Punches--who knew!

It was playtime. Dress-ups in one corner, action figures in another, and somebody was being the puppy as others took turns walking her. Then...a simple question led to quite an interesting twist in the plans today. One of the girls asked if she could use the punch I was. (I was getting the rabbits ready to be glued on to the current letter of the week--R). No problem. But it was within a minute or two and every other activity was abandoned and this was the scene during playtime today.

I had to get another 12 punches out and a stack of paper. Everyone had a plan and purpose. If the teacher was doing it, it had to be fun. So we had a demonstration on where the paper slides into the punch and a lesson on taking care of them and they were off to the races. Suns, butterflies, stars, hearts, bathtubs, ice-cream cones, and gingerbread men were popping out of sheets of colored paper.

It was unplanned--and yet it turned out to be really productive time. They had to share the punches and show others how they were used. Paper was traded and bartering skills were learned.

I gave each of them a cup to save their punches in. I figured that they would have to make a fun page for their books with all the effort they put into punching out the shapes.

I've loved punches for years and have quite a collection. I use them often for projects in preschool, cub scouts, and scrap booking. I don't generally let the kids use them--haven't really even thought to till today. I'm sure that they will be requested again.

But their novelty resulted in quite a stir in the class today. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. The kids loved their time and paper creations. They would have punched a lot longer if I hadn't tempted them with the delicious brownies Lilly brought to share today.