This could easily be a kids project, but since my son is younger, I thought it would be easier for him to put the puzzle together if it was neatly colored.
Materials: coloring page, markers, red and blue cardstock, scissors, glue, and laminating paper (optional).
Directions:
1. Find a 4th of July coloring page that you like and print it out. We found ours here.
2. Color the 4th of July coloring page or have your child color the page.
3. Cut out the pictures.
4. Glue the picture onto a sturdy colored piece of cardstock. Let it dry.
5. Draw a puzzle piece pattern on the back of the cardstock.
6. Cut out the puzzle pieces.
7. Trace the puzzle pieces onto another piece of cardstock.
8. Laminate all puzzle pieces and the red cardstock base (optional).
9. Put the puzzle together! I modeled how to do it first (since my son is younger and this was a harder project for him) and then I let him try it on his own.
He was really excited when he figured out some of the pieces on his own!
Pretty good job for his first try!
Since for younger kids this project requires some more advanced fine motors skills to try and keep everything in place, you could add velcro or have your child glue the puzzle pieces down (if you don't plan to re-use it). My son LOVED this puzzle and wanted to do it again and again. Since keeping the pieces in place was hard for him, he showed me where they were supposed to go and then I put them in place.
While we put the puzzle together we talked about the shapes we saw, what the puzzle edges looked like (rounded, curvy, pointed, sharp, bumpy, etc.), and the parts of the picture that we saw. We used direction words like "on top," "underneath," "below," etc. as he tried to explain to me where to put each piece.
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