Welcome to Fine Motor Friday! A bunch of us (Lalymom, Craftulate, And Next Comes L, School Time Snippets, Little Bins for Little Hands, P is for Preschooler, Racheous and myself) have gotten together and will be posting fun activities that promote the development of fine motor skills every Friday. So after reading this post you will want to go check out what fun they have posted about!
And this week we welcome Devany of Still Playing School! She writes about playing and learning with her preschooler and has some really great activities to check out!
So I was hoping to crank out a bunch of fun holiday posts this month, but with a birthday party to plan for as well as Christmas to get ready for I don’t think it will be happening. So I decided to put a bunch of fun Christmas fine motor activities we have done into one post and take a little break from the blog to enjoy my son’s birthday and Christmas with my family.
Ornament Pick-up
Like the Pumpkin Pick-Up & Counting game that I set up for Caden in the fall, I set up this ornament pick-up activity for Caden to practice using these tongs, fine motor skills and counting. I like to set up these activities and keep them out on the shelf for the month, ironically Caden didn’t touch this activity until I set it up to take these pictures.
He did very well, but these spatula tongs are very tricky, especially with round objects. She he finished up by grabbing two ornaments in each hand and putting them in the basket. I’d say that’s a fine motor skill too!
Mini Christmas Tree
I picked up this mini Christmas tree and mini glittery ornaments at Target. Caden really enjoyed putting the ornaments on his own tree! And it looks so pretty too!
Daddy was around when we decorated the mini tree so he took some pictures while I helped Caden. These ornaments didn’t come with hooks so I had to substitute with small paper clips.
Ta-da! Caden’s finished product! As you can see all the ornaments are clustered together on one side of the tree as any toddler would have it!
Pom-Pom Toothpick Tree
I made this activity last year and never really got a chance to blog about it. It is really simple to make, I taped a cutout of a Christmas tree on to the lid of a shoe box and then used an awl to poke holes into the tree. Then Caden can decorate the tree with these pom-pom toothpicks that I found at The Christmas Tree Shop.
Caden loves this activity just as much as he did last year! It is the only activity that he will come back to again and again. I plan to create similar activities to fit different themes in the future so be on the look out!
Sorry about these photos, when he started playing with this activity only my iPhone was around and I had to quickly snap some pictures before he finished!
This activity takes some skill to insert the toothpicks into a small hole. And Caden likes to push the toothpicks out from the other side when he is finished.
As painful as it looks to push on the pointy end of a toothpick, Caden doesn’t seem bothered by it. And I like to think of it as a skill. As always be sure to supervise your children when ever they are playing, especially with small or pointy objects.
Christmas Tic-Tac-Toe
And last but not least, I picked up this little tic-tac-toe peg game from the Target dollar spot. Caden likes to push the pegs in and take them back out. Maybe next year I can teach him to play the game!
Happy Fine Motor Friday!
Go check out these great fine motor ideas from:
Fine Motor Christmas Game from Lalymom ~ Fine Motor Clothes Fastening Board from Craftulate ~ Clothespin Color Game from School Time Snippets ~ Present Wrapping Fine Motor Skillsfrom Little Bins for Little Hands ~ Oven Bake Clay Necklaces from P is for Preschooler ~ Sight Word Busy Box Game from Still Playing School
Our NEW 99 Fine Motor Ideas for Ages 1 to 5 is full of all types of enriching fine motor activities that your kids will love! And you will love them too because they are simple to set up and use everyday items you probably have around the house! Each activity includes full color photos, a materials list and step-by-step instructions. It’s a fantastic resource for parents, educators, and caretakers!
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So many fun ideas! My daughter would love decorating her own mini-tree; she loved doing our big one! And I love the toothpick game too!
Thanks Emma!
I love how he decorated the silver tree – totally how my boy would do it too! Great ideas here – as usual! 🙂
Thanks Georgina!
That tooth pick game is sooooo awesome! What a great list, but that is my fave, so unique and thoughtful!
Thanks Laura!
Love the pom pom toothpick tree! That’s great that you were able to buy them like that! They’d be fun with a foam tree, too!! ; ) You would probably have to shorten the toothpicks though… The two older kiddos have their own tree, so they had the chance to decorate it- too! Great activities!
Thanks Kristina! I plan to make my own pom pom toothpicks, using regular toothpicks! Then I can use any colored pompoms for more creativity!
So many great ideas! What fun he is having working on skills! Love them all.
It looks really difficult to pick up the ornaments with the tongs. I love the Christmas Tree/Golf Tee Tic-Tac-Toe.
I’m featuring this tomorrow at Entertaining and Educational. These are great activity ideas.
Love the variety of activities you have here!
I love the pom pom toothpick idea into the Christmas Tree shoebox! Fabulous!
Thank you!