Funny felt faces are good for hours of play. A great activity for older kids to practise their scissor and cutting skills. Letting them use their own imagination can result in great creations. Smaller kids will enjoy playing with it and learn about the different parts of the face at the same time.
It is another “busy bag” activity that you can easily store in a zip lock bag and take with you when you are on the road or go to a restaurant and need to keep your child busy.
Felt on felt sticks to each other, which makes it the perfect material for this activity.
Age
From 2 years
What you need
White paper and pencil
Felt in different colours
Scissors
Google eyes (optional)
Preparation
Draw or print a face, a couple of different styles of hair, noses, mouths, glasses, hats, beards and moustaches etc. on white paper. Cut them out and use these as a template. If you don't have any google eyes you could also make a few sets of eyes. Trace the templates onto the respective pieces of felt and cut them out. If you are great at drawing free-hand, draw straight on the felt instead of making templates first. An advantage of making templates is that it is easy to duplicate a specific shape like the face or to make 2 or more sets of funny faces.
Play
On a table or tray put down all the different shapes. Start with the face and add a nose, eyes, mouth, hair etc onto it to create a face. Show the smaller kids how to do it and then let them have a go at it.
Add-ons for more fun play
There will only be felt and paper leftovers to clean up after making the shapes. Store the finished product in a bag or container so the kids can grab it when they want to play with it.
Educational
Around the age of 2,5 to 3 years, you can start to teach your child scissor cutting skills. Use some sharp children's scissors for it. When the scissors aren't sharp, it is hard for your child to cut and they might get frustrated and give up. There are also scissors in the market with an unique system that automatically opens the handles after each cut. These are ideal for younger kids.
First teach your child how to use the scissors by randomly cutting pieces of paper. After they master this skill, move on to teach them to cut on a straight line. Make it harder each time by giving them circles, triangles and other complexed shapes to cut.
Did you know that cutting with scissors is a pre-handwriting skill? With both scissor cutting and writing, you are using your thumb, forefinger and middle finger together. By learning to cut with a scissor, kids are practising using these 3 fingers together as well as strengthen the finger muscles. This will help them when it is time to learn to write.
It is another “busy bag” activity that you can easily store in a zip lock bag and take with you when you are on the road or go to a restaurant and need to keep your child busy.
Felt on felt sticks to each other, which makes it the perfect material for this activity.
Age
From 2 years
What you need
White paper and pencil
Felt in different colours
Scissors
Google eyes (optional)
Preparation
Draw or print a face, a couple of different styles of hair, noses, mouths, glasses, hats, beards and moustaches etc. on white paper. Cut them out and use these as a template. If you don't have any google eyes you could also make a few sets of eyes. Trace the templates onto the respective pieces of felt and cut them out. If you are great at drawing free-hand, draw straight on the felt instead of making templates first. An advantage of making templates is that it is easy to duplicate a specific shape like the face or to make 2 or more sets of funny faces.
Play
On a table or tray put down all the different shapes. Start with the face and add a nose, eyes, mouth, hair etc onto it to create a face. Show the smaller kids how to do it and then let them have a go at it.
Add-ons for more fun play
- You could make themed faces, like scary faces for Halloween, or a bunny for Easter.
- Make a whole person, including a body and clothes to dress them up.
- Felt can also be used to make a pizza factory. Cut out pizza shapes, mushrooms, tomato, salami, cheese etc. and the kids can make their favourite pizza, over and over again.
- Or make a city felt board with houses, farm animals, people, cars, the sun and clouds.
There will only be felt and paper leftovers to clean up after making the shapes. Store the finished product in a bag or container so the kids can grab it when they want to play with it.
Educational
Around the age of 2,5 to 3 years, you can start to teach your child scissor cutting skills. Use some sharp children's scissors for it. When the scissors aren't sharp, it is hard for your child to cut and they might get frustrated and give up. There are also scissors in the market with an unique system that automatically opens the handles after each cut. These are ideal for younger kids.
First teach your child how to use the scissors by randomly cutting pieces of paper. After they master this skill, move on to teach them to cut on a straight line. Make it harder each time by giving them circles, triangles and other complexed shapes to cut.
Did you know that cutting with scissors is a pre-handwriting skill? With both scissor cutting and writing, you are using your thumb, forefinger and middle finger together. By learning to cut with a scissor, kids are practising using these 3 fingers together as well as strengthen the finger muscles. This will help them when it is time to learn to write.