At Cione and Fishtown Recreation Centers, we prepared paper bag puppets with two eyes and a fuzz ball nose as well as some pieces of construction paper that would be used by the students to create a belly, paws, a tail, and ears. We also handed them crayons so that they could add whiskers and collars. The students used glue to paste the construction paper on the paper bags, making either a cat or a dog paper bag puppet.
It was a great way for students to practice motor skills like coordination of hand movements, as they glued the construction paper to the paper bag. It also allowed them to choose between a cat and dog. At the end of the craft-making, we taught them what cats eat and dogs eat, as well as why they wear collars. We also taught them that dogs and cats need water, similar to humans.
The pieces of construction paper were cut out such that they had a shape the children could recognize. Examples of this would be using oval shaped ears for dogs or triangle shaped ears for cats. We taught them what each shape was and helped them glue these on. It was a great way of teaching them the different shapes and how they are applied in the real world.
