This is a demo store. No orders will be fulfilled.

Free shipping on orders $65+ | FREE Beaker Creature Pods 2-Pack with Purchase
FREE shipping on orders of $65+
FREE shipping on orders over $79
Interested in fun, learning activities? Explore our blog! >
Order by December 14th to get your perfect gift by Christmas! >
headlights
Close Nav
Toggle Nav
Menu
Account
My Cart

2-4 Years Motor Skills

Bubble Bath Sensory Fun with Chickie Eggs

Easter eggs come in so many different fun, and egg-citing (see what I did there) shapes these days. I picked up these cute little chick eggs last year, and we have used them in so many different ways. In this blog, I wanted to share with you a simple water-based sensory play activity that never fails to entertain preschool-aged children…especially when they get to make their bubbles and add Bath Crackle!

What you need:

  • Learning Resources® Handy Scoopers™ and Primary Science® Jumbo Eyedropper™
  • Water in a medium-sized bin
  • Plastic chick or bunny eggs (we got ours from Michael’s, Dollar Tree also sells them)
  • Dish soap
  • Fork and spoon
  • Orange drink powder (Kool-Aid works excellent), or orange food coloring
  • Toothbrush, scrubber, or sponge
  • Mr. Bubble’s Magic Bath Crackles (I get ours from Walmart by the kids’ bubble bath section)
  • Tray or container to help contain the mess
  • Have a towel on hand just in case

Let’s Get Set Up

Simply half fill your container with water (it helps make it not too cold to prolong the play), and add the chick eggs to the water. With an activity like this, half the fun is the child getting to add all of the ingredients to the water, so I tend to leave them on the side instead of already in the water.

What’s First?

My four-year-old was besotted with the little chicks in the water as soon as she sat down. I asked her if she would like to give them a super fun bubble bath, and of course, she was all in. The first ingredient we added was the orange drink powder. I asked her how many scoops she wanted to add, and she said three. Anytime you can give the child some sense of choice or ownership over the activity, it helps engagement levels. She counted out her three scoops of orange powder and added them to the water. She then gave it all a really good stir.

Bubbles Galore!

I love letting my daughter make her bubbles when it comes to sensory play. Sure, you can use an electric mixer to whip up super silky smooth bubbles… but seeing her face as she whisks away with the fork makes this method way more meaningful. Ask your child to add a squirt of dish soap and then let them use the fork to whisk the water and create bubbles. My daughter is obsessed with this process, so again, I let her choose several squirts to add to the water (within reason).

Scrub Scrub Scrub

Now that there are bubbles, your child can enjoy using the toothbrush to clean those little chickies. This is great for sensory exploration and fine motor skill development. My preschooler also enjoyed using the Jumbo Eyedropper as a shower for the chicks. The Handy Scoopers were fun for grabbing the chick eggs and dipping them in and out of the water. It was like they were bobbing ducks at one point!

What’s That Noise?

Those squeaky clean chickies have enjoyed their bubble bath, but why not add another sensory material to the mix just for fun?! Magic Bath Crackles are one of my favorite sensory additions to water play. Simply pour some in the water and wait for the neat crackling sound to begin. They also have a smell and add a slight blue tint to the water. All of these changes are great for prompting discussions about our senses and developing key scientific skills such as observing, discussing, and predicting.

This type of sensory play is simple but always a winner with my preschooler. She likes being able to add the ingredients independently (a great reason to use drink powder such as Kool-Aid over food coloring), and water in general just seems to evoke so much hands-on play and learning. We hope you give this one a try too!

Bubble Bath Sensory Fun with Chickie Eggs

Easter eggs come in so many different fun, and egg-citing (see what I did there) shapes these days. I picked up these cute little chick eggs last year, and we have used them in so many different ways. In this blog, I wanted to share with you a simple water-based sensory play activity that never fails to entertain preschool-aged children…especially when they get to make their bubbles and add Bath Crackle!

