Rainbow Shape Mobile

How we did it:
Materials List
- construction paper - white and rainbow colors
- scissors
- jumbo craft sticks (2)
- ribbon
- glue
- cotton balls
- markers - optional
- yarn (or string)
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Gather all materials. This was a great craft for using up scrap construction paper from other projects that we have done.
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While I was cutting out the various shapes, the kids used the markers to color their craft sticks. This really didn't add anything to the project, but it kept them occupied while I cut out a circle, triangle, square, and rectangle in each color for each child. I made these with my 2 and 3-year-olds, but older kids could certainly practice their fine motor skills by cutting out their own shapes. You could also cut out one set and have your child use them as a template to trace their own shapes.
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After I finished cutting out the various shapes, we used them to review some math sorting skills. First, the kids sorted their shapes by color. This was the easiest one for my 2-year-old to do.
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After we sorted them by color, the kids then sorted them by shape. My 2-year-old had a harder time with this because he kept wanting to put the same colors together. I found that it was easier if I asked him to find all of the circles first and then we moved through the shapes one by one.
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After sorting our piles into the four different shapes, the kids took one shape at a time and put them in rainbow order. This made it easier to glue them onto the ribbon for their mobiles.
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The kids glued each of their shapes to the ribbon and then we glued the ribbons to their craft sticks.
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After the ribbons were glued, the kids thought their mobiles still needed something, so we decided to add clouds. I cut out cloud shapes from white construction paper and the kids glued cotton balls to them.
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Once we glued the clouds to our ribbons, I used yarn to hang the mobile from our kitchen chandelier. The kids loved the new addition to our breakfast nook!