different measurements on these jack-o'-lantern lanterns to see how it affects the amount of light the lantern allows through.
Click to find similar content by grade or subject.
What You Need:
- Pencil
- Construction paper
- Craft knife
- Centimeter ruler
- Tape, or mini stapler
- Thin ribbon
- Black magic marker
- Scissors
What You Do:
- Place a sheet of construction paper on the table in a vertical, or portrait position.
- Ask your child to fold the top edge of the paper so that it meets the bottom edge of the paper. Unfold the paper, and have him cut along the fold line. This creates the start for 2 lanterns. Set one piece to the side for later.
- Ask him to use a pencil and a ruler to measure out 1 cm from each edge of the paper and make a small pencil dot on the measurement.
- Have him use the ruler to connect all of the dots into straight lines, creating a pencil frame all around the paper, 1 cm from the edge.
- Ask him to flip his paper over, so the pencil lines are face down.
- With the paper now in landscape position (long on the sides, short from top to bottom), ask him to fold the paper in half by bringing the top edge of the paper to meet the bottom edge of the paper. The pencil line should be showing.
- Ask him to lay his ruler across the paper, and lay it so the start line of the ruler matches to the pencil line border he drew at the 1cm mark. Make sure it's straight across.
- Have him make a dot every 1 cm all the way across the paper until he reaches the other pencil line border. There should roughly be 21 centimeters marked across.
- Ask him to lower his ruler to the bottom of the paper, above the fold. Repeat the process of measuring out 1 cm marks across the paper.
- Lay the ruler in a line from the top dot to the bottom dot, and carefully use a craft knife to cut a straight line. Make sure there is an adult present for this part to help assist your child if he needs help. Repeat this for all the dots across the paper.
- Gently unfold the paper and overlap the top edges and the bottom edges. Staple them in place to create a lantern shape. Staple the lantern to the ribbon and hang up where light can shine through the openings.
Have him hang the finished latterns up one by one or, if the mood strikes, make long string of lanterns to create a spooky ambiance in your home this Halloween.
