Mobiles - An exercise in balance and design.

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Supplies:

• construction paper and/or white paper, fabric, 3x5 cards ...

• paint or crayons, tissues, and stapler or glue

• yarn, string, odds and ends

• a clothes hanger, embroidery hoop, or cardboard paper towel roll

On Friday: Help your child select a theme for his mobile. A young child may want to simply paint or color two large fish, staple, and stuff with tissues or newspaper.  An older child may want to construct a multi-tiered mobile of abstract shapes and design. The theme for the above mobile was "I See the Sea." 

Directions:

1. Choose a theme: Shapes, colors, methods of transportation, seasons, the 5 senses, animals, insects, clothing, family, sea life, space, ...

2. Choose a suspension method.  An embroidery hoop makes a circular mobile, while a clothes hanger, paper towel cardboard, dowel, twig, etc, may also be chosen.

3. Construct objects to be hung using any of the supplies listed above.  Suspend objects using varying lengths of yarn or string.  Adjust spacing of suspended objects so that the mobile is balanced.