We have long been fans of the amazingly inspired work of Lauren O. Venell. While I was very excited to try our hand at it, I was skeptical regarding the kids' (3 and 4 yo) attention to detail, focus and enthusiasm for it. Was I pleasantly surprised! They LOVED it. With a few simple directions they were off, creating amazing symmetrical designs of their own. They sat for almost an hour doing this and asked to do another one first thing the next morning. All around success. With a bit of simple preparation this is a great activity for pre schoolers and we're excited to see what older kids and adults could make of it.
MATERIALS
Stickers - a variety of shapes and sizes work well, having 6 or more of the same style is best for a symmetric result.
White paper - if you have square paper that's great, if not, you can cut it to make a square.
pencil
role of packing/ masking tape
smaller circular thing (we used Carmex)
DIRECTIONS
1. Make your paper into a square by folding one corner down as shown. You can cut along where the edges meet or use a pencil to draw a line along the edge and then cut there to make a square.
2. Open the paper and fold it in half the other direction, making a "taco" fold, or triangle.
3. Open the paper and fold it in half, making a "hot dog" fold, or rectangle.
4. Open the paper and make one last "hot dog" fold in the other direction.
5. Center a roll of tape on the middle of the square. you can use a ruler to do this, or just make a mark on a piece of paper and measure it against each side, adjusting the tape as necessary.
6. Trace a circle along the outside of the roll of tape.
7. Trace a circle along the inside of the roll of tape.
8. Center your smaller object inside the two circles and trace another circle around it. We stopped at three circles, though you could start using larger concentric circles to give your more guidelines.
9. Use the circular pencil lines and folded straight lines as guides for stickering.
10. Go for it. The end result is best if you stay symmetrical. Experiment with different shapes and patterns.
11. Once you've finished, gently erase the pencil marks between the stickers.
12. Hang them proudly on your wall!
We have long been fans of the amazingly inspired work of Lauren O. Venell. While I was very excited to try our hand at it, I was skeptical regarding the kids' (3 and 4 yo) attention to detail, focus and enthusiasm for it. Was I pleasantly surprised! They LOVED it. With a few simple directions they were off, creating amazing symmetrical designs of their own. They sat for almost an hour doing this and asked to do another one first thing the next morning. All around success. With a bit of simple preparation this is a great activity for pre schoolers and we're excited to see what older kids and adults could make of it.
MATERIALS
Stickers - a variety of shapes and sizes work well, having 6 or more of the same style is best for a symmetric result.
White paper - if you have square paper that's great, if not, you can cut it to make a square.
pencil
role of packing/ masking tape
smaller circular thing (we used Carmex)
DIRECTIONS
1. Make your paper into a square by folding one corner down as shown. You can cut along where the edges meet or use a pencil to draw a line along the edge and then cut there to make a square.
2. Open the paper and fold it in half the other direction, making a "taco" fold, or triangle.
3. Open the paper and fold it in half, making a "hot dog" fold, or rectangle.
4. Open the paper and make one last "hot dog" fold in the other direction.
5. Center a roll of tape on the middle of the square. you can use a ruler to do this, or just make a mark on a piece of paper and measure it against each side, adjusting the tape as necessary.
6. Trace a circle along the outside of the roll of tape.
7. Trace a circle along the inside of the roll of tape.
8. Center your smaller object inside the two circles and trace another circle around it. We stopped at three circles, though you could start using larger concentric circles to give your more guidelines.
9. Use the circular pencil lines and folded straight lines as guides for stickering.
10. Go for it. The end result is best if you stay symmetrical. Experiment with different shapes and patterns.
11. Once you've finished, gently erase the pencil marks between the stickers.
12. Hang them proudly on your wall!
