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Little ones love to rip things up.
Help them to develop this natural curiosity by teaching them to fold, scrunch and rip up junk mail.
Check out the video below to see how to make the most out of this fun and easy activity.
Remember to use recyclable paper for this activity where you can.
What are the benefits of ripping up paper activities?
- Tearing paper is a fun way to develop fine motor skills.
- Encouraging your child to talk about what they are doing will help them expand their words into sentences.
- Use words like 'rustle', 'crunch', and 'loud' help children learn new words describing sounds.
- Asking your child to get creative with their scrunched paper helps to boost their imagination skills.
- Letting your child lead the play is a great way to build confidence.
Top tips for ripping up paper with toddlers
You can choose different items to rip up together such as used paper, old cereal boxes, newspapers and used paper bags.
Use words like 'rustling', 'crunch', and 'loud' to describe the sounds the paper makes. See if your child can repeat the words back to you.
You could also use words like 'slow' and 'fast' to see whether your child can rip the paper at different speeds. This is great for their language learning but also challenges their motor skills.
As your child's physical skills develop, you can challenge them to rip paper in lots of different ways. Can they rip it into strips? Or how about a shape, like a circle or a square? Or perhaps they can create little frills on the paper and not rip all the way through.
All of these examples are challenging for their hand-eye coordination and your little one will likely struggle with them. But as they get older, keep practising and help them develop these skills.
Once you've ripped up your paper, you can encourage your child to use their imagination and create something with the bits.
They could make a nest or a bed for their teddy or make it rain or snow. They could try and create a pretty picture with the scraps of paper. Or make a ball to throw or roll.
Supervise your child throughout this activity and praise and encourage each attempt.
Keep talking through everything they do, helping them expand their understanding of verbs and describing words.
More fun with household items
There is so much that you can do with your little ones using only household items. Here are some cheap, easy and fun ideas for you to try at home:
- Why not play a game of pretend washing up with a cardboard box?
- Make your own matching card game using some pens and paper.
- You can transform your old socks into sock puppets for the whole family. Why not put on a show?
