Occupational Therapy

Grand Old Duke of York Craft

Colleen Beck OTR/L

Colleen Beck, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist and the owner and author of The OT Toolbox website. She manages all of The OT Toolbox social media accounts and runs the popular newsletter. Colleen created The OT Toolbox in 2011 and since then has written thousands of blog posts designed to support therapy providers, educators, parents, counselors, admin, and caregivers in promoting the healthy development of kids. Check out Colleen's blog posts below:

by Colleen Beck OTR/L
November 11, 2014

We love our nursery rhyme crafts! This one is part of a Nursery Rhyme crafts and activities series we hosted with a bunch of our favorite bloggers. One of our favorite (and it’s hard for my kids to choose favorites when it comes to nursery rhymes…) is The Grand Old Duke of York. We made this fun craft and kept repeating the nursery rhyme for the rest of the day. Alllllllll day 😉

The Grand Old Duke of York nursery rhyme craft

This post contains affiliate links.

To make the Grand Old Duke of York craft, you’ll need a few supplies:
red paint

beige card stock
green card stock
potato
black card stock
glue

We read a favorite from the library, Clare Beaton’s Mother Goose Remembers. This is a FUN nursery rhyme collection. The pictures are images of embroidery and beautiful. We check this version of a nursery rhyme collection from the library all. the.time.

I cut a cross shape into the potato to make the stamps look like a soldier’s uniform.

Pour a pile of red paint onto a plate.

Start stamping.

Little Sister (age 3) stamped like crazy. She was a big fan of stamping that potato!

I cut little circles from the beige card stock to make the faces. Little Sister glued hers on all over her potato stamps. Perfect!

Cut little hats from the black card stock and glue them onto the faces. Cut green grass/hill/field from the green card stock. Little Sister said hers was a top of a hill and some guys were peeking their faces over the edge of the hill. I love it!

She drew faces on the men and made a couple of sad faces. She said they were sad from going up the hill and down the hill again. Love it again!!

The full nursery rhyme for The Grand Old Duke of York:

Oh, The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.

And when they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only half-way up,
They were neither up nor down.

Stop by and see more nursery rhyme crafts and activities on our landing page: