Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Summer Popsicle Activity

popsicle stick preschool activity 2
These paper popsicles are a great fun and easy summer activity to make and play with the kids!
popsicle stick preschool activity 1
I drew up this design on the computer, though you could freehand these as well.  It is just a simple popsicle shape, doubled.  Then, I print it out on red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple papers, and cut these shapes out.  The popsicle shape folds in half so there will be a front and back to the popsicle.  You just want the sides and tops glued together.  Leave the bottom and the middle unglued for the popsicle sticks to slide in and out of.  popsicle stick preschool activity 3
This is a matching game.  I write on the bottoms of the popsicle sticks.
To play the game you give your child the popsicle sticks separate from the popsicle tops.  Then, they are to match the word on the popsicle stick, with the color of the popsicle top.
popsicle stick preschool activity 2 You can do this for many different levels of children.  There are 4 different sides to the popsicle sticks that you can write the words on. 
My levels were the easiest match by looking at the color.  I wrote out the words in the color that corresponded.  Even though smaller children can’t read yet, this helps them to begin recognizing letters and words.
The second level was the words written in black, so there are no clues to what color it is (other than the word itself)
popsicle stick summer preschool activity a
The third level is to write a flavor and have the children match the flavor to what color that should be.
I store all of these parts as sets in small ziplock baggies.  My children love doing this activity and we do it every summer.
Actually I print up enough copies for each of my children to have their own sets (plus enough for each of my preschool/daycare kids).  I then have my kids make their own sets.  If you notice these steps were very easy.  It uses cutting, and gluing skills (and very basic lines, at that).  I even write out each of the words for my children to copy onto their sticks.  I think they love these even more because they made their own!
So, my question is, what popsicle flavor is your favorite?
Mine, without a question is Root Beer followed closely by Banana.  The rest I could do without. ;)

Rebecca

18 comments:

Teresa said...

Great (and easy) idea! Thanks.

Katie Bishop said...

fantastic! I love this idea. We are going to make it later this week!

All Things Fee said...

What a great little game! I forsee felt ones in our future!

Bethany @ The Paper Pony said...

I LOVE this idea! So easy, seasonal and cute- we'll be doing this!

RootsAndWingsCo said...

Bethany, I also see this in felt! I've thought about that every time we pull this game out! ;) I'd love to see your version of this!
Rebecca

Michelle said...

What a great activity :0)

Mama King said...

Great idea. I agree, this could be adorable in felt. Which would make a nice gift tied up in a fabric bag.

Sarah said...

This is very cute! Rootbeer and Banana are two of my favorites too!

Kara said...

Such a great idea! I love that it can "grow" with the child too!

Alissa said...

Fantastic idea, fairly simple to make by the looks, which is great. Thanks for sharing. From Alissa@ Excuse Me Mrs.C!

phasejumper said...

Great idea! You could even use patterned paper for a matching game!

Jenn @ Delicious Ambiguity said...

Great idea and a super fun way to learn colours. I'll be featuring you tomorrow!

tracey (aka rainbowmummy) said...

Just wanted to let you know we did this, in a lazy way :)

Tanisha said...

I read this post a while back, and searched it out, because now my son needs a game like this! Thanks so much for showing us! I follow your blog in my reader and love it. Thanks again!

Angie said...

Oh my, after making 180 of these for a busy bag swap, I highly recommend sewing the felt shut. I used tacky glue and they would not stay. Plus, the wooden popsicle sticks catch on the felt unless you want to sand each stick. So, my recommendation is to stick with the paper or buy cotton fabric and sew them. Not a fan of felt, but they sure look cute!

Pamela Wright said...

Do you still happen to have your template for the popsicles? I'm doing your idea for a small busy bag swap at my church and can't seem to find a template anywhere. Thanks! pamelagwrightAThotmail.com

Unknown said...

This was a great tutorial, thank you so much for the inspiration! I made my own little version, and linked back to you today in my post at: http://paintingsunny.com/2013/05/24/operation-preoccupy-the-preschooler-diy-travel-activities/

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