Material: Construction Paper

Your Very Own Fish Tank

For this activity, you need to use blue, orange, and yellow construction paper. You would also need to use a single hole puncher.

On a piece of blue construction paper, draw a square (in a size that will fit inside the ziplock bag) with wiggly lines. Ask the child to cut the square that you drew and stay within the wiggly lines (thickness of the line depends on the child’s skills and development).

Draw a fish on the orange or yellow paper and have the child cut it out. Depending on the child’s skills, you can have the child trace a picture of a fish or draw his own fish.

Glue the fish onto the blue sheet. Ask the child to draw eyes, fins, gills, and mouth on the fish and add any plants on the blue paper. Use a hole punch to punch bubbles in the blue paper (coming out of the mouth of the fish and above). Place the blue sheet into the ziplock bag. Place the oats on the table or in a small shallow plate and ask the child to pinch the oats and drop into the bag, to represent the floor of the tank. Repeat this activity a few times, until there is enough oats on the bottom of the bag. Seal the bag nice and tight.

Cut Me a Tree

For this activity, you will need to use brown and green construction paper. 

Have the child trace your hand on the green paper, then trace one or two of their own. On the brown paper, ask the child to draw a large rectangle (depending on the child’s developmental skills, you might have him trace or copy the rectangle). Let the child cut the traced hands and rectangle he drew. 

On a large piece of construction paper, have the child glue the large hand on the rectangle, fingers pointing down, then the other hands, fingers pointing down as well (for a blooming tree, have the child glue the traced hands with the fingers pointing up). Using colored foam sheets, let the child draw and cut other shapes, then glue them on the tree as ornaments or flowers. To promote pincer grasp, have the child use the stickers for additional decorations.

Marshmallow Stamper

Place paint in a shallow bowl or a paper plate. Have the child dip a piece of marshmallow or foam in the paint and stamp it onto the construction paper.

You can let the child create his own picture or if you would like to work on visual-motor skills, you can have the child trace lines, shapes, and letters.

You can use small or big marshmallow for this activity.

For children that tend to place objects in their mouths, you might want to try using Jell-O mixed with a small amount of water and use it as your paint.

TP Roll Snake

Pull open the TP roll all the way.

Provide the child with paint and a brush and instruct him to paint it. You can also choose markers or crayons to color the snake.

Once dry, you can have the child use Q-tips to paint the snake, or crumble little pieces of tissue paper, and/or use stickers.

Depending on the child developmental skills, either cut a snake’s tongue out of red construction paper or have him cut it himself.

Finally, the child can glue the tongue and the wiggly eyes on one end of the TP roll. If you don’t have wiggly eyes in hand, you can use small buttons.

Ice Cream Scooper

Use brown, yellow, or white construction paper. Draw a 1/4 of a circle with a six-inch radius, and ask the child to cut the shape out. If needed, make the line bolder to increase accuracy. If using white paper, you can let the child color/paint it in any color he wishes to.

Assist the child as needed to fold the 1/4 circle into a cone shape. Secure with tape.

Provide the child with tissue paper sheets that are at least 5″ x 7″ in size. Instruct the child to crumble each sheet into a ball (scoop), and place it in the container.

Have the child hold the ice cream scoop in his dominant hand and the cone in his other hand. Instruct the child to scoop the paper balls one at a time, using the ice cream scoop, and put it into the cone.

Using strips of construction paper in different colors, ask the child to tear small pieces to use as sprinkles. Promote pincer grasp by having the child pick up one piece at a time to sprinkle on his ice cream.

To grade the activity, use different ice cream scoops (i.e. with the thumb lever, spring-loaded handle, etc.) or other materials for ice cream, such as pom-poms or play-dough.