Shape Rockets- Back to School Basics

Over the past month I've been sharing some Back to School Basics posts. They have included simple activities reviewing preschool and pre-k math and reading activities. In addition to practicing numbers and letters, scissor skills are on the top of our list of things to work on. This craft is a great way to practice scissor skills by cutting different types of lines to create a fun project.

Our kitchen has turned into a rocket making workshop this week. Instead of doing cute Fall crafts, rockets are the only thing my son is interested in! We have probably done this project four times in two days.

If you have a child who loves rockets or who needs a simple project to help practice scissors skills, this is a great one.

Materials Needed: colored cardstock, crayons, markers, a pencil, scissors, and glue. 

How to make a shape rocket:

If you check out the pictures above, you can get the general directions. We start the project with me creating a large rectangle, triangle, and some circles on cardstock with a marker. Sometimes my son chooses to draw his own shapes.

1. Have your child cut out the shapes that you've drawn ahead of time. My son needs some guidance with the circles. They are really hard for him, so I try and talk him through cutting them and help guide his paper a bit if I need to. The rectangles, triangles, and squares are a cinch for him.
2. Glue the cut out shapes onto a larger piece of cardstock to build your rocket.
3. Snip lots of little slits on one rectangular piece of paper to create the fire coming out of the rocket. 
4. Add any other details with crayons, markers, or glued on pieces of paper. My son has turned his rockets into cards for teachers or just has enjoyed practicing writing his name on them or other words, like Apollo 13 (in the above photo).

Do you have a rocket lover at your house? You might enjoy these other Toddler Approved rocket projects and activities: 

• Blast off to Beginning Sounds Stomp Rocket Activity
• Rocket Shape Collage
• Foil Rockets
• Firework Candy Rocket Pops

Not into rockets? Are you looking for some fun Fall crafts and activities? 

The Artful Parent recently released this beautiful Fall e-book called The Artful Year: Autumn Crafts and Recipes E-book. The book features loads of gorgeous and fun activities and crafts to do with your kids. I feel privileged to be an affiliate and share this e-book with you! Stay tuned for some sneak peaks and a little bit more info about the book tomorrow. In the meantime, just click on the image here or in my right top sidebar if you want to check out more information about the book. It is selling for $9.99, which is a steal considering all of the great ideas you will be getting! Click here to grab your own copy right away!