What you need:

  • Learning Resources® Handy Scoopers™ and Primary Science® Jumbo Eyedropper™
  • Water in a medium-sized bin
  • Plastic chick or bunny eggs (we got ours from Michael’s, Dollar Tree also sells them)
  • Dish soap
  • Fork and spoon
  • Orange drink powder (Kool-Aid works excellent), or orange food coloring
  • Toothbrush, scrubber, or sponge
  • Mr. Bubble’s Magic Bath Crackles (I get ours from Walmart by the kids’ bubble bath section)
  • Tray or container to help contain the mess
  • Have a towel on hand just in case

Let’s Get Set Up

Simply half fill your container with water (it helps make it not too cold to prolong the play), and add the chick eggs to the water. With an activity like this, half the fun is the child getting to add all of the ingredients to the water, so I tend to leave them on the side instead of already in the water.

What’s First?

My four-year-old was besotted with the little chicks in the water as soon as she sat down. I asked her if she would like to give them a super fun bubble bath, and of course, she was all in. The first ingredient we added was the orange drink powder. I asked her how many scoops she wanted to add, and she said three. Anytime you can give the child some sense of choice or ownership over the activity, it helps engagement levels. She counted out her three scoops of orange powder and added them to the water. She then gave it all a really good stir.

Bubbles Galore!

I love letting my daughter make her bubbles when it comes to sensory play. Sure, you can use an electric mixer to whip up super silky smooth bubbles… but seeing her face as she whisks away with the fork makes this method way more meaningful. Ask your child to add a squirt of dish soap and then let them use the fork to whisk the water and create bubbles. My daughter is obsessed with this process, so again, I let her choose several squirts to add to the water (within reason).

Scrub Scrub Scrub

Now that there are bubbles, your child can enjoy using the toothbrush to clean those little chickies. This is great for sensory exploration and fine motor skill development. My preschooler also enjoyed using the Jumbo Eyedropper as a shower for the chicks. The Handy Scoopers were fun for grabbing the chick eggs and dipping them in and out of the water. It was like they were bobbing ducks at one point!

What’s That Noise?

Those squeaky clean chickies have enjoyed their bubble bath, but why not add another sensory material to the mix just for fun?! Magic Bath Crackles are one of my favorite sensory additions to water play. Simply pour some in the water and wait for the neat crackling sound to begin. They also have a smell and add a slight blue tint to the water. All of these changes are great for prompting discussions about our senses and developing key scientific skills such as observing, discussing, and predicting.

This type of sensory play is simple but always a winner with my preschooler. She likes being able to add the ingredients independently (a great reason to use drink powder such as Kool-Aid over food coloring), and water in general just seems to evoke so much hands-on play and learning. We hope you give this one a try too!

 READ MORE

St. Patrick’s Day Simple Sensory Fun

St. Patrick’s Day is a great excuse to get your Easter grass out early and create an engaging sensory bin for your child. This setup only requires a few affordable materials, all of which can be reused for other play-based learning activities. The nature of this bin also makes it easily adaptable to encourage both open-ended sensory play and some more structured numeracy learning.

What you need:

Let’s Get Set Up

Simply put the Easter grass into the bin and spread the gold coins out. Add in a few of the mini cauldrons as well as the fine motor tools. You can decide whether you want to include the dice or not; sometimes, it is best to hold off and save that element of the activity for the second round of play at a later date, depending on your child's age.

Let’s Explore

As with any sensory bin activity, I always like to allow plenty of time for my preschooler to explore the setup open-endedly. I intentionally avoid giving instructions and instead simply let my daughter lead the play and engage with her own play adventure.

With this setup, she initially chose to make ‘green soup’ in the mini cauldrons. She gathered pieces of the grass and stuffed them inside the cauldrons. Her little hands were working hard, and she was chatting about her yummy creation the whole time. She then added some gold coins and stated that I needed some of the coins to pay for my soup. I always love the creativity and conversation that flows with sensory play.

Let’s Count

As she finished up making her soup, I introduced a Dice Popper! Hoping that it would lead to some counting work. I asked her to pop the dice and recognize the number before counting that many coins into the cauldron. I also added the challenge of using one of the fine motor tools to transfer the coins with. This was great for her early numeracy skills, as well as developing those all-important fine motor skills.

A tip when using fine motor tools with children is to always provide a choice of tool type. Different children find different tools easy and hard to use, and the last thing I would want is to frustrate my child by asking them to use a tool that they find too tricky. My daughter gave both tools a good try but found the Handy Scoopers much easier for this particular activity and enjoyed using those most of the time. Having the Jumbo Tweezers on the mat encouraged her to try them, and with time she will get more confident.

