Material: Yarn

“The Claw”

Preparation:

  1. Take an empty cardboard box (with openings that create handles), and insert a gift wrapping paper tube through the openings.
  2. Tape a long piece of yarn to the gift wrapping paper tube.
  3. Draw a Toy Story Alien & cut it out.
  4. Tape the alien to the other end of the yarn.

Play:

Have the child place both hands toward the ends of gift wrapping paper tube (“The Claw”), to reel in the alien.

Instruct the child to use alternating hands, or both hands at the same time.

To add a challenge, have the child use their non-dominant hand, create a longer line of yarn, or add resistance.

To add resistance, draw and cut out an alien on 2 pieces of paper, place beans on one paper, then staple the other paper on top to seal the beans inside.

Tactile Bowl

Yarn Tactile Activity

Blow up the balloon 1/4 way.

You may tie a knot or tape the tip of the balloon to hold the air in.

Have the child cut the yarn into long strips.

In a bowl, help the child mix the glue and water together until you get a viscid mixture.

Ask the child to dip the strips of yarn in the glue mixture and then use it to wrap around the balloon, starting from bottom to top (the child might need help with the bottom part where the yarn should be rolled tightly).

Encourage the child to use a pincer grasp (tip grasp) to take the yarn pieces out of the mixture.

Continue until the balloon is 3/4 covered in yarn. Allow to dry, then pop the balloon and take it out.

To make the bowl colorful, use different colors of yarn.

Straw Necklaces

Cut the plastic straws into about 1-inch pieces.

Lace the small straw pieces into the string or yarn to create a straw necklace.

You can use different color plastic straws and create matching patterns for the straw necklaces.

Paper Plate Web

In this activity, pipe cleaners are optional.

Help the child to cut out a large circle from the center of the paper plate, leaving about 1-inch from the edge, and creating an outer ring.
Ask the child to punch holes all around the outer ring.

Give the child a long piece of yarn and instruct him to string the yarn through the holes he punched. Have the child string the yarn from one hole to the next going back and forth to form a web.

On the construction paper (preferably black or gray), draw a medium size oval for the spider’s body and a smaller size circle for the spider’s head. Let the child cut out the shapes you drew to make a spider. You can also ask the child to draw a spider and cut it out.

If you are using pipe cleaners, have the child punch 3 holes on each side of the oval (the spider’s body) and place a small piece of pipe cleaner in each hole (to form the spider’s legs).

Have the child glue the spider on the web or attach the spider to the web by banding the pipe cleaners onto the yarn.

Paper Bag Fish

Have the child crumple the newspapers into small paper balls.

Stuff the paper bag with the crumpled newspapers.

Use the yarn or a ribbon to tie a knot close to the edge of the open end to close the paper bag.

Ask the child to paint the filled paper bag using either a brush or cotton balls.

Glue large googly eyes.

For grading, you can ask the child to draw eyes on construction paper and cut/glue it onto the paper bag.

Lay a piece of yarn on the fish (below the eyes) to make a mouth. Use some glue to hold it in place.

To promote tactile perception, you can let the child finger paint the paper bag instead of using other media.