Quick and Easy Crafts: Homemade Lacing Shapes

Lacing shapes are a fun way to get kids to practice both their lacing skills and help build their fine motor skills. Lacing shapes are often sold in stores, in various sizes and styles, but why purchase them when you can make them at home? My young daughter is finally getting old enough to practice lacing, and I wanted to have her play with some of her favorite cartoon characters from Nick Jr. That is when I got this great idea and decided to make my own. This project is great and at almost no cost by using items I already had around the house.

As you can see from the above picture, I used Blue from Blue's Clues and also Moose and Zee, the hosts of Nick Jr. From the second picture, I used Muno from Yo Gabba Gabba and a large Jelly Belly bean from a photograph of a recent trip to the Jelly Belly factory. You can use any shape or design you like, or your child likes. These are all my daughters' favorites, so it was fun to make.

Supplies needed for this quick and easy kid's craft:
Scissors
Character printouts or coloring pages
Cereal boxes or thick card stock
Markers, crayons or colored pencils
Single hole punch
Colored shoe laces or yarn
Plastic yarn needle (optional)
Glue stick

Directions for this quick and easy kid's craft:

This quick and easy craft is great for all skill levels and age groups.

To make the same lace shapes I did, follow the imbedded links for the printable color pages from the Nick Jr website: Muno Yo Gabba Gabba , Blue's Clues , and Moose and Zee . From there, you can choose even more characters from all the shows on Nick Jr.

After you have chosen your characters, it is time to color. Have your child color their little friends any way they like. When the coloring is done, take your scissors and carefully cut your design out. Leave about a ¼ inch 'bubble' around the character. (See above pictures for examples.)

Take your cereal box and cut it at the seams. This will be your stiff backing for this project. If you don't have the boxes, then thick card stock will do just fine. Any thin cardboard you have in your cupboard, (mashed potato, mac and cheese, pasta, etc.) should work fine.

Next, take your glue stick and evenly coat the backside of your character. Make sure to get the edges, too! Press your character onto the cardboard and smooth out the bubbles and glue lumps. It is best to use a glue stick and not white liquid glue. The white glue has a tendency to wet the paper too much and make it either tear, or make the marker ink run.

After the pictures are attached, it is time to use the scissors again. Cut out the design using the edge of the 'bubble' as a guide. Do not worry if your project does not come out perfect. It will be beautiful and fun in your child's eyes.

Once all the characters are cut out, it is time to take your single hole punch and finish up this project. It does not matter how many holes, or how evenly spaced you make the holes. Just go in about ¼ inch from the edge to make the edge strong enough to not tear when the child is using it. The holes should be about ¼ to ½ inch apart. Again, this is a fun project and does not need exact measurements.

Your project is now complete. Have your child choose one of their new lacing shapes and a shoelace and show them how to lace it up. Using shoelaces is great because almost every household has an extra few in a drawer somewhere. The aglet on the shoelace makes a perfect built-in needle to put through the hole with ease. If you have an older child, then you can also use yarn and a large plastic yarn needle.

One other option for this easy craft is to use a photograph as your project. (Do not use an actual photograph, but one printed on regular paper, instead.) This is a great way for your little one to remember a recent vacation, road trip or even a family member. The giant Jelly Belly bean I used is from a recent trip to the Jelly Belly factory. They give out these really nice diner style hats with the large bean on the front. I just cropped the bean out of the digital picture and then printed it. My son, even though he is old enough to not have an interest in this lacing project, absolutely loved the giant bean.

Don't worry if the cardboard or cardstock seems a bit flimsy. You can always double up by gluing two pieces together to strengthen it. This project is not meant to survive the test of time. It is meant as a fun way to leach your kids how to lace with their favorite characters. This project is so inexpensive; you can make more in the blink of an eye!

For more Quick and Easy Crafts for kids, try: Creative Refrigerator Magnets and Toddler Shirt Pillow

Sources:

Personal Experience and Ideas
www.nickjr.com/printables