For this activity, you can use many different types of stencils to trace.
Provide the child with different stencils and have him/her trace inside or outside the stencil.
The child can also finger-paint inside these stencils.
If the child has difficulties with bilateral hand use, you may want to tape the stencil to the surface the child works on.
On a piece of construction paper, draw a simple shape or a simple picture.
Let the child tear out small pieces of tissue paper and ask him to crumple the pieces into a small ball, using his fingers. If the child is too young or if his hands are too weak, you should provide him with smaller pieces of tissue paper
Older children should be encouraged to use only their thumb, index finger, and middle finger.
Have the child glue the little balls he crumpled on the drawing.
In addition, this activity allows you to work on eye-hand coordination and visual integration as you may ask the child to glue the crumpled balls on a straight line, circle, or a simple picture.
For this activity you will need green (tree), brown (tree trunk), red (ornaments), and yellow (ornaments) construction paper.
Draw different sized circles on the green construction paper. Make sure the circles do not overlap. These will be used to create the tree.
Cut the circles out by following the lines using scissors.
If you have a circle puncher, you can have the child punch circles from the construction paper. This will enhance hand strength.
Instruct the child to use a single hole puncher and punch holes in the yellow and red construction paper. These will be the ornaments on the tree.
Glue the green construction paper circles together in a triangular shape (to resemble a Christmas tree).
Using a pincer grasp, instruct the child to pick up the little yellow and red dots, one at a time, and glue them to the green circles.
Cut a rectangle shape from the brown construction paper. Attach it to the tree as a trunk.
For this activity, you will need washable tempera paint or finger paint in 4 colors (e.g. yellow, red, pink, and brown).
Ask the child to dip the tip of the thumb into the brown color and press the thumb onto the paper twice. Thumbprints should be one next to the other. This will be the body of the turkey.
Ask the child to dip the tip of the index finger into the pink color and add a row of pink fingerprints above the brown ones. This will be the feathers.
Ask the child to add more rows of fingerprints (feathers) in yellow and red colors.
Glue the wiggle eyes to the brown turkey body. Add feet using the markers or crayons.
For this activity, you will need a brown construction paper, yellow construction paper, and an orange construction paper. If you don’t have any colored construction paper, you can use a piece of cardboard (an empty cereal box or any other dry food box can be used) and white paper.
On the brown construction paper or cardboard, draw half a circle. This will be the turkey’s body.
Use the orange construction paper and draw a circle big enough to be used as the turkey’s head.
On the yellow construction paper draw a small triangle, to use as the turkey’s beak. If using a white piece of paper, draw a circle and a triangle, and let the child color these shapes orange and yellow.
Ask the child to cut the brown half of a circle, the orange circle, and the triangle.
Have the child glue the orange circle in the middle of the half-circle. Then, provide the child with red tempera or finger paint, ask him to dip his pointer finger in the paint, and then stamp it in the middle of the orange circle. This will be the turkey’s wobble.
Next, use the glue to glue the yellow triangle on the top part of the wobble. Use the marker or crayon to draw the turkey’s eyes. You can also use googly eyes.
Using the clothespins, instruct the child to pick one clothespin at a time, pinch it, and place it on the curved part of the half-circle, stabilizing the paper (turkey’s body) with the non-dominant hand. Cover the turkey’s body with as many clothespins you can. These are the turkey’s feathers.
You can use specific colors of clothespins, draw matching dots of colors on the turkey’s body, and have the child match the color of the clothespin with the colored dot.
