Activity
Button Buzzer
What did kids play with before they had television and video games? Button buzzers have been a popular toy throughout history. They were used by colonial children, American Indian children and pioneer children. They're easy to make, and they'll give your child a great chance to boost her fine motor skills!
What You Need:
- Button (2 holes, flat on both sides, at least 1inch wide)
- Permanent colored markers, optional
- Heavy-duty string (cotton or cotton-poly mix)
- Scissors
What You Do:
- If your child wants to decorate the button, invite her to color it with the permanent markers. She can add polka-dots, stripes, or anything else she can think of to make the button her own.
- When she's done decorating, it's time to assemble the buzzers. Cut 2 feet of string. The string you choose must be strong enough to withstand twists and rubbing but fine enough to slide easily through buttonholes.
- Thread the string through both buttonholes. If your child wants to string the buttons herself, pre-treat one tip of the string with glue and shape it to a point for easier threading.
- Knot the ends of the string together, and place the button in the middle, so that loops come out from each side of the button.
- Have her place the knotted end of string over one index finger, and the other end of the loop over the other index finger.
- Touching index fingers to thumbs, encourage her to swing the button in a circular motion until the string is tightly twisted.
- Then, have her gently pull and release the twisted string in accordion fashion. The button will make a buzzing sound!
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