Posts Tagged ‘fine motor skills’
I have a huge aversion to spiders. Seriously. I literally cried when the park ranger walked by me with a tarantula at a show we went to. Then I turned around and carried the snake around for all the kids to see. It’s just spiders. They freak me out. So celebrating spiders on our Halloween Countdown took a lot of will power for me. In the end, it was one of the more fun days we had!
We made spider snacks:
They are cute and I know you want to make them, too! Here’s the how-to on spider cookies.
Supplies for Spider Cookies
- Oreo cookies
- Pull apart Twizzlers
- Chocolate chips
- gingerbread house frosting (best edible glue, ever!)
I made the frosting first following our gingerbread house frosting recipe. I was a little distracted and added almost two pounds instead of one pound of powdered sugar. I added some more milk to thin it down and smooth it out. I was worried it wouldn’t hold well with the, uh, alterations. But it did great.
Next we pulled apart the Twizzlers and cut them into little leg-length pieces. Then we twisted the top of the Oreo off. We pressed eight legs into the cream filling. Then added a little frosting to the backside of the Oreo and put it back on top to cover the legs. Then we dipped the chocolate chips in the frosting, generously, and put them on to of the Oreos for eyes. I love the look of a little extra frosting around the chocolate chip. Looks like real eyes to me.
This was great work for little fingers. Sammi (5) and Elli (3) both helped put legs on and dipped eyes in frosting and added them. Sammi also loves to twist off the Ores tops. Once she worked through the process on one cookie with me, she did all the rest of hers on her own without any assistance from me. I love how independent she is now!
We’ve been following The Home Teacher’s Countdown to Halloween. It’s been so much fun and the girls look forward each morning to picking the pumpkin off the wall and finding out our theme for the day (a picture on the back of the pumpkin). Today is Monster day and I have lots of fun things planned, but we started the day off with monster pancakes for breakfast.
Brent made the pancakes and colored some green and some purple. Then we put decoration possibilities on the table. We had chocolate chips, bananas, whipped topping, bacon and sausage.
Each person created their own monster.
Such creativity!
Even Scott enjoyed his monster pancake.
Other things we are doing today:
- Monster Measuring (free download, but you need to create an account)
- Monster Number Words Matching Activity (free download, but you need to create an account)
- Monster hand puppets out of felt (This is my own creation)
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The first unit of the art curriculum we’re doing with Sammi focused on lines. We’ve had fun using our bodies to make lines and drawing the various lines with crayons, markers, colored pencils, and oil pastels. The fun just keeps going when there are so many combinations of materials and content. We just LOVE art at our house.
Earlier this week from Let’s Explore’s Sunday Playful Picks there was a link to a fantastic art project: How to Make Fall Inchies from that artist woman. Inchies are art works completed on 1 inch square canvases. that artist woman uses two inch squares for her early elementary students and that seems more doable for Sammi’s fine motor skills.
After cutting the 2-inchies out I had just enough left over to cut out 12 true inchies. They were so little and cute and I was inspired to make a mini-poster of the different lines we’ve learned.
I used a few to show her my idea of different mediums to make the lines on the square. She, of course, caught on right away and enthusiastically set out to make her inchies.
She made eight of different line inchies before she got bored. So we took a break and did something else. Fortunately I managed to convince her to finish them before dinner so we could get the table cleaned up.
I double mounted them and added a title for her. She could have done it herself; she puts her name and date on all her schoolwork. But she had already done more than she had wanted to and I, impatiently, wanted it finished because I knew otherwise, it might be ages before we got back to it. This is definitely one for her portfolio!
Elli has finally discovered the joy of dressing herself. This comes as a relief because now I can hand her her pajamas and she can put them on herself while I change the baby. I remember this being a huge burden lifted off my shoulders when Sammi transitioned into dressing herself for bed, and then for the day.
I say burden because by the time we’re getting ready for bed, I’m exhausted! It takes so much focus (which I seem to lack at the end of the day) to get all the kids in their pajamas with their teeth brushed and their bladders empty and finally settled in bed. To have Elli dress herself is a huge step toward simplifying this process.
