We are continuing our tour of the alphabet this summer with Mother Goose Time’s A to Zoo themed unit. Mother Goose Time is an amazing preschool curriculum that lets our kids learn through play.
A box packed full of all kinds of wonderful goodies including games, creative projects, music, and books arrives every month with a unique and family friendly theme. Mother Goose Time makes giving my kids a wonderful, developmentally appropriate learning environment at home super easy!
Kids learn best through play and at no time is this more evident than when my kids are engaged in the Mother Goose Time activities. During our time with the A to Zoo curriculum we have played games that have sharpened our literacy skills and exercised our math skills.
Creative expression that encourages fee play opens up all kinds of learning! The elephant mask is a terrific make and play activity. The kids love being creative. After making the masks the kids spent quite a bit of play time being elephants and herding each other around the house and outside.
The elephant mask is a simple paper plate based craft with great results. Completing this craft gives kids ample opportunity to refine their fine motor, visual arts, and drama skills.
- topic poster*
- party noisemaker*
- craft stick*
- glue or tape
- paint or markers
Show the topic poster and ask “What are the parts of an elephant’s head?”
- Invite children to cut out paper elephant ears and glue them onto the plate.
- Help children make a hole to insert the party noisemaker for the trunk.
- Make eye holes and decorate the elephant mask as desired.
- Attach a craft stick handle.
- Encourage children to wear their masks and have an elephant stomp parade around the room.
- Blow the noisemaker “trunks” and pretend to trumpet like elephants.
- Did the child cut independently with scissors?
- Did she appear to have control?
My kids have always loved the Make and Play crafts from Mother Goose Time and the elephant mask was no exception. First we painted the paper plates grey. We didn’t have any grey paint so I showed them how to mix black and white to make grey. Color mixing is another passion of theirs, so this craft was off to a great start!
Mommy Tip: Cut out a small hole in the middle of the plate before giving it to the children to paint. This small tip makes doing the rest of the craft possible with supervision as opposed to direct involvement or as my kids like to term it “mommy interference.”
My daughter is using kindergarten and first grade learning materials now, but still likes to join the fun! If there’s anything I’ve learned from Mother Goose Time it’s how truly enjoyable learning can be when the kids are interested and invested in what they doing!
I am amazed at how much she has grown over the years with Mother Goose Time. She is a creative soul and I enjoy watching her work and help her younger brothers get their crafts just the way they want them. She also uses Mother Goose Time’s More Literacy and More Math program, supplements for kids ready to take their reading, writing, and math skills to the next level.
Of course my youngest at 15 months (I can not believe he is already that old.) is very anxious to do all the things that his big siblings get to do! So, he joined in on the painting too! He was all about the experience of encountering paint, tape, etc. He was so proud of himself for getting to join, it was adorable! He also has a big sister who let him play with her completed mask.
After we cleaned the paint off hands and in some cases feet, we moved onto cutting out the ears while the paint dried. It was easier for my kids to cut out ears that they sketched with a pencil first, rather than going straight for the scissors. Estimating size was easier when they were drawing and comparing to the paper plate prior to cutting. Then we checked our plates to make sure they were dry and added on sticker eyes.
Mommy Note: Sticker eyes are the best alternative to googly eyes ever! Googly eyes are really cool and fun, but they often fall off and the baby puts them and everything else in his mouth. These stickers tend to stay stuck.
The next step is to attach a Popsicle stick to the back of your mask. We brought out the masking tape for this one and it seemed to work well. Finally, you add the noisemaker in the pre-cut hole on the plate. Let the games being!
I love the smiles that Mother Goose Time puts on their faces!
If you are interested in reading more about our experience with Mother Goose Time, check out our curriculum page!
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As a blog ambassador for Mother Goose Time, I am happy to share preschool curriculum ideas, activities, and crafts with my readers. Mother Goose Time provides our family the opportunity to use their curriculum free of charge in exchange for honest and authentic stories based on our personal experience.