We will keep this sensory bin set up in our toy room for the rest of the week to allow for further play and learning. I always enjoy watching what other materials my little one chooses to bring into the play.

St. Patrick’s Day Simple Sensory Fun

St. Patrick’s Day is a great excuse to get your Easter grass out early and create an engaging sensory bin for your child. This setup only requires a few affordable materials, all of which can be reused for other play-based learning activities. The nature of this bin also makes it easily adaptable to encourage both open-ended sensory play and some more structured numeracy learning.

What you need:

Let’s Get Set Up

Simply put the Easter grass into the bin and spread the gold coins out. Add in a few of the mini cauldrons as well as the fine motor tools. You can decide whether you want to include the dice or not; sometimes, it is best to hold off and save that element of the activity for the second round of play at a later date, depending on your child's age.

Let’s Explore

As with any sensory bin activity, I always like to allow plenty of time for my preschooler to explore the setup open-endedly. I intentionally avoid giving instructions and instead simply let my daughter lead the play and engage with her own play adventure.

With this setup, she initially chose to make ‘green soup’ in the mini cauldrons. She gathered pieces of the grass and stuffed them inside the cauldrons. Her little hands were working hard, and she was chatting about her yummy creation the whole time. She then added some gold coins and stated that I needed some of the coins to pay for my soup. I always love the creativity and conversation that flows with sensory play.

Let’s Count

As she finished up making her soup, I introduced a Dice Popper! Hoping that it would lead to some counting work. I asked her to pop the dice and recognize the number before counting that many coins into the cauldron. I also added the challenge of using one of the fine motor tools to transfer the coins with. This was great for her early numeracy skills, as well as developing those all-important fine motor skills.

A tip when using fine motor tools with children is to always provide a choice of tool type. Different children find different tools easy and hard to use, and the last thing I would want is to frustrate my child by asking them to use a tool that they find too tricky. My daughter gave both tools a good try but found the Handy Scoopers much easier for this particular activity and enjoyed using those most of the time. Having the Jumbo Tweezers on the mat encouraged her to try them, and with time she will get more confident.

We will keep this sensory bin set up in our toy room for the rest of the week to allow for further play and learning. I always enjoy watching what other materials my little one chooses to bring into the play.

 READ MORE

Fine Motor Play: Stuck in the Mud

Sensory seeking toys are such a winner with kids but don’t forget that they will also love making the sensory material. This ooey-gooey activity was double the fun because we made the muddy oobleck together first and then enjoyed playing stuck in the mud with fine motor tools and our Family Counters.

What you need:

Making the Muddy Oobleck

If you’ve never made or played with oobleck before, you sure are in for a treat. It is such a weird and mesmerizing sensory base to explore with kids. To make the muddy oobleck mix ½ cup cocoa powder with 1 ½ cups cornstarch. This is a great opportunity to get your little one working on some measuring and numeracy, as well as their fine motor skills.

Once the dry ingredients are mixed together, gradually add 1 cup of water. The consistency should change, and the end oobleck you are looking for will be brown in color, with it holding its shape when you squish it together but then returns to a liquid-like state when it is released. It is so mesmerizing to watch! My little one spent ages lifting a scoop in the air and watching it slowly flow back down into the bowl.

Prep the Tray

We used a chip and dip tray as our play space, and it worked perfectly. The Family Counters went in the middle compartment. The fine motor tools were in two other slots, and then my little one filled the other four compartments with the muddy oobleck. We were all set for our muddy play session.

Stuck in the Mud

My little one could not wait to get her hands on the contents of the tray. She was so excited to play with the oobleck that she had helped to make. At first, she wanted to experiment with sticking the Family Counters in the mud. She was fascinated as she watched them slowly sink into the mud.

When she would pull the people and animals out of the muddy oobleck, the mud would stick to their feet and slowly gloop back down onto the tray. She loved trying to completely bury the counters under the mud and then rescue them.

It was great to provide so many different fine motor tools because this encouraged so much time spent on fine motor skills development. Each tool required slightly different hand movements and encouraged problem-solving to figure out how to best use them with the strange oobleck consistency.

