Free Kids Craft: Lacing Cards from Greeting Cards

Lacing cards are a fun toy that help small children develop hand eye coordination and practice their fine motor skills. Lacing cards also can teach older children the basics of sewing, tying knots, and threading needles. They generally consist of a thick card with holes through it, and yarns or shoelaces to lace through the holes.

This homemade version is free and quick, and though the cards won't hold up as well to use as thicker board versions, they are really simple to make and offer lots of changing possibilities for kids. To make these homemade lacing cards, you will need:

Used Greeting Cards

Shoelaces, Thick Yarn, or Ribbon

1/8 inch Hole Punch

Begin by choosing greeting cards that have a simple shape on the front, or fun, kid friendly drawings. This a wonderful use for all the cards that the little ones receive on their birthdays. Tape the cards closed along the edges so they will be double thick, but won't open while the child is threading the holes.

Using the hole punch, punch holes around the illustrations, along the edges of the card, in curves or zigzags. Try to keep them an equal distance apart, but the game will still work even when the holes aren't perfect, so don't stress out over this too much.

The illustration can be cut from the card first if you would like a shaped lacing card. This is often more fun, since the hole punch can't reach too far into the center of the card, and if the card is left a rectangle, the holes more or less follow a rectangle shape. Following the edges of an animal or flower shape can make the "sewing" more fun.

Tie an overhand knot at one end of the shoelace, and demonstrate threading the other end up one hole and down the next hole. Whip stitching can also be practiced by going either up, or down, in every hole. Practicing tying bows at the end, or thread beads on the shoelace between the holes to add "decoration".

Older kids might like to try using yarn or ribbon, and a large eyed plastic yarn needle to "sew" their cards. This will give them the opportunity to practice threading a needle. They can also learn to tie a double or triple overhand knot at the end of the yarn to catch the end at the hole.

This quick craft for kids and adults to do together is free, promotes recycling, is educational, and fun besides!