Would you like to come up with some printable file folders for your children? File folders are a wonderful way to help your children learn and grow and it’s a great way to avoid having them watch the television when you are in need of crafts that will help to keep them busy. To get started with file folder themes you want to take a look at the various holidays and other events in the spring. This is the best way to come up with unique file folder ideas for your children. Here are some of the various materials you need in order to get started.
Materials for the file folder
• Multiple file folders (use various colors to make them stand out)
• Glue gun and glue sticks
• Magic markers
• Staplers
• Fabric
• Envelope
• Construction paper
• Contact paper
Now that you have some of the essential items for the file folder, you will then move onto finding some great themes and cut outs to use. Considering it’s spring you should look into some themes like Easter and St. Patrick’s Day. Here is a fun idea for a file folder game, the flower garden.
To create the flower garden you will need to start with an activity sheet. There are multiple websites you can choose from but this particular design is found from mormanchic.com/crafty/filefolders.asp. Once you have the activity sheet, it will help to guide you want you need to do and you can choose to change different aspects of the game. Print it out on cardstock and you may want to laminate it so it’s a little durable and stronger. Here are the next steps to follow:
- Print the cut outs and trim them. Have your kids color them or consider printing them in color and then laminating them to make them stronger.
- Use Velcro and attach it to the appropriate areas (this is found on the activity sheet)
- Attach the Velcro to the different flower pieces and other parts of the activity sheet. Once it is done you may want to add it to other areas like the clouds so the kids can have butterflies and other insects to add to the flower activity sheet.
- Use a baggie and attach it to the back of the file folder as this can be used to store the various cutouts.
File folder games need to not only be engaging and entertaining; you need to look into adding some challenges to them. This means you need to consider teaching math skills or reading skills. Change up the various skills based on the age of your kids as you want to keep it to simple skills for younger kids and then harder and more aggressive learning skills for your older children.
How many pieces should you add to the file folder? It depends on the age but it’s a good idea to consider larger sized pieces for your toddlers so they have an easier time identifying them. Keep it simple using shapes along with colors and only go up to the number 5. Once they start to master these skills you can then move up with more numbers and advanced skills.
Here are some other great skills to teach in the file folder games:
- Near and Far
- Tall and Short
- Top and Bottom
- Up and Down
- Shapes and sizes
- ABCs
- 123s
Remember to laminate everything as this will make it last longer and it’s less likely to get as dirty and need replacement parts. To be safe you should print out the cutouts at least 2 times so you have them just in case you need replacement pieces.