Looking for winter STEM activities for kids? This fun felt penguin dress-up activity for preschoolers is a fun winter-themed busy bag that will provide hours of penguin activities for toddlers and preschoolers.
My kids are fond of penguins (who isn’t? They are so adorable!).This week, I thought I’d make a felt penguin playset for my preschooler to play with.
It was surprisingly easy to make, and older kids could easily make it on their own.
Learn how I made our felt penguin dress-up activity for preschoolers below!
The Benefits of Play for Preschoolers
Play is an important part of a preschooler’s development. Studies have shown that play helps children to learn and grow in many ways. It promotes physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and language development.
Play also provides children with opportunities to explore the world around them, build relationships with others, and develop problem-solving skills.
Through play, preschoolers can gain a better understanding of themselves and the world around them.
The benefits of play for preschoolers are numerous.
It encourages creativity and imagination, teaches self-regulation skills, builds confidence and independence, fosters problem-solving abilities, develops motor skills and coordination, strengthens social skills such as cooperation and communication with peers, and encourages exploration of new ideas.
All these benefits help to prepare preschoolers for future educational success by providing them with the foundational skills they need to succeed in school.
By engaging in play activities, preschoolers are able to explore the world around them in a safe environment.
Through trial and error they can learn about cause and effect as well as how to interact with others.
This helps them build their self-esteem as they practice different skills such as sharing, taking turns, cooperating with others, managing emotions, and even developing empathy towards others.
The benefits of play for preschoolers cannot be overstated; it is an essential part of their development that should not be overlooked or underestimated!
That’s why I consider playtime a valuable part of preschool STEM activities and STEM projects for toddlers.
What You Need to Make Felt Penguins
You’ll need just a few things to make the penguin dress up set.
- Plastic bag
- Felt (I used a package of assorted colors of felt)
- Fabric scissors
- Pen
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Small pom poms
Winter STEM Classroom Sets
If you don’t have time to gather the supplies yourself, you’ll love these winter science experiment kits for the classroom!
Most of these fun experiment boxes are designed for elementary school, but many of them touch on middle school science topics as well.
More Penguin Activities for Preschoolers
Check out these other fun penguin activities that your preschoolers will also love!
- Printable Penguin 10 frame Worksheet Perfect for Counting Practice!
- Penguin Winter Sensory Bin
- P is for Penguin Alphabet Craft
- Penguin Math and Counting Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten
- Penguin Dot to Dot Activity
Directions to Make the Felt Penguin Dress-Up Activity for Preschoolers
First, draw the outline of everything you’ll need for the penguins’ bodies on the felt.
I decided to make penguins that could either be girls or boys depending on their accessories.
You’ll need a black body piece, white body piece, four legs, two beaks, and four flippers. Our penguins are about four inches tall. Use fabric scissors to cut everything out and it will be much easier.
Glue the feet and flippers to the back of the black body with hot glue.
Make patterns for whatever accessories you want your penguins to have.
I made some hats, some mittens, some scarves, some sunglasses, some bows, and a purse.
You can use your imagination for the accessories.
I also included some pom poms that can be buttons or whatever else the kids imagine while playing.
Trace the patterns on your felt and cut out the felt pieces.
I glued a pom pom onto each hat, but you don’t have to do that if you want more flexibility with your designs.
Place everything in the bag, and you’re done!