For preschoolers who love a bit of movement, making some simple crepe paper streamers together can add loads of fun to any story time along the themes of unicorns, wonder ponies, rainbows, magic wands, etc. We cut up some crepe paper into ribbons, these can be taped onto a sturdy drinking straw or glued onto a paper plate cut in half. When children can engage in a literacy experience with their whole bodies, it makes a story that much more captivating and fun for them.
I love playing with colourful crepe paper streamers almost as much as the children do. With one in each hand, we can pretend to be galloping unicorns with a swishy tail, or twirl them in the air really fast and make circles and shapes in the air. Today we took our streamers with us outside after we finished story time and had dance time with our streamers and spontaneously created the most delightful game that they enjoyed playing for a good long while. They’d swirl me with their streamer and pretend it was a magic wand and they’d say that they where changing me into: a frog, a butterfly, a cow, a pet ladybug, a kitten, etc. They’d laugh and giggle to see me pretending to be all those things. Then I’d get my streamer and send some of my magic over to them and they’d have to pretend to be that animal too. The joy of these happy moments with preschoolers really is bit of magic!