Early Lit Bits: Learning with Crafts — Popsicle Stick Puzzles

Popsicle Stick Puzzles

Summer is the time for popsicles! Rinse off those wooden popsicle sticks (or buy wooden craft sticks) to create your own picture puzzles. Puzzles can be stored in sandwich bags to take along on summer vacations. Solving puzzles allows children to develop fine motor skills and concentration skills such as matching and sorting. It also helps develop language skills as children listen, follow instructions and talk about what they are doing.

Materials:

Wooden Popsicle Sticks (or craft sticks)
Glue
Pictures cut from a magazine or printed from a computer
Scissors

 To Make:

Cut the picture into narrow strips the width of Popsicle sticks and glue a section of the picture onto each stick. Store dried sticks in a baggie or plastic container.

To Use:

Put the sticks together to reform the picture.

Other Ideas:

Print off large letters from a computer and make letter puzzles. Make puzzles for items of differing colors and scramble the puzzle pieces together so that children need to sort colors apart and then complete each color puzzle. Try writing the name of a color on the end of several wooden sticks. Make sleeves out of felt in corresponding colors. Have children “put the popsicle on the stick” and match the color of each sleeve with the color name written on each stick.

-Anjie G.

 This article originally appeared in our Early Lit Bits eNewsletter. Read the most recent issue online or sign up to receive this monthly update highlighting early literacy tips and resources for parents and caregivers.