Material: Glue

Fringe Card Weave

Fringe Card Weave

Steps:

  • Fold one index card in half lengthwise (hot dog style).
  • Use markers to draw several short, straight lines along the folded edge. Stop the lines about one inch before the open card edges.
  • Hold the card steady with one hand. Carefully cut along each marker line to create a dense fringe.
  • Unfold the card to reveal the long, cut strips. Put a small dab of glue on one end of the yarn.
  • Challenge your child to weave the yarn horizontally across the fringe strips. Go under one strip, then over the next strip, and repeat.
  • Continue weaving until the entire fringe is connected by the colorful yarn. Secure the final end with another dab of glue.

Safety Tip:
Scissors and yarn require direct adult supervision. Ensure the child uses child-safe scissors and monitors closely to prevent accidental ingestion of small paper snips or pieces of yarn, which pose a choking hazard.

Paper Roll Snip Monster

Paper Roll Snip Monster

Steps:

  • Use markers to color the entire outside surface of the paper roll (toilet paper or paper towel size) with bright colors. Encourage using both hands to stabilize the roll while coloring.
  • An adult should draw several straight lines (about 1 inch long) around the bottom edge of the roll, spaced about a quarter-inch apart. These are the guides for snipping.
  • Encourage your child to use their non-dominant hand firmly inside the roll to keep it steady (proximal stability) while using the scissors to carefully snip along each marked line.
  • Once the bottom is fully snipped, gently bend the strips outward to create a fringe (the ‘legs’ or ‘wiggly hair’).
  • Finish the craft by gluing two wiggle eyes onto the top section of the roll to complete your Paper Roll Snip Monster!

Safety Tip:
Always provide direct adult supervision when using scissors. Ensure that any small pieces, such as wiggle eyes, are properly glued or immediately removed from the workspace to prevent choking in children under 5.

Flying Unicorn

Step 1: Cut out a picture of a unicorn.

Step 2: Glue it on a paper plate.

Step 3: Hole punch around the edges of the plate.

Step 4: Lace string through each hole, and tie a knot to secure it in place.

Step 5: Option to curl the strings, add jewels, or color the unicorn for more fine motor opportunities.

Step 6: Watch the strands fly in the air as you spin & wave it around! Enjoy!

Buttoning Board

Buttoning is a fun fine motor skill to work on! It is more motivating when it involves our children’s favorite characters; in this case, Noodle & Pals from Super Simple Songs on YouTube!

Here, we created peek-a-boo buttoning boards that progressed from easy to more challenging buttoning skills.

Preparation:

Step 1: Cut up a piece of cardboard of your desired size (Our cardboard is the blue & white checkered print in the photo).

Step 2: Cut felt to your desired size. Ensure there will be enough overlap between the felt pages when you close the buttoning board.

Step 3: Glue the edge of the felt to the edges of the backside of the cardboard.

Step 4: Glue/sew the buttons on one side of one of the felt pages.

Step 5: Cut out slits to match the sizes of your buttons on the other felt page.

Step 6: Optional – take a marker & outline the edges of the button openings (the slits you just cut), so it makes it easier to visually identify the location of the buttonhole opening.

Step 7: Print, cut & glue on your child’s favorite character at the top of the cardboard sheet.

Tips and Grading Options:

Warm-Ups:

  1. Insert popsicle sticks through slits on a coffee cup lid.
  2. Insert coins into piggy banks.
  3. Pick out buttons from playdough.

To make it easier:

  1. Start with fewer buttons.
  2. Create larger buttoning hole openings.
  3. Highlight the buttoning hole openings by drawing around them (such as the black markings in the photo).
  4. Use larger buttons.
  5. Demonstrate how to button & use simple language.

To make it more challenging:

  1. Increase the number of buttons.
  2. Create smaller buttoning hole openings.
  3. Use smaller buttons.
  4. Use fabric with busy patterns.
  5. Use fabric with flimsier material.

As always, ensure safety in all activities. Provide assistance and supervision as needed.

Enjoy!

Guess the Toy

Guess The Toys

Step 1: Take an empty cardboard box & glue construction paper around it. This simplifies the exterior to eliminate distractions.

Step 2: Use any toy or item in the house, so long as it is safe, to put in the box. Make sure the toy or item has an identical partner (i.e. use 2 identical markers, 2 identical stuffed animals, etc.).

Step 3: Place each toy or item inside the box (3-6 toys/items at a time), and keep the toy’s/item’s identical partners right next to you, so the child does not see them.

Step 4: Lay the box on a horizontal surface.

Step 5: Take any of the toys/items right next to you, and place 1 of them on top of the box.

Step 6: Ask, “Which one of these (the toys/items inside the box) feels like what this (the toy/item on top of the box) looks like?”

Step 7: Have the child reach into the box to feel all items, making sure they do not see.

Step 8: Have them place their answer on top of the box in order to see if they got it right.

Step 9: Repeat until they have correctly identified all items.