My little one really enjoyed using the Squeezy Tweezers and Handy Scoopers for transferring the oobleck and making it into shapes. She even decided to give some of the Family Counters mud baths.

The Final Rescue Mission

After lots of play, hiding the Family Counters in the mud and experimenting with using the fine motor tools, it was time for one final rescue mission. Together we used our hands and the tools to pull all of the remaining counters from the mud. Some of them were stuck in there pretty good!

This was such a fun and engaging activity because the play and learning were so hands-on. It can be tempting to not let your little one be part of the sensory base making, but it really adds so much to the activity. Providing a range of tools is also another little trick for helping to peak interest in the activity. The choice is a great way to help children feel they have more control and power over their play. We hope you give this one a try; you can use monster trucks, insects, or farm animals too!

Fine Motor Play: Stuck in the Mud

Sensory seeking toys are such a winner with kids but don’t forget that they will also love making the sensory material. This ooey-gooey activity was double the fun because we made the muddy oobleck together first and then enjoyed playing stuck in the mud with fine motor tools and our Family Counters.

What you need:

Making the Muddy Oobleck

If you’ve never made or played with oobleck before, you sure are in for a treat. It is such a weird and mesmerizing sensory base to explore with kids. To make the muddy oobleck mix ½ cup cocoa powder with 1 ½ cups cornstarch. This is a great opportunity to get your little one working on some measuring and numeracy, as well as their fine motor skills.

Once the dry ingredients are mixed together, gradually add 1 cup of water. The consistency should change, and the end oobleck you are looking for will be brown in color, with it holding its shape when you squish it together but then returns to a liquid-like state when it is released. It is so mesmerizing to watch! My little one spent ages lifting a scoop in the air and watching it slowly flow back down into the bowl.

Prep the Tray

We used a chip and dip tray as our play space, and it worked perfectly. The Family Counters went in the middle compartment. The fine motor tools were in two other slots, and then my little one filled the other four compartments with the muddy oobleck. We were all set for our muddy play session.

Stuck in the Mud

My little one could not wait to get her hands on the contents of the tray. She was so excited to play with the oobleck that she had helped to make. At first, she wanted to experiment with sticking the Family Counters in the mud. She was fascinated as she watched them slowly sink into the mud.

When she would pull the people and animals out of the muddy oobleck, the mud would stick to their feet and slowly gloop back down onto the tray. She loved trying to completely bury the counters under the mud and then rescue them.

It was great to provide so many different fine motor tools because this encouraged so much time spent on fine motor skills development. Each tool required slightly different hand movements and encouraged problem-solving to figure out how to best use them with the strange oobleck consistency.

My little one really enjoyed using the Squeezy Tweezers and Handy Scoopers for transferring the oobleck and making it into shapes. She even decided to give some of the Family Counters mud baths.

The Final Rescue Mission

After lots of play, hiding the Family Counters in the mud and experimenting with using the fine motor tools, it was time for one final rescue mission. Together we used our hands and the tools to pull all of the remaining counters from the mud. Some of them were stuck in there pretty good!

This was such a fun and engaging activity because the play and learning were so hands-on. It can be tempting to not let your little one be part of the sensory base making, but it really adds so much to the activity. Providing a range of tools is also another little trick for helping to peak interest in the activity. The choice is a great way to help children feel they have more control and power over their play. We hope you give this one a try; you can use monster trucks, insects, or farm animals too!

 READ MORE
Festive Sensory Bin
Making sensory bins is one of my favorite ways to celebrate holidays.
 READ MORE
Fine Motor Counting with Cranberries
READ MORE

Fine Motor Tool Comparison

The very first Learning Resources product I purchased as a parent many years ago was the Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set™. And 5 years after purchasing it, the tools are still used by both my kids on a regular basis. I often get asked which of the tools is best and why, so I thought I’d share a little explanation of how we use each of the fine motor tools and how they help with developing skills for children of different ages. To help you see them in action I set up a simple pom pom and large building brick sorting activity.

Squeezy Tweezers™

My 3 year old always goes for the Squeezy Tweezers first! They are the perfect combination of a tweezer and scooper. Squeeze the handle to open the ball, scoop up the pom pom and then release the pressure on the handle for the ball to close.

