In my last post, I shared some activities that we will be using over the next couple of months. One of these was lacing cards.

If you aren’t familiar with what these are, they are stiff cards with holes punched in them. Sometimes they have patterns, and some have pictures/ images with holes punched around the image outline. Children use shoe laces, ribbon, or yarn – and learn to lace it through the holes.

This activity provides an excellent opportunity to work on fine motor skills and eye/ hand coordination. Don’t look now, but you’ll be paying an average of $14.99 for just 10 of these babies online and in stores!

Not only do I remember using them in the preschool where I worked, but I remember using these myself when I was a child! Sure, they weren’t that hard, but it was still fun to do!

Well, we can’t afford $15 for those here (though I’m not sure I’d pay it even if we could afford them), so we made our own. And today, I’d like to share this lesson with YOU!!

You can use several different things for your cards – cardstock (even laminate this once you’ve printed a picture on it), empty cereal or oatmeal box, or even ask your local grocery store if you can have some of the leftover cardboard inserts from canned goods boxes (this wouldn’t be the thick cardboard, but the thin/ though sturdy cardboard sheets used to separate cans or jars).

I myself started to use some leftover cardboard inserts from some scrapbooking sticker and paper sets – but found this rather thick and hard to use.

What you’ll want to do is make several different patterns. Some cards you can make to be basic shapes, such as squares, rectangles, circles, diamonds. Cut the ‘board’ into this shape. Next, you’ll take some hole punchers, and punch holes around the edges of the card.

Be sure to keep the holes at least 1/4 inch from the edge, and 1/2 inch apart. You don’t want the holes to tear easily and ruin the whole board.

Other options are to print some pictures on heavy cardstock. Keep the pictures simple, too much detail will be hard for the child to focus on the task of lacing.

Cut out the picture, leaving a little extra white border around the edges, then laminate yourself with sticky overlay. You could also take them to a local copy store and have them laminated in thicker plastic. Next, you’ll go around the outline and punch holes – again, not too close to the edge or to one another.

Now you’re ready to go. Find some old shoe laces (since these will now stick with the cards), some ribbon, or some yarn. Tie multiple knots upon one another, making one large knot. This knot will hold the string in at the first hole, keeping it from pulling out as the rest of the card is laced.

With my 3 and 4 year olds, I began with a simple rectangle board – punching holes on both sides of the board, as well as the ends. My oldest had it figured out quickly, though it did still take a little time and effort to get it done correctly. He was very proud!

With my 3 year old daughter, we had to go at a little slower pace. The yarn was really long, so I sat close by, helping her pull the thread ALL of the way through. I did end up letting her go on her own after a few holes, stepping back in occassionally to help her pull the yarn. She skipped a couple of holes, but for the first time – I wanted to keep it fun and not make it too hard!

It took a good bit longer for her, but I was so excited just watching her excitement as she laced the last hole! This is a simple task, but for preschoolers – it really is a lot of work! Not too hard, but still working their little minds and hands.

For older children, you can encourage them to keep the under/ over pattern – once they get the hang of what they are doing. Use your judgement. My 4 year old son would love the challenge, but adding this to the list of ‘requirements’ would’ve completely discouraged my 3 year old daughter.

Have fun – and on a budget!!

“Mrs. Candace”