Fine Motor Control - Page 50 of 81

Foil Moat Precision Drop

Steps:

Place the aluminum foil pan on the table. Use the playdough to create thick walls or ‘dams’ inside the pan, leaving narrow paths or ‘moats’ between them.
Mix a small amount of water with a drop of food coloring in the container to make your ‘magic potion.’
Show your child how to hold the eyedropper using their thumb and pointer finger (a strong pincer grasp).
Challenge your child to squeeze the eyedropper bulb to suck up the colored water.
Now, carefully aim the dropper over a moat. Encourage them to squeeze gently to release the water into the narrow path without letting it flood the playdough dam.
Repeat this process until all the moats are filled with colorful water. Encourage them to hold the foil pan steady with their helper hand while they work.

Safety Tip:
Constant and direct adult supervision is required. Playdough is a choking hazard if ingested. Ensure the child only uses the eyedropper for the intended purpose and does not consume the colored water.

Resistance Tear Push

Steps:

Adult Prep: Use scissors to cut one narrow, tight slit (about 1.5 inches long) into the plastic container lid. Secure the lid firmly onto the container using masking tape.
Give your child strips of construction paper. Encourage them to use both hands to tear the paper into small, rough pieces. Tearing this resistant material requires strong effort.
Take one pipe cleaner. Help your child bend and fold it until it becomes a short, stiff ‘poker stick.’
Ask your child to hold the container steady with their non-dominant hand. Place one torn paper scrap near the narrow slot.
Using the stiff pipe cleaner poker, aim carefully and push the paper scrap completely through the resistant slot.
Continue tearing, poking, and pushing until all the paper has been successfully delivered inside the container.

Safety Tip:
Constant and direct adult supervision is required. Torn paper pieces and pipe cleaners are small objects and pose a choking hazard for children under five. Ensure the pipe cleaner is bent safely before use.

Cardboard Tee Lacing

Steps:

Use markers to draw several dots onto the piece of cardboard. These dots are your targets.
Place the cardboard flat on a stable table. Challenge your child to hold the cardboard firmly with their helper hand to keep it steady.
Pick up a golf tee. Use a strong, controlled push to insert the tee straight through the cardboard at one of the marked dots. Feel the resistance!
Remove all the golf tees, leaving behind a set of neat, small holes across the surface.
Challenge your child to thread the pipe cleaners through the new holes. They must weave the fuzzy sticks in and out to create a colorful lacing pattern.

Safety Tip:
Constant and direct adult supervision is required. Golf ball tees and small pieces of pipe cleaner pose choking hazards for children under five. Ensure materials are used only as intended and collected immediately after play.

Pom-Pom Skewer Push

Steps:

Adult Prep: Secure a thick piece of cardboard firmly onto the inside of the plastic container lid using glue. This creates a stable, resistant base for planting.
Place the Q-Tips and pom-poms in separate containers. Ask your child to hold one pom-pom steady with their helper hand to stabilize it.
Challenge your child to pick up a Q-Tip using a neat pincer grasp (thumb and pointer finger).
Encourage them to push the Q-Tip straight through the middle of the resistant pom-pom. They need controlled force to do this without bending the Q-Tip.
Once the pom-pom is skewered, hold the container base steady with the helper hand.
Aim the Q-Tip stick and push it firmly into the resistant cardboard base to create a colorful, dense forest of pom-poms.

Safety Tip:
Constant and direct adult supervision is required. Q-Tips and small pom-poms are choking hazards for children under five. Ensure materials are not placed in the mouth, nose, or ears.

Felt Tapestry Push

Steps:

Adult Prep: Use scissors to cut 8 to 10 tight, narrow, horizontal slits into the felt sheet.
Secure the felt tightly onto the cardboard using masking tape on all edges. Tape the cardboard base firmly onto the table.
Take two pipe cleaners and twist them tightly together to create one stiff, thick ‘needle’ for threading.
Hold the cardboard base steady with your helper hand. Use a strong pincer grasp to pick up the end of the stiff pipe cleaner needle.
Challenge your child to thread the pipe cleaner straight through one tight felt slit. Push it completely through, feeling the resistance of the fabric.
Continue threading the pipe cleaner into the remaining slits, creating a dense, woven tapestry pattern across the felt surface.

Safety Tip:
Constant adult supervision is required. Pipe cleaners are small materials and pose a potential choking hazard for young children. Ensure all materials are used only as intended.