This catch-a-bug activity provides the child with a fun chance to address fine motor skills.
Preparation:
Step 1: Lace yarn through a basket.
Step 2: Place toy bugs (i.e. figurines, erasers, etc.) on yarn.
Step 3: Have the child manipulate the tongs to retrieve the bugs.
For this activity, you can use any type of basket/container.
Place steppingstones along a path.
Place cardboard blocks to the left and to the right side of each steppingstone.
Ask the child to stand on the first steppingstone and use the right leg to kick the cardboard block on the right side and the left leg to kick the cardboard block on the left side.
Next, instruct the child to jump to the next steppingstone and repeat the previous step.
The child will continue jumping to the ext steppingstones ad knocking down the cardboard block until the end of the path.
Don’t have steppingstones? Use pillows instead (this also increases the challenge for your child’s balance).
Don’t have cardboard blocks? Use water bottles instead (empty for an easier challenge, and filled with water or rice/beans/sand for more challenge and increase the proprioceptive input) or use empty shoe boxes, paper rolls, paper cups, or plastic containers.
This game is all too familiar for many of us: Laundry Basketball.
Challenge your child’s core muscles by having them stand in a tall kneeling positioning.
Place about 10 laundry items on the ground, to the child’s left and right. Have them side bend to retrieve the laundry items from the ground.
Position the basket in front of the child and have them shoot the laundry items into the laundry basket.
Increase the challenge by:
In this activity, imagination and creativity are key components.
Begin by drawing the face of a child, a character (clown, robot, princess, etc.), or an animal that the child likes on the shoe box’s cover. Then, cut out the mouth of your figure so that it looks like the figure is opening its mouth. Make sure the opening is big enough so that the child is able to place the small objects through the opening.
Place the cotton balls (see additional ideas for objects below) on the table in front of the child or in a shallow bowl.
Give the tongs to the child and instruct her to hold it with her thumb, pointer, and middle fingers only, while tucking the pinkie and ring fingers into the palm of her hand. Then, ask the child to use the tongs to pick up one object at a time and feed the figure by placing the object into the figure’s open mouth.
This is where creativity comes into play as you can use the child’s imagination to decide what kind of food the cotton balls represent.
If you chose to draw an animal, you can have the cotton balls be the type of food this specific animal eats (i.e. monkey = bananas, dog = bones, bunny = carrots, etc.)
Based on the child’s developmental skills, you can have her draw the figure (can be a very simple figure) and cut the mouth opening independently.
Additional ideas for small objects (depending on the child’s age and abilities): pasta, beads (large and small), beans, cotton swabs, marbles, and Lego
Present the child with a clean box/basket/bucket of separated pairs of socks.
Provide the child with additional empty baskets, one for each member of the family.
Show the child one sock and ask him to find the other sock that looks the same (i.e. the matching sock).
Fold the socks together (or have your child fold them to work on additional skills such as motor planning and eye-hand coordination) and ask the child to put the pair of socks in the right basket, based on whose socks are they (mom’s, dad’s, child’s, sister’s, etc.).
