Popsicle Stick Puzzle

What You Need:

• One-inch wide craft sticks
• Pencil
• Red watercolor paint
• Brush
• Tape

What You Do:

1. Invite your child to count out seven craft sticks and arrange them so they are tightly positioned next to each other, creating a square.
2. Now your child can place two or three lengths of tape over the craft sticks, holding the square together.
3. Invite your first grader to flip over her craft stick square and get ready to paint some hearts! She can lightly sketch out the layout of her heart puzzle before beginning to paint. Remind her that she’s making a puzzle, so she can make it as tricky or easy as she’d like!
4. Now offer your child a set of watercolor paints and a brush. She can use red watercolor paint to fill in her hearts. Along with creating a fun puzzle, she’s honing her color recognition skills!
5. Once she’s finished painting, she can let the watercolor paint dry for at least one hour and then flip over her puzzle. Now she can remove the lengths of tape and offer the puzzle to a loved one to try!