Hi there!
Last week I had an opportunity to participate in a class that shared ideas for teaching nursery age children. I made an apron to share with the other people in the class, filled with objects that go along with songs.
I was inspired by my friend Monique's apron, that she made several years ago for our church nursery. She made her apron out of oil cloth with large pockets. I have wanted to make one ever since, and the class gave me the perfect opportunity.
I had my 5 year old son model the apron for the pictures, he was willing for about 5 seconds to sit still! He did not like wearing a "girly" apron!
We filled our pockets with star wands, rubber frogs, farm animals, flower petals, and monkey erasers. The options are endless! If you are using this for church music, you can add pictures of Jesus, for example. Anything little that the kids can hold will work. I had a hard time finding finger puppets, but those would be cute too.
Here are a couple of our song choices to go along with the objects:
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
Five Green and Speckled Frogs
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Using a pre-made apron made this project really simple and it was a bonus that the apron was long and could hold several large pockets. I also used several different pocket sizes ranging from 8x10 inches to 4x8 inches, they just need to be big enough to hold your supplies. To make the pockets easier to sew on the apron, I first ironed the edges over by 1/4 inch, then I lightly glued (with fabric glue) the pockets to the apron. After the glue set, I sewed each pocket on with my sewing machine.
I love the bold color and pattern and I think the kids do too! The apron is a hit with small children, they love holding things as they sing.