 The recommended age for these is 3-7 years old. Some younger children will likely be able to use them but they do require a certain level of hand strength and coordination to open and scoop with the ball. This particular tool demands the entire hand to work, which really helps to strengthen all of those fine motor hand muscles leading to better hand strength.

Tri-Grip Tongs

This neat twist on a tong has three prongs rather than the conventional two. This configuration aims to help children develop better pencil grip strength. It is designed to try and mimic the same finger placement that your child will use when learning to write. Add a little pressure to the prongs and then come together in the middle to be able to pick up objects.

The recommended age for the Tri-Grip Tongs is 4-9 yrs old which I think is an accurate recommendation. My 3 year old had a little trouble holding the tongs with three fingers as intended, but was still able to use them by squeezing with her hand. The pom poms were a great item to practice using these on.

Handy Scoopers™

We usually enjoy the Handy Scoopers with water play because there are tiny perforated holes in the scoop part of the tool which make for lots of fun water transfer play. They are effectively a pair of scissors with a big scoop-like ball on the end. They are very easy to open and close and can be used with all sorts of sensory bases.

The age recommendation for these is 3-7 years old but my kids were able to use them at the age of two because they are really light and easy to open and close. I love these because they mimic the action of cutting with scissors and really help with scissor finger placement.

Primary Science Jumbo Tweezers™

Designed to encourage the use of a good pincer-grasp when transferring loose parts, the Jumbo Tweezers are great for sensory play and sorting. I like that the handle area is large but the grasp section is small therefore requiring accurate hand movements and the ability to pick up small and detailed items.

The Jumbo Tweezers are recommended for children aged 5-9 as they do require a decent level of hand strength to close the two prongs together. My 3 year old can comfortably use them and enjoys the large size. The Gator Grabber Tweezers™ are a great tweezer alternative for younger kids as they are half the size.

I hope this summary has been helpful for you, along with the photos to see the tools in action. If you are after a good starter set, I’d definitely recommend the Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set™ because you get a little bit of everything for a very reasonable price. In the set you also get a Twisty Dropper™ which is great for water play and science experiments! I have found the Learning Resources fine motor skills toys to be of great quality, with many of ours still going strong after five years of play.

Fine Motor Tool Comparison

The very first Learning Resources product I purchased as a parent many years ago was the Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set™. And 5 years after purchasing it, the tools are still used by both my kids on a regular basis. I often get asked which of the tools is best and why, so I thought I’d share a little explanation of how we use each of the fine motor tools and how they help with developing skills for children of different ages. To help you see them in action I set up a simple pom pom and large building brick sorting activity.

Squeezy Tweezers™

My 3 year old always goes for the Squeezy Tweezers first! They are the perfect combination of a tweezer and scooper. Squeeze the handle to open the ball, scoop up the pom pom and then release the pressure on the handle for the ball to close.

 The recommended age for these is 3-7 years old. Some younger children will likely be able to use them but they do require a certain level of hand strength and coordination to open and scoop with the ball. This particular tool demands the entire hand to work, which really helps to strengthen all of those fine motor hand muscles leading to better hand strength.

Tri-Grip Tongs

This neat twist on a tong has three prongs rather than the conventional two. This configuration aims to help children develop better pencil grip strength. It is designed to try and mimic the same finger placement that your child will use when learning to write. Add a little pressure to the prongs and then come together in the middle to be able to pick up objects.

The recommended age for the Tri-Grip Tongs is 4-9 yrs old which I think is an accurate recommendation. My 3 year old had a little trouble holding the tongs with three fingers as intended, but was still able to use them by squeezing with her hand. The pom poms were a great item to practice using these on.

Handy Scoopers™

We usually enjoy the Handy Scoopers with water play because there are tiny perforated holes in the scoop part of the tool which make for lots of fun water transfer play. They are effectively a pair of scissors with a big scoop-like ball on the end. They are very easy to open and close and can be used with all sorts of sensory bases.

The age recommendation for these is 3-7 years old but my kids were able to use them at the age of two because they are really light and easy to open and close. I love these because they mimic the action of cutting with scissors and really help with scissor finger placement.

