Line up, please

Here's another lift-the-flap writing idea, similar to Paper Buildings in Town.

How to make it:

1.  Fold the paper down lengthways, down to about 3cm (for A4) away from the edge.

2. Concertina the paper.

3. Flatten the concertina, draw the outline of the figure on the top part and cut round it.

4. Unfold the concertina.  Fold the smaller sides together and make two cuts for the flaps.

5.  Glue the two sides together, but don't get any glue on the flaps!

There are many different topic areas that this could be used for.  My figures above are saying their names and what foods they like and don't like.  You could use them to give personal information, to introduce members of the family, to practise personal description or to say what sports someone likes, for example.

I would recommend using heavy paper, as normal photocopier paper isn't stiff enough for the figures to stand up.  Using A3 paper would give you bigger flaps and therefore more space for writing.  Coloured pencils might be better than felt tips for the colouring in, so that the colour doesn't bleed through to the underside of the flaps.  You could also glue on hair, hats or different clothes made of other pieces of paper.

If you're after a simpler version, for the first step just fold the paper completely in half and don't cut any legs. Then you can either write directly onto the figures or make flaps in the same way as before (see photo below).

Off to wash the felt-tip off my hands.

UPDATE 23.10.12:  I tried this with my Year 3s last week, and many of them found the folding and cutting difficult.  Therefore I have created a template which is free for you to download from my website.  Just fold the lines in the order indicated by the numbers and cut the shaded areas.