The downside to this new discovery is that it is just that, NEW. And every time I turn around, she’s changed her clothes, again. While I’m lamenting the extra laundry, I have to smile at the outfits she puts together.
Helping your little one learn to dress
- Be patient with the extra laundry!
- Provide clothes with give: elastic waistbands and shirts with loose sleeves and necks.
- Let them struggle a little with the clothing, but intervene before full-blown frustration.
- Sit back and let them be in charge. Sometimes I have to occupy myself with another task so she has the room to struggle with her clothes without me hovering over her.
- An older sibling’s clothes can be just right for learning to put on and take off clothes.
- Dress-ups are another great way to practice.
- Enjoy the crazy outfits that come your way!
How have you helped your little one learn to dress?
We had such a blast with our Spring sensory tub that I wanted to try a rice-based tub with Spring-colored rice. I used vinegar and food coloring following directions found here.
I love the colors. They are so vibrant and looked great next to each other. I was too impatient to wait for the orange to dry so I gave the tub to Elli with just the green, purple and pink.
She immediately mixed them. She then proceeded to play with just the rice for about 10 minutes. Such fun!
Elli helped me make the rice by pouring the vinegar into the jar, helping me squeeze the food coloring in, and shaking the jar one the lid was on tight. She loved being a part of the process. I was worried she would be more destructive than helpful, but she’s really figuring out the fun of following directions.
What have your little ones been playing with this Spring?
I’ve seen the cutest Spring themed sensory tubs all over the blogosphere, so today I decided to put together one for Elli. Since this was a last minute deal, I just gathered spring colored items that I already had. Some she’s been playing with and some have been ignored for a while. I added in Sammi’s left-handed chopsticks, a purple spoon and a measuring cup for added fun.
Sifting through the corn, finding the little toys and even picking up the corn that falls out of the tub are all great activities for developing fine motor skills. She had the added challenge of using Sammi’s left-handed chopsticks. She was able to pick up several things for me and had a blast!
As I was coaxing her unsuccessfully into picking up the corn on the floor, I experienced a moment of parenting-inspiration and turned it into a game. Games work every time! I don’t know why it takes so long for me to remember that. This game was about counting. I picked up one or two kernels, showed them to Elli and asked her how many I had in my hand. We counted them together until she could identify one or two by herself. We never did get three mastered! But then I asked her how many she had. She’d pick up as many as she could and then show me. We counted them together (usually four or five) and she put them in the tub and did it again. She was cleaning up and practicing numbers without even knowing it! Love that kind game.
How have you turned chores into games? I’m always looking for inspiration!
This was a quick and fun craft project we did one afternoon. We just used Halloween supplies we had on hand. Last year after Halloween I bought a bunch of rings and other Halloween plastic goodies. We discovered this year that the ring part pops off easily and leaves the Halloween shape free to become something else (other than a ring!) So we used them to make a Halloween wreath.
Supplies
- Paper plate
- Paint
- Halloween shapes, figurines, anything you have around the house
- Ribbon, Halloween colored or not
- Glue gun
Directions
The paper plate is the base of the wreath. Cut a circle out of the center of the paper plate. Then trim around the outside of the plate so the wreath is the size you want to accommodate the decorations you have for it.- Paint the paper plate. We used orange, yellow, purple and black. We also used the Bingo bottles to paint so that the pain wouldn’t be too thick and would dry faster. Let dry.
- After the painted plates were dry, we warmed up the glue gun. The girls chose which shapes they wanted on their wreath. We laid them out to see how full the wreath would be and what order they wanted their shapes in.
I added glue to the back of the shapes and helped the girls put them where they wanted them. Then they pressed down and counted to five to let the glue dry before we did the next one.- After all the decorations were on the front and the glue had cooled, we added the ribbon. I just cut the ribbon pieces all the same length. I doubled the ribbon and glue gunned the ends at the top of the wreath. After a minute to cool, they were ready to hang.
Wishing you Happy and Safe Halloween Celebrations this weekend!
