Tape project

My 2 year old son came home from a playgroup with a lovely artwork for his 4 year old sister.  It was a white paper painted with green paint all over.  He was very proud of his work.  My daughter very kindly, but unenthusiastic-ally said, "Oh, I like your green work" and put the paper aside. I suggested I cut up the paper into shapes of leaves while she draws a tree trunk so we can tape the leaves onto the trunk.  My daughter went to get a piece of paper and her crayon box--she was excited.

For this project we learned:
1. To reuse things creatively to complete a project.
2. To problem solve--- Which side of the leaf will I put the tape on? How do I roll that tape? Which would be the sticky side?  I modeled this to her twice, and allowed her to practice by herself.
3. Measuring--- Just getting the right amount of tape.  Estimating what "1 inch" or length of a thumb might be.
5. Counting--- We counted the number of leaves I was able to cut out from the green paper.
4. To improve fine motor skills-- It isn't that easy for those tiny fingers to pull just the right amount of tape from the dispenser using those pincer grasp.  The child will have to stabilize the dispenser with one hand, and use her dominant hand to pull the tape. While taking tape from the dispenser requires some force, rolling the tape with the sticky part out requires some gentleness using pincer grasp from both hands.  Therefore, being able to switch and regulate the amount of force, of taking tape and sticking it to the leaf, is an excellent fine motor skill.

My kids were very pleased with what they have accomplished TOGETHER!