Primary Science Jumbo Tweezers™

Designed to encourage the use of a good pincer-grasp when transferring loose parts, the Jumbo Tweezers are great for sensory play and sorting. I like that the handle area is large but the grasp section is small therefore requiring accurate hand movements and the ability to pick up small and detailed items.

The Jumbo Tweezers are recommended for children aged 5-9 as they do require a decent level of hand strength to close the two prongs together. My 3 year old can comfortably use them and enjoys the large size. The Gator Grabber Tweezers™ are a great tweezer alternative for younger kids as they are half the size.

I hope this summary has been helpful for you, along with the photos to see the tools in action. If you are after a good starter set, I’d definitely recommend the Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set™ because you get a little bit of everything for a very reasonable price. In the set you also get a Twisty Dropper™ which is great for water play and science experiments! I have found the Learning Resources fine motor skills toys to be of great quality, with many of ours still going strong after five years of play.

 READ MORE

Fine Motor Fall Favorites

Make It a Fine Motor Fall!

Fine motor skills are so important while you are Building Someone Amazing! How well your child can hold a pencil or crayon, cut with scissors, or button their shirt has a lot to do with how developed their fine motor skills are. Luckily, developing fine motor skills – learning to control the small muscles in the hands and wrists – is easy! There are lots of simple ways to help your little one master fine motor movements at home and most of them are really fun. So why not make it a fine motor fall? We’re sharing some of our favorite fine motor activities below – try one each day and repeat each week until your little one’s fine motor skills are up to snuff. Start with:

Pipe Cleaner Pasta

Stringing beads is a great way to develop fine motor skills, but pipe cleaners and pasta make it much easier and less frustrating, which means your kids are more likely to come back and try it again (and again, and again).

  • Start by dying a bag of uncooked, tubular pasta in a few different colors (just toss a handful of pasta in a ziplock baggie with a few drops of food coloring and shake – your kids will love this part, too)
  • Once covered, shake the pasta out onto a paper towel and let it dry.
  • Pull a few pipe cleaners out of the pack and make a loop in one end of each.
    Shake the dried pasta together into a large bowl and let your child loose!
  • Show them how to choose a color, place it on the end of the pipe cleaner, and slide it down to the bottom. See if they can fill the entire pipe cleaner with pasta.

*For extra fun and learning, make a pattern on your pipe cleaner and see if your child can follow it – green, blue, green, blue for example. Then start a pattern and see if your child can figure out what comes next!

Tweezers and Tong Transfers

Grasping and manipulating tweezers and tongs is another fun way to build those fine motor skills!

  • Start with a pair of large kitchen tongs and challenge your child to use them to stack a few blocks into a tower or move balled up socks from one mixing bowl to another.
  • Next, try sorting a bowlful of colorful pom poms into matching colored slots in an egg carton using a pair of child-friendly tweezers.
  • Triple the fun with Learning Resources’ Trip Grip Tongs – these three-pronged tongs are designed to strengthen the muscles and build the skills kids need to hold a pencil. Set out a bowl of marbles and see if your sweetie can use the Tongs to pick one up and move it to another bowl.

Learn a Slot

Save that coffee can! The plastic top and sturdy base are perfect for practicing slotting, another fine motor skill.

  • Use a kitchen knife to carefully cut several slots slightly wider than your craft sticks into the top of an empty coffee can and replace the lid.
  • Set out the same number of craft sticks as slots in your lid and show your child how to slide the stick into the slot.
  • Count each stick as it slides into its slot, then count the total number of sticks. Count backwards as your child removes each stick. Once they’ve mastered slotting, add a challenge by writing numbers on the top of each stick and asking your little one to slot them into the lid in numerical order.

Spooky Sorting Trays

Sorting activities are such a great way to develop those all important fine motor skills when Building Someone Amazing. The small muscles in their hands are worked hard when grasping and releasing small manipulatives, and also when using fine motor tools. I love putting together simple sorting trays for my 3 year old. They are easy to set up but keep her engaged, and also provide the opportunity to work on colors, numbers and even literacy too. In this blog we are sharing three fun sorting trays which have a spooky twist ready for Halloween. The trays we use are lunch trays from Dollar Tree, the pumpkins and cauldrons are from Party City, and the erasers are from Target and Dollar Tree.