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The other day I picked up a Highlights High Five magazine to see how Sammi would like it. She loved it! We read it through twice and then we cut out the little book at the end and folded it together. Then we had to run to the store to buy cheap paper plates to do the flower garden craft.
I made a template and cut it out. Then we folded a bunch of plates and traced the template. Sammi had fun cutting out the centers, but decided the petals were not for her.
Then we cut strips of paper. She even identified them as rectangles, totally unprompted! She helped me pick out the papers and then we worked together to cut them with the paper cutter.
She loves tape and had so much fun taping the beginning and end of each strip. She also loved threading the paper through the middle hole as we wrapped each strip around the flower.
One is for Sammi and one is for Daddy. Not only are they flowers, but they also act as crowns and bracelets. Such creativity!
I wanted a flower poem to go along with our craft, but I couldn’t think of one. So I made one up and the girls loved it. We did it ten times and they both got the actions down.
Five Little Flowers
by Amber Passey *
Five little flowers, sitting in the yard,
The first one says, Growing tall is very hard.
The second one says, I just want to see some rain.
The third one says, I want the sun again.
The fourth one says, I am ready to bloom!
The fifth one says, I just need some wiggle room.
So clap went the thunder and down came the drops.
Then the sun comes out and all the rain stops.
Line 1: Show five fingers
Line 2: stretch up tall on tiptoes
Line 3: have fingers rain down
Line 4: circle arms overhead for sun
Line 5: put fists by face and then pop open fingers on “bloom”
Line 6: wiggle like crazy
Line 7: clap hands then rain fingers down
Line 8: circle arms overhead for sun then on “stops” hold both hands in front like you’re stopping traffic
*Poem is original. You’re more than welcome to share it, but please give credit to Because Babies Grow Up. Thanks!
Sammi’s taken a lot of pictures some with pretty amazing compositions, but this is by far my favorite to this point.
This post is linked up with 5 Minutes for Mom, and Seven Clown Circus. Check out other amazing pictures through those links.
Sammi started going through “craft project withdrawals” while at my dad’s house. I had my suspicions that this was the case, but I knew for sure when she brought me two empty toilet paper rolls and said, “Let’s make something with these!” There was an almost pleading sound in her voice and I knew we need a great project and fast!
I remembered No Time For Flash Cards‘ post on toilet paper flowers and decided we could do that with the resources we had at Grandpa’s. I cut one toilet paper roll in half then snipped about halfway down several times around to make petals. Then I folded them out and gave them to Sammi. She colored and added stickers for a minute. I was thinking about the best way to make them into a garden when Sammi held the two flowers up to her eyes.
I just knew we had to make glasses.
We taped two petals together while I tried to think of a way to make the sides to fit around her ears. I asked my dad if he had any bendy straws. He said no. I said, “So that probably means pipe cleaners are out of the question?” He replied, “Amber, our days of kids crafts are so far past I don’t think we have anything hanging around anymore.” Just then I remembered the big container of Q-tips in the closet upstairs. I ran up and got several. It took two and a half for each side to be long enough to reach Sammi’s ears.
Another impromptu craft we did used paper and some Easter stickers I picked up for $2 at Target. I found yellow scrap paper {again, we were at my dad’s and I had to search to find some paper to use!} and used a pen to draw baskets filled with eggs. Then I set out crayons and gave them each some stickers. This was a fun, easy craft because it was relevant to an upcoming holiday, didn’t take very much prep work or time and kept them entertained while I jumped in the shower. I think if I had sat with them while they did it, the activity would have lasted longer and they probably would have decorated all the eggs and the basket. But for an independent project, I think it turned out great!
Creative Crafting
It doesn’t take a lot of resources. It doesn’t take a lot of time or money. But with a little bit of creativity, you and your little ones can make some pretty creative crafts. If it weren’t for the forced need for creativity, I never would have drawn an Easter basket or used Q-tips to make flower glasses. I loved the challenge, though, and the outcome was fabulous!
I’d love to hear about your resourceful craft projects! Have you been creative in the materials you used in a craft project with your little ones?
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