Dragons are one of my favorite fairy tale creatures. They are powerful and diverse – sometimes friendly, sometimes misunderstood, sometimes villainous. I love trying to guess what type of dragon will be featured in a new book!

Retelling stories can help our little ones exercise their imaginations, learn story building concepts, enhance reading comprehension, and organize and describe events. Creating props like this fire breathing dragon makes the retelling all the more fun! You don’t just TALK about the dragon, you get to BE the dragon!!

The supplies are pretty simple. You NEED a paper cup and tissue paper or streamers for the “fire”. The rest of the embellishment is up to you! We covered our paper cup in colored paper and sticker “scales”, but you could color, paint, or even glitter yours!

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We began by cutting down the streamers. I cut the strips to length then split them in half to make the fire fan out easier. However, aesthetically I like the streamers cut in half, but I think this required extra air to make them blow at the end.

I also cut the ends into points. Again, it was all about aesthetics.  😂 Make your dragon your own by using different colors for the fire!

Next, use a pencil or pen to poke a small hole into the base of the cup. This is where your little one will breathe “fire” into the dragon at the end of the activity.

At this point, your little one will categorically refuse to make her dragon green as previously decided. Instead, she will insist that you get all new “scales” and “skin” in BLUE because that’s her FAVORITE.

If this has never happened to you, you probably don’t even have kids! LOL!

She really wanted to help make her dragon so we started with a glue stick and paper. However, our cup has a slippery coating so the glue stick didn’t stick as well as I liked. We ended up adding several pieces of Scotch tape to the outside before adding the stickers.

Next, tape the “fire” to the inside of the cup.

And then, attach the “eyes”.

How cute?! Your little one now blows through the hole at the base of the cup to make the streamers blow. Voila! They become instant fire breathing dragons!!

Becoming a fire breathing dragon is always fun, but it is even more exhilarating when you get to be the fire breathing dragon, in your favorite book, while your mom reads to you!

Have fun pairing your activity with your favorite dragon book! I cannot wait to see what you come up with!

Happy Creating!