This center seems dangerous, until you learn the clothes pin trick! My five year old LOVES it.
Materials Needed: small-ish hammer, nails, Dollar tree tray, construction paper or foam liner, small tin to hold nails, stump, clothes pin.
Set-up and Presentation:
- Call child over and tell him you have something (awesome) to show him.
- Carefully choose one nail from the tin and place it in the clothes pin. I use the end, but my five year old likes to place it in the mini-hole close to the spring as seen below.
- Place nail on stump, show child how to grip hammer, and start the nail into the wood.
- Remove clothes pin (placing it back in tray) and hammer in the rest of the way.
- Observe child’s first attempt to set nail with clothes pin and correct (for safety.)
Notes: If you have more than one child, you may need to let them know how many nails they can each have. Otherwise, first child may use all the nails.
Variations: On the second presentation, show child how to remove nails as well and place in another tin. These nails will likely no longer be useful for hammering due to warping.