INSIDE: Check out these 7 fun and easy traffic stoplight crafts that are perfect for Black History Month to celebrate the inventor of the traffic light Garrett Morgan. These crafts would also make a great addition to any transportation unit for toddlers and preschoolers!
Who Was Garrett Morgan?
Garret Morgan was an American inventor who improved on the traffic signal to include three signals instead of just two. In the early 1920s, Morgan witnessed a terrible accident between a horse drawn cart and a vehicle at an intersection. Before his invention traffic signals only had two positions: stop and go. After Morgan invention an – “all hold” was added, which is now what we consider the amber sign. HeI patented the idea in 1922 and later sold the idea to General Electric for $40,0000, which is $610,0000 in todays money (reference Scientific American).
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Looking for transportation activities? Check out this amazing roundup: 35+ Toy Car and Truck Activities for Kids
7 Traffic Stoplight Crafts for Kids
Traffic Stoplight Suncatcher Craft
Supplies
- Contact Paper
- Black construction paper
- Red, Green and Yellow Tissue Paper
- Masking Tape
- Double Sided tape
Instructions
- Grab a bowl and trace 3 circles in black construction paper. Cut them out and then cut out the center to create the outline of a circle
- Cut a piece of contact paper about 7 inches long. Tape it to the table or floor with the paper side facing out. Peel off the paper.
- Grab your circle outlines and place them on the sticky side of the contact paper.
- Grab your tissue paper and decorate each circle red, yellow and green.
- Take another sheet of contact paper 7 inches long and peel off the paper backing. Stick that ontop of the craft to seal in the tissue paper. Cut off any extra.
- Display on a window using double sided tape.
Cotton Pad Traffic Stoplight
Supplies
- Cotton pad
- Glue
- Cardboard
- Bowl for tracing
- 3 bowls for coloured water
- Red, green dn yellow food colouring
- Water
- 3 Eye droppers
- Black paint and brush (optional)
Instructions
- Grab a piece of cardboard about the width of a flap on a normal sized cardboard box. Use a bowl to trace three circles. (Optional: At the point if you want the background to be black, paint the cardboard black and set it aside to dry. To draw the circles use a white pencil crayon so that you can see it on the black paint.)
- Glue your cotton pads inside circles.
- Grab three bowls and fill with water and a drop of red, yellow and green food colouring respectively.
- Use eye droppers to colour each cotton pad circle. Set aside to dry.
Cupcake Liner Traffic Stoplight Craft
Supplies
- Small red, yellow and green cupcake liners
- Glue
- Black construction paper
- Craft stick
- Tape
Instructions
- Grab your black construction paper and cut it in half.
- Take your small cupcake liners and flatten them out with the colour side facing out.
- Glue each to the black construciotn paper in order of a traffic stoplight.
- Grab you craft stick and tape it to the back of the construction paper.
Cardboard Tube Traffic Stoplight Craft
Supplies
- Cardboard tube
- Scissors
- Craf glue or hot glue gun
- Red, yellow, green and black paint
- Paint brushes
- Cardboard
Instructions
- Grab a piece of cardboard about the width of a flap on a normal sized cardboard box.
- Cut three short sections off the cardboard tube.
- Use craft glue or a hot glue gun to glue the short sections of cardboard tube on to the cardboard like a traffic light.
- Pour out some red, yellow and green apints and paint each tube red, yellow and green. Paint the bottom and the sides.
- Take your black painting and paint the rest of the cardboard and the outside of the cardboard tubes.
- Set aside to dry.
Handprint Traffic Stoplight Craft
Supplies
- Red, Yellow and green construction apper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Black paint
- Paint brush
- Cardboard
Instructions
- Grab a piece of cardboard about the width of a flap on a normal sized cardboard box.
- Paint the piece of cardboard black. Set aside to dry.
- Take your child’s hand and trace it on some red construction paper. Cut it out. Repeat with the yellow and green construction paper.
- Glue the red, yellow and green handprints on the painted cardboard.
Traffic Stoplight Sensory Bin
Supplies
- Black turtle beans
- Red, yellow and green buttons
- Craft sticks
- Hot glue gun
- Cars
Instructions
- Fill your sensory bin with the black turtle beans.
- Grab your buttons and add them to the sensory bin along with toy cars.
- Take a few craft sticks and glue red, yellow and green buttons to it using a hot glue gun.
- Use these as traffic lights for the cars.
- Let your child play with their cars in the sensory bin using the craft stick and button traffic lights. Use tape or play dough to secure the craft stick traffic light in the sensory bin
Rice Traffic Stoplight Craft
Supplies
- Red, Yellow and green coloured rice (see below for ingredient and instructions for coloured rice )
- Paint brush
- Black construction paper
- Bowl for tracing
- Bowl for glue
- Glue
Instructions
- Trace three circles using the bowl on the black construction paper.
- Brush glue on the circles and sprinkle the red, yellow and green rice on the each circles respectively.
- Set aside to dry.
How to Make Colored Rice
What You’ll Need
- 1 Cup of White Rice
- 1/2 tsp White Vinegar
- Several Drops of Red or Yellow or Green Gel Food Coloring
- Large Ziploc Bags
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheets or Tupperware containers
How to Make
- Combine the rice, white vinegar and food coloring in a Ziploc bag.
- Seal it carefully and mix the contents throughly.
- Repeat for each color.
- Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet or line a Tupperware container.
- Spread the colored rice out on the parchment paper and allow it to dry overnight.
Troubleshooting
If you don’t have gel food coloring, regular food coloring will work fine. If you want your rice to be more vibrant add more than just a few drops of food coloring and a small amount of white vinegar. Although the instructions calls for 1 cup of rice I usually make between 6-7 cups of rice for a sensory bin.
Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Make quiet time their favourite time!
Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.
My Sensory Play Kits are a fun and easy way to keep your child engaged while at the same time capitalizing on the benefits of sensory play to nurture their mind!
Shop my ready made sensory play kits here.
STEAM Activity Book
Looking for a fun activity book for your preschooler this summer? Check out my new book Super STEAM Activity Book: Launch Learning with Fun Mazes, Dot-to-Dots, Search-the-Page Puzzles, and More! ! Click here to learn more or purchase it now!
WILL YOU MAKE ANY OF THESE TRAFFIC STOPLIGHT CRAFTS WITH YOUR CHILD? PIN IT FOR LATER!
