Weighted Clip Tower Build

Ages:: Preschoolers (3 to 5)
Play time:: 10 to 15 minutes
Setup:: 2 minutes
Where:: Table

Why it helps

Squeezing clothespins open again and again builds the finger strength used for buttons and scissors. Holding the container steady with the helper hand gives both hands a job and steadies the shoulder and arm. Lining up each clip with a thin stick, without knocking the tower over, takes careful aim and gentle control.

Steps

Press a big lump of playdough into the bottom of the container to make a heavy, weighted base.
Invite your child to push 4 to 6 craft sticks deep into the playdough so they stand up like towers, spaced well apart.
Ask your child to hold the container steady with the helper hand.
Show your child how to squeeze a clothespin open and clip it onto the side of a tower.
Keep clipping until every tower has several clothespins, from the bottom of the stick to the top.
To finish, your child squeezes each clothespin open again to take it off and drops it into a pile.

Safety tip: Playdough is not for eating, so stay close with children who still mouth things. Check wooden clothespins for splinters and watch fingers when they snap shut.

Make it easier

Hold the container steady for your child so both hands can work the clothespin.
Push in just three or four sticks, spaced far apart, so there is room for each clip.
Use clothespins with a softer spring, or chip clips with big handles.

Make it harder

Clip the pins on in a color order, like red, blue, red, blue.
Clip all the pins on one tower using the non-dominant hand.
Clip each pin as high up its stick as possible without bending the tower.

What to watch for

Notice whether your child opens the clothespin with the tips of the thumb and pointer finger or with the whole hand.
Watch whether the tower bends as the clip goes on. A gentle touch while opening the clip keeps the stick upright.
If the snap of the clothespin startles your child, show how to let it close slowly onto the stick.