Zipper Thermometer

Mommy Craft

I found this neat idea in an old preschool book, and just had to make it for my kids. Of course I dressed it up quite a bit. The idea is for a zipper to be a movable thermometer for your kids to learn about temperature. I did that--but just added a cute picture to go with it.

To make this craft you will need:

• A zipper
  
• Construction paper
• Packing tape
  
• Heavy paper
  

To make the thermometer you will want to use packing tape or another very heavy tape to adhere the sides of your zipper to paper. I used heavy paper as well for this project. Remember to only tape the sides of the zipper (the cloth) to the paper you do NOT want to tape over the actual teeth of the zipper. Now, make yourself a thermometer. I have added a pattern at the bottom of this post if you need help. I made marks for temperatures in increments of "10." If you live some place warmer you may want to start at 20 and move your way up, if you live some place very cold maybe include negative temps in your thermometer.

Cut the inside of your pattern out (the red part of the thermometer). This is where your zipper will show through.

Tape or glue your thermometer over your zipper paper. I laminated my "picture" to give it extra support and to cut down on wear and tear.

Now each morning your child (children) can take turns finding out the temperature and they can move the zipper to the proper place.

The National Weather Service is a great website to use. Type in your zip code and it will give you the current temperature if you scroll down to where it says "current conditions" on the right hand side of the page.