I’ve been seeing these craft stick magnets from Teach Preschool on Pinterest, and I wanted to try some myself. I was given a box of craft supplies by a friend that had colored craft sticks, so these were pretty easy to make! Our Oil Pan Magnetic Board is the perfect place to use these.
Craft Stick Magnets
Supplies:
- Jumbo craft sticks
- Paint, colored pencils, or crayons (if using plain craft sticks)
- Magnets or magnetic strip
- Glue (I recommend Super Glue, but be careful with it!)
1) If your craft sticks are not already colored, you’ll want to paint them or use colored pencils or crayons to color them. I don’t recommend markers unless you don’t mind messy hands every time your child uses these!
2) Glue a length of magnet to the back of each craft stick. I use a little bit of glue along with the sticky magnets to be sure the magnet stays in place. I also like to use a fairly long strip to avoid the dangers of magnets being swallowed by a child. Of course, you’ll always want to supervise when your children play with these.
3) Place on a magnetic surface. See if your child can build various shapes (rectangles, squares, triangles, etc.) or letters. Let them experiment!
You could color-code the shapes, if desired. I just made five of each color to begin with, and I’ll probably add more later.
Olivia Hamilton says
I have been receiving your newsletter & have gotten so many ideas from you for my preschooler and for the hands-on preschool class I will be teaching in our co-op this year! Thank you thank you thank you so much!
Stacie says
Thank you so much, Olivia, for taking the time to let me know! I appreciate so much knowing I’m helping others out!
Tammy W. says
I know this will sound like a really dumb question, but what kind of glue did you use? I have a 2yo who still puts anything available in his mouth, and I’ve tried hot glue and many brands of craft glues for learning and busy bag parts, but he can out smart them all! (I made something very similar to these magnetic craft sticks for a busy bag by gluing velcro to each end of colored craft sticks, but the velcro simply won’t hold!) Thanks.
Btw, we’re planning to start our “X” week next week, and I’ve started a Pinterest board with some additional ideas I’m finding to go with the theme. Since my guys are a big younger than your girls (2 and 3.5) and don’t quite have drawing abilities yet, I’ll be printing a map and possibly creating stickers instead of having them add hand-drawn pictures each week. Perhaps I’ll also have some ideas that are more boy-ish for those boy mommies out there, as we go along. 🙂 Thanks for all your work and for sharing it with the rest of us!
Rachel says
I’m so pumped I found your curriculum! It’s exactly what I had been looking for all summer, and right on time! It’s honestly a huge answered prayer. Loving the simplicity for me and the excitement for my daughter. Thanks for everything! Here’s to our first day of homeschool preschool!
Gina Crews says
I did this with my grandson and plan to start it again with him soon. He learned SO much and loves the attention. His little sister will be joining in as well. Thank you!
Stacie Nelson says
I love this! Thank you for sharing!