In a time when the emphasis in education is increasingly on testing preparation, it’s great to take a break and have some “old-fashioned” fun with paper, scissors, and crayons. abcteach’s Paper Roll Pals provide such an opportunity, with dozens of templates that kids can print out, color, cut out, and paste onto paper rolls. We’ve found that kids from Pre-K to 5th grade have a blast assembling these Pals.
How to get started
Head over to our Paper Roll Pals section on abcteach.com. There are a number of free templates to choose from, and even more for abcteach members (learn more). Download the assembly instructions, and print any templates that interest your students or children. Have kids bring in used paper rolls to use for their Pals (you can also roll a sheet of heavier paper into a cylinder if you don’t have rolls to use). With crayons, colored pencils, or water color paints, have kids color the designs. After the designs are colored, cut them out and paste them to the paper rolls.
Once your Paper Roll Pals are decorated and assembled, get creative! Use the characters in a class or home puppet show. Have kids compare two Pals using a Venn Diagram, or write a story using the puppet characters. Use puppets to create math problems (e.g. How many puppets have hats?). Make a board game using the puppets as game pieces. Have kids design and draw a new Paper Roll Pal that represents them.
As you can see, the possibilities are many. When you create your paper Roll Pals, let us know! Send pictures of your students’ creations to [email protected] to be featured on our blog and share your ideas with other educators.
Have fun creating!