Big Pumpkin, Little Pumpkin: Sorting by Size

  • Sorting by size is a great way to start your child with these kinds of activities. We kept things really simple and used a large pumpkin pot and a small pumpkin pot. On the tray there were large pumpkin erasers and small pumpkin erasers. My little one referred to them as Mommy and Baby pumpkins!
  • I always like to include a fine motor tool with sorting trays but it’s worth mentioning that I never force my daughter to use it. Sometimes she just dives straight in and uses her hands to pick up the manipulatives, other times she will use the tool. Both ways are great for her fine motor skills! Here you can see she attempted to use the Tri-Grip Tongs for the entire activity which was great. This tool is a twist on traditional tongs because it has a third prong and encourages the child to coordinate more muscles to grasp the manipulative.
  • My little one happily sorted the small pumpkins into the small pot, as well as the big pumpkins into the big pot. Once she was done we took the activity a little further and counted how many of each type we had, as well as how many pumpkins in total there were.

Pumpkin or Witch: Sorting by Type

  • This one required a little more processing which meant there was more challenge in the activity for my 3 year old. She actually ended up liking it the most because she got to talk so much about witches and cats. There were Primary Science Jumbo Tweezers® available for her to use on the tray which was great for encouraging her pincer grasp.

  • Her task was to sort the erasers into witch themed ones which went in the cauldron pot, and pumpkin themed ones which went in the pumpkin pot. There was lots of conversation about where the cat erasers should go, with my little one making the valid point that maybe cats like to eat pumpkins. Then she remembered that the witch in one of her favorite books, Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, had a pet cat. I love when activities prompt in depth discussions like this.

  • Do you have a favorite way to set up sorting activities? I’ve always found that using a tray of some sort helps to keep the activity area organized and therefore the activity itself a little more structured. These little erasers made for the perfect slightly spooky manipulatives, but sorting can be done with so many things, even everyday items such as buttons, or natural items such as leaves and rocks.

Fine Motor Fall Favorites

Make It a Fine Motor Fall!

Fine motor skills are so important while you are Building Someone Amazing! How well your child can hold a pencil or crayon, cut with scissors, or button their shirt has a lot to do with how developed their fine motor skills are. Luckily, developing fine motor skills – learning to control the small muscles in the hands and wrists – is easy! There are lots of simple ways to help your little one master fine motor movements at home and most of them are really fun. So why not make it a fine motor fall? We’re sharing some of our favorite fine motor activities below – try one each day and repeat each week until your little one’s fine motor skills are up to snuff. Start with:

Pipe Cleaner Pasta

Stringing beads is a great way to develop fine motor skills, but pipe cleaners and pasta make it much easier and less frustrating, which means your kids are more likely to come back and try it again (and again, and again).

  • Start by dying a bag of uncooked, tubular pasta in a few different colors (just toss a handful of pasta in a ziplock baggie with a few drops of food coloring and shake – your kids will love this part, too)
  • Once covered, shake the pasta out onto a paper towel and let it dry.
  • Pull a few pipe cleaners out of the pack and make a loop in one end of each.
    Shake the dried pasta together into a large bowl and let your child loose!
  • Show them how to choose a color, place it on the end of the pipe cleaner, and slide it down to the bottom. See if they can fill the entire pipe cleaner with pasta.

*For extra fun and learning, make a pattern on your pipe cleaner and see if your child can follow it – green, blue, green, blue for example. Then start a pattern and see if your child can figure out what comes next!

Tweezers and Tong Transfers

Grasping and manipulating tweezers and tongs is another fun way to build those fine motor skills!

  • Start with a pair of large kitchen tongs and challenge your child to use them to stack a few blocks into a tower or move balled up socks from one mixing bowl to another.
  • Next, try sorting a bowlful of colorful pom poms into matching colored slots in an egg carton using a pair of child-friendly tweezers.
  • Triple the fun with Learning Resources’ Trip Grip Tongs – these three-pronged tongs are designed to strengthen the muscles and build the skills kids need to hold a pencil. Set out a bowl of marbles and see if your sweetie can use the Tongs to pick one up and move it to another bowl.

