Letter A Craft Clothespin Alligator
Chomping Clothespin Alligator Craft
What you’ll need to make clothespin alligators:
- Clothespins (1 for each child. Use green to make things even easier)
- Washable craft paint in white and red
- Googly eyes
- Green chenille stems
- Scissors
- School glue
- Green paper
Clothespin Alligator Craft Directions
- Before starting this craft with kids, cut two pieces of chenille stems to a length of 2 inches each. These will become the legs of the alligator.
- Cut a strip of green paper as wide as the clothespin and about 1 1/2 times as long. You’ll need a set of legs, eyes, and strip of paper for each alligator.
- Paint the inside of the clothespin red where it connects when closed. When the red dries, add white dots to make teeth. When the paint is dry, the craft is ready for the kids.
- Show the children how to make an accordion fold with the strip of paper. The folded paper will become the alligator’s back. Glue the paper to the top of the clothespin, leaving enough room for googly eyes.
- Glue the two legs to the bottom of the clothespin and bend out to make legs.
- Glue two google eyes to the top of the clothespin near the mouth.
When the glue dries, the alligator is ready to chomp! Squeeze the tail to make the alligator’s mouth open. The alligator can open its mouth wide to show off its pearly white teeth!
Madreen Karle is a master first grade reading teacher with over 30 years of classroom experience. She taught reading in a special needs and English as a Second Language classroom. After retiring she wrote a reading program to help others learn how to teach reading. She is a trusted educator and author of 5 books to help teach children to read and write. In addition to her books, she is a mentor for 3 websites that give reading teacher tips (Mrs. Karle's Sight and Sound Reading, Mrs. Karle's Reading Patch, and Mrs. Karle's Handwriting Patch). Through her teaching she learned that confidence was the key to learning to read. A child who is not confident at reading does not like to read and struggles to read. Mrs. Karle created "sunshine moments" to help teach children how to grow their confidence and learn to read.
Meeghan Karle Mousaw (Madreen’s daughter) has her Master’s in Special Education. She has 7 years experience teaching children to read online. In addition, she developed a curriculum to teach children handwriting called The Handwriting Patch. With the Handwriting Patch learning is fun because children learn to draw and learn handwriting at the same time. In 2019 The Handwriting Patch curriculum became an amazon best seller the first year it was released, helping thousands of kids learn handwriting with a unique, fun method. She is mom to 6 kids, each with differently learning abilities and struggles.
The Reading Patch was established by the creators of Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading. Together they have been featured on the NBC media outlets. Over the last 7 years in their online platform, Madreen and Meeghan have worked tirelessly with teachers, homeschoolers and parents looking to help children learn to read to become a trusted authority in teaching children to read and advocating early literacy skills. They often partner with other educational experts to deliver the most current information to the Reading Patch community.
Meeghan Karle Mousaw (Madreen’s daughter) has her Master’s in Special Education. She has 7 years experience teaching children to read online. In addition, she developed a curriculum to teach children handwriting called The Handwriting Patch. With the Handwriting Patch learning is fun because children learn to draw and learn handwriting at the same time. In 2019 The Handwriting Patch curriculum became an amazon best seller the first year it was released, helping thousands of kids learn handwriting with a unique, fun method. She is mom to 6 kids, each with differently learning abilities and struggles.
The Reading Patch was established by the creators of Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading. Together they have been featured on the NBC media outlets. Over the last 7 years in their online platform, Madreen and Meeghan have worked tirelessly with teachers, homeschoolers and parents looking to help children learn to read to become a trusted authority in teaching children to read and advocating early literacy skills. They often partner with other educational experts to deliver the most current information to the Reading Patch community.