Motor Planning

The Ribbon-Linked Clip Path

Steps:

Use your markers to draw six colorful circles around the edge of a paper plate.
Assign a number from one to six inside each circle.
An adult should cut a long piece of ribbon about two feet long.
Ask your child to hold the paper plate steady with their helper hand.
Use the other hand to clip a clothespin onto circle number one.
Have your child thread the ribbon through the metal spring of the clothespin.
Move to circle number two and clip on the next clothespin.
Continue threading the ribbon through each clip in numerical order until the path is complete!

Safety Tip:
Always supervise your child while they are using scissors or small ribbons. Ensure the ribbon is not wrapped around fingers or the neck.

Bottle Labyrinth Ball Squeeze

Boy squeezing a plastic bottle with a taped straw to blow a ping pong ball through a cardboard straw maze at a kitchen table

Steps:

Cut a large flat rectangle from your cardboard to act as the base for your labyrinth.
Use markers to draw a start and finish line on opposite ends of the cardboard.
Cut your straws into various lengths and tape them down to the cardboard to create winding maze walls.
Make sure the paths are just wide enough for the ping pong ball to roll through.
Take an empty, flexible plastic bottle and tape a single straw into the opening, sealing the rest of the cap with masking tape so air only comes out of the straw tip.
Place the ping pong ball at the start line of your maze.
Ask your child to hold the cardboard steady with their non-dominant helper hand.
With their dominant hand, have them squeeze the bottle to release puffs of air through the straw, pushing the ball through the maze toward the finish line.

Safety Tip:
Always supervise children during play to ensure straws and small pieces of tape are used safely. Ensure the plastic bottle is clean and free of sharp edges before assembly.

Rainbow Ribbon Wall Weave

Girl weaving a red ribbon through slits in a cardboard panel taped to the wall at shoulder height

Steps:

Draw five long vertical lines on your cardboard.
Use your scissors to cut a slit along each line.
Make sure the slits are wide enough for the ribbon.
Use masking tape to stick the cardboard to a wall.
Put it at your child’s shoulder height.
Give your child a colorful ribbon.
Show them how to poke the ribbon through the first slit.
Help them weave it over and under across the slats.
Repeat this with all the different colors!

Safety Tip:
Adult supervision is needed while using scissors. Ensure the cardboard is taped tightly to the wall so it does not fall.

The Pipe Cleaner Mirror Match

Steps:

Tape a large sheet of butcher paper to the table.
Use a marker to draw a straight line down the middle of the paper.
Take one pipe cleaner and bend it into a simple shape like a zigzag.
Tape your shape onto the left side of the center line.
Give your child a second pipe cleaner of the same length.
Ask them to bend their pipe cleaner to match your shape exactly.
Have them tape their finished shape on the right side of the line.

Safety Tip:
Supervise your child to ensure the metal ends of the pipe cleaners are handled carefully to avoid pokes.

The Spiky Paper Roll Tower

Steps:

Use your markers to draw several colorful dots on an empty paper roll.
Help your child use the hole puncher to click a hole through every dot.
Use masking tape to stick the bottom of the paper roll to a flat cardboard base.
Ask your child to hold the base steady with their helper hand.
Use the other hand to slide a straw through one hole and out a hole on the other side.
Continue until the paper roll looks like a spiky tower full of straws.
Use a pincer grasp to carefully place one bead on the end of every straw!

Safety Tip:
Always supervise your child during play. Small beads and cut straw pieces are choking hazards. Keep all materials away from the mouth.