Barnyard Dance Craft for Fun with Scissors Practice

Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton is a charming board book that you won't mind reading over and over.  You can extend the fun even further with this little craft and activity that go with one of the cutest lines in the story. Cutting it is great fine motor practice for toddlers and preschoolers.

The story opens with an illustration of a cow in green sunglasses playing a tiny fiddle, and the inviting line, "Stomp your feet! Clap your hands! Everybody ready for a barnyard dance!"  It goes on to call out square dance moves for every animal in the barnyard, from the ducks to the donkeys.

(Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.)

One of my favorite lines in Barnyard Dance! (affiliate) is "Spin with the chickens now! Cluck, cluck, cluck." When I read it to Liam when he was a toddler, he loved to get up and spin around for that part. He was (and still is) a go-go-go kind of kid, so getting to move around during a story made it all the more fun for him.


Getting a busy kid to sit still and practice cutting with scissors is sometimes challenging. This simple craft, may help. It's a spinning chicken!

The idea is inspired by this adorable chick from I Heart Crafty Things, and also by my own Summertime Scissors Practice post. But I wanted to make it more interactive, hence the spinning bit.

Barnyard Dance Craft Materials

Construction paper or card stock, white and yellow
Scissors
Googly Eyes
Glue
Tape
Pencil
Circle template - a small plate works well
Red washable tempera paint

Barnyard Dance Craft Instructions

1. Paint 3 of your child's fingers with the red paint, and stamp onto white paper.
2. Using a template, trace and cut out a circle.
3. Have your child cut fringe around the outside of the circle. It may help to draw a second, inner circle so they have a line to stop at.
4. Cut out a yellow beak and glue it on. 
5. Glue on googly eyes.
6. Cut out the red fingers "comb" for the chicken's head and glue on.
7. Tape a pencil to the back.

Now you're ready to spin the chicken. Show your child how to roll the pencil back and forth between their hands.

This post is part of the Monthly Crafting Book Club. For even more ideas to pair with Barnyard Dance, you may like to check it out!