Motor Planning - Page 44 of 45

Finger Twister

Use scissors, markers and paper to create a miniature “twister” board (3-4 rows of 3 colored dots).

Instruct the child on which finger to put on which colors (ex: pointer finger on blue dot, pinkie finger on green dot).

Having child make their own board to take home can address cutting, coloring and visual motor skills.

You can modify the activity for grading to incorporate many other skills you are working on (ex: have child draw different shapes instead of just colored circles, or use letters instead of circles)

Big Tac Toe

A 6-year-old child lying on his belly plays a large tic-tac-toe game on a living room floor using masking tape and construction paper shapes.

Help the child cut 4 equal pieces of masking tape. Each piece should be about 3 feet long.

Use the masking tape pieces to make a large tic tac toe board on the floor.

Use the construction paper to cut shapes (each player should have his own shape). You will need 5 pieces of each shape. Let the child help you with a cutting of the shapes.

If working on writing skills, each player can write his name on his shapes.

Instruct the child to lay prone next to the tic tac toe board.

Using the pieces you cut, play the tic tac toe game by placing the pieces while keeping your body prone and reaching with your arms out to place the pieces on the board (i.e. crossing midline).

For grading: instead of writing your name on each shape, you can write your initials or any other word as appropriate.

Ping Pong Plates

This activity is divided into 2 parts: creating the rackets and playing ping pong with the rackets and the balloon.

First, glue the wooden stick to the paper plate with the wooden stick sticking out of the plate. The wooden stick is going to be where you hold the racket so the length of the stick that comes out of the paper plate should be at least 4 inches.

Once the sticks are glued, use the crayons to color or write on the paper plates.

Inflate the balloon.

Hold the paper plate racket and bounce the ball around.

If done in a group setting, you can instruct the kids to use the paper plate to bounce the balloon from one to another while playing a ping-pong game.

Stickplane

Use the wooden sticks or craft sticks as the airplane wings.

Let the child paint or color the sticks with markers and decorate with stickers.

Once sticks are dry, instruct the child to glue on stick at the bottom of the clothespin and one stick at the top.

Using pincer grasp, instruct the child to pinch and open the clothespin while placing the third wing in the middle.

You can have the child glue the middle stick or do not glue the middle wing to allow the child to practice his grasp by removing the middle stick for a two wing airplane model.

Busy Bee

Use an A4 (standard size) yellow construction paper and ask the child to fold the paper in the middle lengthwise.

Using child scissors, ask the child to cut the folded construction paper along the fold middle line creating 2 long yellow rectangles.

Demonstrate to the child using one yellow rectangle how to roll it into a cylinder shape. Staple the edges.

Ask the child to do the same using the other yellow rectangle he cut.

If needed, assist the child using the stapler to staple the edges.

Staple both yellow cylinders together.

Use black construction paper and ask the child to cut five 1/2 inch by 4-inch stripes. Glue three stripes to the bee’s body and use the other two stripes for the antennas.

Using white tissue paper or a paper towel, make a bow shape out of 3 inches by 6-inch rectangle. Glue or staple the blow to form the wings.

Use the markers or pom poms for the bee’s eyes and mouth.