Cutting With Scissors

It occurred to me that while I often list cutting with scissors as one of our activities, I've never gone into depth on how I do this with a child so young.

Well, first I took paper and set it in a book holder. This way both of Zeke's hands were free to cut "fringe" while he mastered the way the scissors worked.
When he had happily fringed several pieces of paper and seemed like he had mastered the scissors with two hands, I took thick construction paper and cut it into strips. This forced him to cut with one hand, as the other was busy holding his strip of paper, but it was an easy introduction as the strip was thin enough to be cut thru in a single cut.

Next I encouraged him to cut his own strips of paper, all the way down the sheet, and soon enough I will draw jagged and curved lines down paper for him to follow- and not long after that simple shapes for him to cut out.

Sorting

Sorting into matching groups is a great skill to practice. And all you have to do is set out a few different colors of large buttons and a muffin tray (or a few cups). Zeke really enjoyed matching and sorting the buttons. This could easily be done with any small items though- painted rocks, decorative erasers, ect. A trip to the dollar store yeilds endless possibilities.

For added fine motor challenge include a spoon, tweezers, tongs, or another tool to sort with.

Sensory Beans

Zeke enjoyed the beans so much in our dry pouring activity that this week I set up a small tub of mixed dry beans for sensory exploration. I also included a spoon and cup so he could spoon beans if he so chose. And did he ever choose. This has been a constant in the house this week. Spooning, sorting, or just plain feeling.

Dry Pouring

This week I set out a small pitcher and bowl to let Zeke practice his pouring skills. We poured dried beans, but rice works equally well.

Stringing Beads

One of the fine-motor projects I put together for Zeke this week was beading. I found the extra large wood beads at a local thrift and thought they were perfect. My first thought was to use a shoelace for the string, but since I didn't have any spare, I went ahead and used a very dull tapestry needle and some twine.

Zeke seemed to hande it very responsibly and the process of putting the needle thru the bead, and then pulling it out the other side is just perfect as far as his abilities go. Its difficult but not too difficult.

"Coin" Slot

I honestly thought Zeke would be too old for this activity. But boy oh boy was I wrong. He has played with this for hours on end this week, and best yet, his little brother can do it too.

It's as simple and simple gets. Cut a slit in the top of some sort of old container. Wipes boxes and oatmeal tins work great. Find some circular objects to place in the slit. We used poker chips, but when I've made these in the past I've used the metal tops of frozen juice packages and, you guessed it, quarters.

Stickers

I've known stickers are a great fine motor activity, not to mention beloved by all toddlers, for a long time. But I've also always known that once they are stuck, children tend to get frustrated and want to pick them up again.

Only recently was I given the idea of sticking them onto wax paper. Voila, non-permanent sticking.

I pick up sticker books whenever I see them for a good price. I've found them at the dollar store and at Joanne's for a hundred stickers for a dollar.

Dropper Activity

Two dishes, some water, and a medicine dropper from the pharmacy. I filled one dish, and left the other empty, and encouraged Zeke to move all the water from one dish to the other. Which he did, numerous times. I left the water plain, nervous about how well Z would be able to control the dropper, but he did great, it was the perfect amount of difficulty for him.

I think with some food dye and a 3rd bowl this could be a really fun color-mixing experiment. Or even a fun art project, dripping food dye or watercolors onto paper. So there you go, 2 household objects and 3 possibilities.

Stegasaurus Laundry Pin Activity

This was a 10 second project to put together to help with fine motor skills and more specifically with finger strength. Little boys, in particular, can have a hard time developing the finger strength necessary for writing, not to mention clear writing. This could be done just as easily with a porcupine as a dinosaur. Honestly, maybe even better? The pins are supposed to represent spikes but they look more like quills.

I cut the dino out of thick construction paper, but in hindsight, cardboard would have been better. Because the construction paper kept bending under the weight of the pins, Zeke could only pin them on if I was holding the dino for him, which was frustrating for him.