Bowling for Tots

We decided to take the little squirt bowling today. So, in preparation, I made him his own bowling set using circles drawn on paper, water bottles for pins and some tape to make the lane.

L really loved setting up the pins.

He didn't feel like rolling the ball down the lane though, he stood next to them and threw the ball at them. Thank goodness it wasn't a bowling ball!

Here he is pushing the reset buttons. He loved watching people bowl and watching the balls come out of the return.

L watching his ball roll slowly toward the pins.

We used bumpers for him and sat the ball on the floor and had him push it. Eventually he understood that he was supposed to push the ball toward the pins. He was good about not running down the lane. Though the ball rolled slowly, he thought it was great fun watching it hit the pins.

Painting Sticks

We also painting sticks last week. Why, you ask? Because we can! Painting on paper gets kinda boring after a while, so we decided to gather up some sticks outside in the dump truck:

Then we used all these different colors to paint. We talked about the colors as we painted.

 He used fine motor and hand eye coordination to paint the sticks.

It was kinda hard to get the stick to hold still while he was trying to paint it, so he decided to pick it up and dip it in the paint.

The brush we used was a little too long for him to handle. (I have since bought more kid-friendly brushes)

Eventually he gave up the brush altogether and the sticks and went to painting himself.

See, look what I did!

Here are our finished sticks before they dried. I helped him finish up painting them.

 Here is the finished product after they dried. If you have any ideas on what we can do with them now, please comment!

Fine Motor with Water Beads

Here is a great way to work on fine motor skills. Picking up water beads with tongs. They have to squeeze the tongs just hard enough to pick up the bead, but not too hard or the bead will break apart. They really loved the challenge, although I did have some that just wanted to squish the beads. So, you kinda have to know your kids to know if this activity will be a good fit.

I had them transfer the beads from the tray into the small container. For even more of a challenge, you could have them transfer the beads into something with a smaller hole, such as an empty plastic water bottle.

This really took a lot of concentration. Sometimes children want to use both hands, so make sure you let them know if you want them to use only one hand or both.

What do you do to practice fine motor coordination with your kids?

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE I LINK UP

Straw Transfer with Tongs

I began thinking about this activity when I realized I have a few children who were having trouble holding the pencil for writing. They were holding it too high and when corrected, they often reverted immediately back. I even had one who was holding the pencil with his fist. So, I decided they need to strengthen the muscles in their hands and this would be a good start.

It actually surprised me that the children were this interested in it because I have gotten these tongs out before in the sensory table and they barely touched them. Most of the children had preferred to use their hands to transfer the items. But I guess the trick was putting this activity out on trays instead. They came back to it each day for the whole week! Some of them even reminded me to get them out when I forgot. I always love it when an activity is a success, especially when I had a good objective for it.

The items the children are transferring are almost like pieces of straws only heavier. These provided an extra challenge because the cylindrical shape made them slip easily out from the tongs, but the kids did a great job. They were very focused and persistent. Some of them were racing to see who could clear all of theirs off their tray first.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE I LINK UP

Lacing Mittens Fine Motor Activity

Here is another one of our winter weather activities we did to go along with the book The Mitten by Jan Brett.

And here is the finished product! Great for working on fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. Being able to hold on to the mitten while simultaneously lacing the yarn through the holes is a skill that takes a lot of practice. And as we all know, practice makes perfect!

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE I LINK UP

More Building Houses

Here are some more photos of the kids using tools to build a house in the sensory table. To see the original post, click here and scroll down.

They really enjoyed cutting the tape and taping things together.

She taped the roof to her house.

I never even realized how great a fine motor activity taping can be. To pull the tape, cut it and keep it from sticking together takes a lot of eye hand coordination, not to mention actually sticking it onto something the way you want it and to stick more than one thing together requires even more complex movements and steadiness.

Hammering, one child on each end. What a creative way to work together.

 One child actually cut all the way through the thick cardboard with our plastic saw!

The girls decided they needed to do a little bit of decorating, so they got out the markers and drew all over the tape. This is one little girl's "grouchy face." I love it!!!

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE I LINK UP