Material: Playdough

Forky from Toy Story

Forky - Toy Story 4

Building your own Forky character can help promote bilateral coordination and grasp skills.

Forky’s Face

To create Forky, we will need a plastic spork or a spoon.

Glue 2 different size wiggle eyes to the backside of the spork.

Use a red or pink marker to color the cheeks.

Roll blue playdough between your hands to create a thin line. Attach the 2 ends of the line to form a mouth for Forky and glue it on the spork.

Roll a piece of red playdough between your hands to create a thin line for the eyebrow.

Feet

Cut or break the craft stick to 2 equal size sticks.

Roll a piece of playdough between your hands to create a ball.

Stick the cut edge of the craft sticks into the playdough.

Flatten the bottom and use your finger to pinch the top-up.

Use markers to write your name on the bottom of the feet.

Body

Stick the spork into the top part of the playdough ball.

Arms

Find the middle of the red pipe cleaner.

Wrap the pipe cleaner around the spork just below the face.

Create palms at both ends of the pipe cleaners by folding the edges into a wiggly line.

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.

Birthday Cake

1. Prep the Cake Dough Start by having your child “knead” the dough. Encourage them to use both hands to squash, roll, and flatten the play-dough into a thick cake shape. If you have a rolling pin, this is a great time to use it. Pressing down firmly provides calming sensory input to the joints and helps build the hand strength needed for tasks like opening containers or using scissors.

2. Decorate the Cake Once the cake is “baked” (flattened and shaped), it is time to decorate.

  • The Candles: Have your child push the cut straws into the dough. This requires a nice “pincer grasp” (using the thumb and index finger) and a bit of focus to get them standing upright.

  • The Sprinkles: Use the rice or sequins to decorate. Picking up these tiny items is excellent for developing precision and coordination.

3. The Birthday Celebration Take a moment to sing a favorite song and let your child “blow out” the candles. This adds a sweet social element to the activity and makes the hard work feel like a game.

4. The Straw Cleanup Challenge After the celebration, have your child pull the straws out. You will notice that some play-dough often gets stuck inside the straw. Give your child an unbent paper clip or a pipe cleaner and show them how to poke the “cake” out from the other end. This is a very focused fine motor task that requires steady hands and patience.

5. Cut and Serve If your child is working on using a knife and fork, use this time to practice. Have them hold the “cake” still with one hand (or a fork) while they use a plastic knife to cut slices. They can then practice the social steps of placing a slice on a plate and “serving” it to you or a favorite stuffed animal.

Why This Helps

This activity covers a lot of ground in one sitting. The initial rolling and squishing provide heavy work that can be very grounding for children. The decorating and straw-cleaning phases focus on fine motor control, while the cutting and serving portion builds independence with utensils and encourages imaginative social play.

Holiday Gifts

For this activity, all the materials should be green colored and spread across the room.

Hang the stockings at different corners of the room at a child reach level.

If using a scooter board, have the child lay prone and propel the scooter board around the room to collect the different items and place them in the stockings.

If you do not have a scooter board available, ask the child the perform different animal walks to collect the items and to receive the sensory input (i.e. bear walk, crab walk, frog jumps, etc.)

Spaghetti Stringing

Using a paper cup, a styrofoam plate, or a piece of play dough, instruct the child to place the spaghetti vertically.

Provide the child with cheerios or beads and have him string the small objects onto the spaghetti.

If using different color beads or cheerios, you can have the child either sort the items into the different color groups or work on patterns (e.g. yellow-red-yellow-red…)