Children love the sound of tearing paper as well as getting to tear paper. Children tend to hear “don’t tear…..” often, so this may surprise them to hear “it’s okay to tear”.
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Write the name of the color of the paper at the top. Here you see “orange” and “blue”.
Most people don’t know it but paper tearing is actually an important skill toddlers need to build so they can eventually learn to cut, write and draw.
Tearing builds strong fingers and hands. First show the children ‘how’ to tear paper. You need to emphasize that the fingers hold the paper and one hand goes forward and the other goes backward. The child uses his thumb and forefinger in opposing directions. Tearing paper into small pieces improves the ability to use both hands in a coordinated manner.
For this activity, find pictures and words in magazines or ads that are the color of the paper. If this is a small or large group activity, child take their torn pictures to the designated location so they can glue them on the group paper.
For this to be a productive activity, have the supplies ready ahead of time. Also be clear as to the expectations. The child may be very interested and excited and ask to do more – up to you!
To develop concepts during this activity, talk about the real world connections of the pictures.
Model language with repetition by repeating the child’s comments. Be sure to introduce new vocabulary that is sure to be available as the child finds pictures to tear.
Enjoy!