Learn a Slot

Save that coffee can! The plastic top and sturdy base are perfect for practicing slotting, another fine motor skill.

  • Use a kitchen knife to carefully cut several slots slightly wider than your craft sticks into the top of an empty coffee can and replace the lid.
  • Set out the same number of craft sticks as slots in your lid and show your child how to slide the stick into the slot.
  • Count each stick as it slides into its slot, then count the total number of sticks. Count backwards as your child removes each stick. Once they’ve mastered slotting, add a challenge by writing numbers on the top of each stick and asking your little one to slot them into the lid in numerical order.

Spooky Sorting Trays

Sorting activities are such a great way to develop those all important fine motor skills when Building Someone Amazing. The small muscles in their hands are worked hard when grasping and releasing small manipulatives, and also when using fine motor tools. I love putting together simple sorting trays for my 3 year old. They are easy to set up but keep her engaged, and also provide the opportunity to work on colors, numbers and even literacy too. In this blog we are sharing three fun sorting trays which have a spooky twist ready for Halloween. The trays we use are lunch trays from Dollar Tree, the pumpkins and cauldrons are from Party City, and the erasers are from Target and Dollar Tree.

Big Pumpkin, Little Pumpkin: Sorting by Size

  • Sorting by size is a great way to start your child with these kinds of activities. We kept things really simple and used a large pumpkin pot and a small pumpkin pot. On the tray there were large pumpkin erasers and small pumpkin erasers. My little one referred to them as Mommy and Baby pumpkins!
  • I always like to include a fine motor tool with sorting trays but it’s worth mentioning that I never force my daughter to use it. Sometimes she just dives straight in and uses her hands to pick up the manipulatives, other times she will use the tool. Both ways are great for her fine motor skills! Here you can see she attempted to use the Tri-Grip Tongs for the entire activity which was great. This tool is a twist on traditional tongs because it has a third prong and encourages the child to coordinate more muscles to grasp the manipulative.
  • My little one happily sorted the small pumpkins into the small pot, as well as the big pumpkins into the big pot. Once she was done we took the activity a little further and counted how many of each type we had, as well as how many pumpkins in total there were.

Pumpkin or Witch: Sorting by Type

  • This one required a little more processing which meant there was more challenge in the activity for my 3 year old. She actually ended up liking it the most because she got to talk so much about witches and cats. There were Primary Science Jumbo Tweezers® available for her to use on the tray which was great for encouraging her pincer grasp.

  • Her task was to sort the erasers into witch themed ones which went in the cauldron pot, and pumpkin themed ones which went in the pumpkin pot. There was lots of conversation about where the cat erasers should go, with my little one making the valid point that maybe cats like to eat pumpkins. Then she remembered that the witch in one of her favorite books, Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, had a pet cat. I love when activities prompt in depth discussions like this.

  • Do you have a favorite way to set up sorting activities? I’ve always found that using a tray of some sort helps to keep the activity area organized and therefore the activity itself a little more structured. These little erasers made for the perfect slightly spooky manipulatives, but sorting can be done with so many things, even everyday items such as buttons, or natural items such as leaves and rocks.

 READ MORE
Fine Motor Play: Rescue the Frozen Gold
Fine Motor Play: Rescue the Frozen Gold
READ MORE
Fine Motor Fun Scavenger Hunt

Fine Motor Fun Scavenger Hunt

Fine Motor Scavenger Hunt

There is one tool always on you: your hands! Let’s see what your kids can find that requires them to move their hands. Scavenger hunts are a great way for kids to practice problem solving and learn the value of teamwork. This hunt is great for fine motor development and building recognition of what requires hand coordination. Don’t forget this is just for fun and it’s ok if you can’t find everything!

 

Fine Motor Fun Scavenger Hunt
Fine Motor Fun Scavenger Hunt

Fine Motor Scavenger Hunt

There is one tool always on you: your hands! Let’s see what your kids can find that requires them to move their hands. Scavenger hunts are a great way for kids to practice problem solving and learn the value of teamwork. This hunt is great for fine motor development and building recognition of what requires hand coordination. Don’t forget this is just for fun and it’s ok if you can’t find everything!

 

 READ MORE
Previous Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next Page