Sometimes the simplest things are the best. My son was given a Police Kit for his third birthday from a dear friend. The kit in general was a HUGE hit for both my boys. My older son loves all the equipment- the walkie talkie, flashlight and especially the handcuffs. My youngest? He loves the stop and go paddle that came with it. He follows us around the house saying, “STOP!” while showing the stop side and “GO!” while showing the go side. He has the most serious look on his face when he is doing this. Then when you stop or go (depending on his command), he grins from ear to ear, laughs a full on belly laugh and starts again with the serious face. I love it! I thought of all the other three year olds out there that would love this as well so we created our own to share with a friend. And, you guessed it- a huge hit once again. Here is how we made it.
Mama’s Directions
- Print templates (or make your own).
- Cut out the stop and go circles and set them aside.
- Print paddle template (or create you own) on heavy paper or trace it onto cardboard.
- Cut paddle out.
- Glue one sign on each side of the paddle
- Done!
Here are some things you can do with your paddle:
- Play a simple Stop and Go game like my son did.
- Play Freeze Dance, but instead of using words, use the Stop and Go paddle- this is a great one for practicing following directions without words
- Play Red Light Green Light using the paddle instead of words.
Stop and Go Songs:
- Ella Jenkins: Stop and Go from Songs Children Love to Sing
- Elizabeth Mitchell: Stop and Go from Catch the Moon
- Anne-Marie Akin: Walking, Walking from Songs for Wiggleworms
Templates available! Email a request to [email protected]
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Cute activity and thanks for providing the printables. I was thinking an easy way to make the paddle would be to stick them onto a paper plate with a ruler taped to it. (haha, ok, that’s my lazy way). Kids definitely love being in control of stop and go!
Hey- that works too! 🙂
My 4 year old will love these, she will be forcing her 2 year old sister to stop and go constantly. Thankfully at the moment the 2 year old is happily complying with her sister’s requests.:)
I love this but I know Miss Possum will LOVE this even more. I am so going to print these out. I think even the Twinkles might get into it too.
Oh this game is such fun! We like to play it running around the backyard, just yelling out the words 🙂 My son likes to be in charge, telling me whether to ‘stop’ or ‘go; 🙂 I really like your signs though, he would enjoy these!
Just incase you would like to make these for your son, I attached the templates! 🙂 Enjoy! Stephanie