Clothespin Animals

What You Need:

• Animal clothespin template #1
• Animal clothespin template #2
• Scissors
• Regular clothespins
• Tiny clothespins
• White card stock paper
• Printer

What You Do:

1. Help your child print out the clothespin animal templates on white card stock paper.
2. Have her use scissors to cut out each animal.
3. Explain to your child that her clothespins will be the legs for the paper animals. The regular clothespins will be for the bigger animals, and the tiny clothespins will be for the smaller animals.
4. Show her how to clip clothespins to the highlighted areas at the bottom of each animal.
5. Can her clothespin animals stand up? Help her adjust the “legs” until each animal can balance on its clothespins.
6. For the moveable clothespin animals, your kindergartener might need help adjusting each clothespin to make the animals bite and grab in just the right way.
7. If your child wants to get creative, let her use scissors and crayons to make trees, houses, barns, and other props out of card stock.
8. Have her attach clothespins to each new prop so that they can stand up.
9. Once she has everything made, she can create a story with her clothespin animals and homemade props. Ask your child to name each of her animals before letting her figure out what adventures her new friends are about to begin.