Fine Motor

Halloween Sticker Patterns

This is a super simple way to build patterning skills along with fine motor skills – Halloween themed patterning!

I had some packages of Halloween themed stickers (could be any theme at any time of the year though) and got out some orange index cards. I began a pattern using the stickers (shown in the photo) and when Andrew got to the station, he looked at the pattern, found the sticker that went next, peeled it and worked to stick it on the card.

Seems easy enough, right? This was actually a really challenging activity for him, not necessarily figuring out the patterns, but all of the motor planning involved in removing the sticker, having the sticker on his fingers and then working to place the sticker carefully onto the card in the spot next to the previous sticker.

This is an example of using a strength along with a weakness to provide motivation. While he would make comments about the stickers being sticky and tricky, as he was doing this he was really focused on the pattern. If you have a child who struggles with patterns but loves stickers, this is a great way to help build patterning while using a material that they enjoy.

As you can see from the photo, this is very basic activity yet it provided a fun, thematic way to build all of these skills!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Geoboard Spider

Using a geoboard to create a spider is a great way to sneak in some fine motor and motor planning skills during an October/Halloween themed My Obstacle Course.

P1000075 — My geoboard spider (I always try out activities beforehand in case they don't work.).

This is a super easy station to set up, all you need is a geoboard and some rubber bands (which the geo board comes with). Click here for the Geoboard Google Search results as well as a picture of a geoboard with rubber bands creating what looks to me like a spider web – another way to use it with this theme!!

I began the rubber band spider with a rectangle body and Andrewâ€™s job was to create the 8 legs, 4 on each side. This requires using both hands together with one hand either holding the peg with one end of the rubber band around it or holding the board so it doesnâ€™t move and some hand strength with the other hand to be able to pull the rubber band to stretch it all the way over the peg.

P1000130 — Andrew working to make his geoboard spider. See how he has to use two hands together to stretch the rubber bands?

Children generally enjoy working with geoboards because they rarely get to â€œplayâ€ with rubber bands. Ever watch an adult with a rubber band? There’s just something about them that keeps fingers and hands busy while stretching and twisting them – so fun!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Help the Baby Chicks

This station activity is perfect for a farm-themed My Obstacle Course. All you need are some colored puffs (yellow works great for baby chicks) and some tweezers or ice tongs. I had some brown shredded paper that I placed into a baking pan because I thought it would help in pretending that they were still in their nest.Â I also had a picture of a hen from a Mailbox Teacher Magazine but you could draw your own (you would laugh if you saw what mine would look like) or simply print one fromÂ of the internet.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Help The Baby Chicks Get Back With Their Mom

This activity is simple. Have your child use the tweezers to get the baby chicks (one at a time) back to their mom. Since I am always looking for ways to build pretend play, I suggest adding some pretend play dialogue, such as “Oh no! The chicks are still sleeping in their nest and their mom is looking for them. Can you help them get back with their mother?”

Using the tweezers or tongs helps to build hand muscles necessary for handwriting and even eating with utensils. Here is a past post that I did on tweezers.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Farm Themed Sticker Story

When I purchase things to use in My Obstacle Courses with Andrew, I LOVE it when I can use them for multiple activities. Here is just one example of how easy it is to create a completely different activity using something as basic as package of stickers.

I had some farm stickers, which I used for a farm themed memory match game…

P1040979 — Farm Themed Memory Match Pairs

and decided to create a fill in the blank story using them. At the time, Andrew was 4 and since he wasn’t yet speaking, I wanted to know if he knew which animals made which sounds. This gave me the perfect opportunity to find out since I could read the words, say the sounds and he could select the animal that went with it.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Farm Themed Sticker Story

For this station activity, I typed up some basic sentences with a space provided for a sticker to go, printed it out, set out the stickers for Andrew to choose from and that was it.

This is what I wrote (so you can see it’s not rocket science 🙂 ):

Out in the country, there was a little red ___ (barn). There were lots of animals on the farm. There was a ___ (horse) that said “neigh!” There was a ___ (pig) that said “oink!” There was a ___ (cow) that said “moo!” There was even a ___ (scarecrow) that didn’t say anything, but scared away the birds.

Once at the station, I read the sentence and had him pick the sticker that best fit. He peeled it off of the sheet and placed it onto the paper on the line provided. This was not only reinforcing his knowledge of animals and their sounds, it was also fine motor skills of peeling and placing.

This activity can be adapted to any theme that you are doing, doesn’t take long to prepare and is a good way to build vocabulary or provide information about a certain topic/thing while keeping your child engaged in the process.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Do A Dot Apple Trees

Here is another simple idea combining an apple tree with building fine motor skills, particularly with a child who is not crazy about doing art projects.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Do A Dot Apple Trees

I took a few sheets of white paper, drew an outline of a tree Â (I’m really good at these outlines aren’t I?! 🙂 )…

and set out red, green and yellow “dotters.”

Andrew could choose what color apples he was going to have on the tree and then use the dotters to push down, creating a circle, or “apple.”

Super simple, super cute (I finally have some of his “artwork” to hang up!!) and helps build hand muscles when grasping the dotter and while pushing it down to create the circle.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

How Many Apples On The Apple Tree?

This My Obstacle Course station activity is so simple yet it helps to build math skills and fine motor skills – bonus!! While I know that apples are usually picked off of an apple tree, for the purpose of this station activity, we are going to be putting apples back on the tree. I guess you could put a whole bunch of “apples” on the tree and have your child “pick” a given number off of the tree using the tweezers. Either way, a great opportunity to build these skills!

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: How Many Apples On The Apple Tree?

I used a brown sheet of paper and drew the outline of a tree. I gathered up some red puffs to represent apples and set out a pair of tweezers. The object of this activity is to give your child a number and have them use the tweezers to grasp the “apples” and put them on the tree. I like to use tweezers because it helps to build the same muscles needed for handwriting and drawing.

P1040900 — My tree with red cotton puff apples.

P1040904 — A stack of calendar numbers can be used to provide the number.

There are several different ways to get the number:

just pick a number (this wouldnâ€™t work as well for us since Andrew prefers to see things if he is going to â€œbuyâ€ into it, but thatâ€™s just us)
roll a die or two dice and have your child count the dots and put that many apples on the tree
use dominos and have your child flip over a domino, count the dots and put that many apples on the tree
use calendar numbers by choosing a few that are appropriate for your child, turn them over and have your child flip them one at a time, say the number and put that many apples on the tree

This activity helps build number recognition and allows the child to demonstrate their understanding without needing to have intelligible speech.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!