Open-the-Door House Craft

My mother gave me the idea for having the girls (3 years old) make their own interactive books with flaps to open, things that pop up, etc..  We started with this simple craft featuring a house with a door that you can open and close.  Although they needed assistance, I tried to let them do as much as possible on their own.  Here's the process..

To draw the house, each girl connected the dots that I drew on her paper to make a square house with a triangle roof.  Then I drew the outline of a door for them (thinking back I could have had them connect the dots for this as well).  Then they helped me fold the paper in half vertically.  They carefully cut on the lines:

Then we folded the paper horizontally so they could cut on the other line (only one side of the door).  They folded the hinge of the door out themselves and were impressed by what they had just cut out:

Together, we placed another piece of paper underneath and traced the outline of the door.  Then I explained that if they draw something inside that rectangle, it would appear when the door opened.  I had to demonstrate a couple times before they understood that only what is drawn inside the rectangle will appear.  This was actually quite a challenge for them to draw within a limited area on the paper when it is so tempting to use up the entire space!

E drew a dog, and L drew a boy.  I think their favorite part was using the glue stick to cover the bottom piece of paper.  Once again, I had to demonstrate how everything will fit together so they'll understand that the part under the door will not get glued.

Then I showed the kids how to assemble their final product.  They spent quite a bit of time opening and closing the doors of their little houses:

This activity was more about following a process than creative expression, but I think both kinds of art experiences are good for my Preschool-age kids to learn.  And, of course, it's always a lot of fun creating something that you can later play with...