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This post is made possible with support from the Association of University Centers on Disabilities through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Learn the Signs. Act Early.”program. All opinions are my own.
One of the things constantly on my mind when the boys were growing up was what are the developmental milestones and are they hitting them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. (LTSAE) initiative was created just for this purpose!
This program will help you to know if your child is hitting milestones at the right time, and their invaluable checklists, videos, and activity ideas will set your mind at ease, letting you when to expect important developmental milestone as well as what to do if you have any concerns. They even have a full printable list that you can print at home or order to be mailed to you.
They list milestones from 2 months to 5 years old so you can see right where you child is at. You can also check out info on what to do if you’re concerned as well as what to ask your doctor! There’s even a milestone app for the tech savvy parents!
On this “Milestone Monday” we’re celebrating a 4 year-old milestone (and one of my crafty favorites) – using scissors! This little ocean themed craft is a fun way to practice scissor work while finding fun ocean animals hidden underneath.
You can play with this multiple ways. For the first one, print out this free sheet of ocean animals and then have your child cut circles out of blue construction paper. You can let them cut free-hand or trace circles for them. Or if you want to surprise them, just cut out this part by yourself.
Glue a small portion of the bottom of the circle over the ocean animals until they are all covered.
Then have your child cut out the “bubbles” to see what’s underneath!
Another way to cover the animals is to cut a water shape out of blue construction paper and just glue the top to the paper. Have them cut the strips off to reveal what’s underneath.
*Tip: If your child is having a hard time getting their scissors under the paper (especially if your construction paper is thicker) fold it at the area adhered to the page to make it pop up allowing for easier cutting.
Try making seaweed glued vertically or even cutting out sea shells! You can then go on to talk about what you see (how many fish, what color etc.) and make up a story about the animals on the page. Have fun celebrating those milestones!
