Activity:
Weave Paper Thanksgiving Placemats
Thanksgiving placemats are a great craft for your child, and they make a beautiful addition to the family dinner table! As part of a first grade social studies goal to help children become familiar with their communities and yearlong rhythms, many students learn about the meaning of Thanksgiving and practice giving thanks at school. This craft gets your child excited for expressing gratitude at the dinner table, and gets him to build on pattern-making and fine motor skills that help students with math and writing. Make these Thanksgiving placemats with your child to build skills in all three subjects, and make beautiful pieces for the Thanksgiving table in the process!
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What You Need:
- Large (12x18”) construction paper in fall colors
- Scissors
- Clear contact paper or a laminator
What You Do:
- Fold one piece of construction paper in half horizontally. Starting at the fold, make parallel line cuts in the paper, 1 inch apart, leaving a 1-inch border at the edge. You can cut straight, or we especially recommend doing curvy lines. Just make sure that you leave at least 1” at the ends of the cuts.
- Take a piece of construction paper in a contrasting color, and cut it horizontally to make strips 1” wide and 12” high.
- Help your child weave the strips over and under to create a “placemat” for the table. If this is your child’s first weaving experience, you'll probably want to start just with over/under alternating strips. But as soon as your child is comfortable, encourage variations: curvy lined placemats, placemats with more than one contrasting color; or designs in which a child develops a weaving “pattern” with, say, a strip that goes “over two” and “under one.”
- When your child is finished, seal off the design by placing it between layers of contact paper, or run it through a laminator. You have created a protective table placemat that can be used again and again…while giving your child practice in those key first grade math and social studies skills.
Guided Lessons are a sequence of interactive digital games, worksheets, and other activities
that guide learners through different concepts and skills.
They keep track of your progress and help you study smarter, step by step.
Guided Lessons are digital games and exercises that keep track of your progress and help you study smarter, step by step.
This guided lesson on patterns teaches preschoolers how to recognize common patterns such as AB and ABC. It will also challenge kids to duplicate and extend simple patterns using concrete objects. This lesson gives kids an introduction to patterns, an important building block for problem solving and algebraic thinking. When done with the lesson, browse the accompanying pattern worksheets to extend learning.
This guided lesson on patterns teaches preschoolers how to recognize common patterns such as AB and ABC.
This lesson includes printable activities:
Download All (5)
Song: Ant Parade
Game: Roly's Pattern Quiz
Game: Make Your Own Pattern
Story: Patterns on the Farm
Game: Patterns Quiz
