Smashing ABC Pumpkins

Happy Fine Motor Friday! It’s good for toddlers and preschoolers to do a variety of fine motor activities. Having different activities help work different fine motor muscles and hand coordination which is necessary for handwriting. Fine Motor Fridays is all about giving you a bunch of ideas to do with your little ones! Be sure to check out the activities from our co-hosts at the end of this post!

We enjoy making baked cotton balls for hands-on learning from time to time. We had so much fun Smashing ABC Moon Rocks! So I thought it would be fun to share a seasonal idea using baked cotton balls for fine motor strengthening and practicing letter recognition.

Supplies:

jumbo cotton balls
baking flour
water
food coloring or orange tempera paint
green pipe cleaners
scissors
plastic play hammer
black permanent marker

How to Make ABC Pumpkins to Smash

Make some “pumpkins” to smash using this recipe for baked cotton balls found at Learn~Play~Imagine. Then add some orange food coloring or tempera paint. I found the paint makes a much more vibrant color. This step is so easy and kids loves helping make the cotton balls which was a great fine motor activity in and of itself!

2. After coating your cotton balls with the orange flour and water mixture, stick a little stem in the top using some green pipe cleaner.

3. Then bake as directed.

4. Once the baked cotton ball pumpkins are hardened and cooled, using a black permanent marker to write some letters on them for kids to practice letter recognition.

5. Set up a work tray and invite your child or children to come play and practice letter recognition while having fun smashing the pumpkins!

The work of holding the pumpkin with one hand, and smashing the pumpkin with a hammer with the other hand take a lot of hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. These are good skills for kids to continue to practice, even after they have mastered them.