Fine Motor

Geoboards – Fine Motor Skill Building Tool

The “geoboard” is something that is found in most elementary school classrooms and is generally used for the purpose of building math skills like making geometric shapes and finding area and perimeter. This is something that I will definitely work on with Andrew someday but when I looked at this tool I realized that it would be a fun way to help him build his fine motor skills and fine motor planning.

The geoboard is made of a grid of pegs and comes with rubber bands. By fitting the rubber bands around the pegs, you can create different shapes. I was not focused on creating shapes though. I wanted him to work on the basic skill of putting the rubber band around one peg, stretching it and putting it around another peg. Sounds easy enough but it was quite a challenge and I was glad I started basic.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Secure rubber bands around the matching stickers

I placed small stickers on the pegs I wanted him to put the rubber band around. Each pair of stickers matched so he’d know which ones to connect. Some were closer together and others farther apart so he’d have to stretch the rubber band a bit more, working on doing it so the rubber band didn’t fling off!

A "Geoboard." I placed small matching stickers so he would know which pegs to put the rubber band around.

At the station:

I modeled what we were going to do before giving him the rubber band. Working with rubber bands requires more attention from the adult so it doesn’t hurt them or someone else. Like I said, I knew that it was going to be challenging for him so I did hand over hand while also holding one end of the rubber band on the peg so it wouldn’t come off. His job was to stretch the rubber band and fit it around the peg with the matching sticker. It was great for him to feel the tension and push himself to pull it farther. He wanted me to do it for him but I simply helped his hand stretch it so it would reach around the peg.

Once he got done with the three rubber bands, he was very proud of himself. We continued to work on this in a basic way until he got the hang of it and knew what he needed his fingers to do.

P1000130 — Andrew making a geoboard spider.

Geoboard Simple Substitution:

I found my geoboard at the teacher supply store but this is something that could also be done using a thick piece of styrofoam with some screws, nails or golf tees secured into the foam so they are firm and don’t wiggle. They can be placed randomly or in an orderly fashion, whatever you like. Just provide some rubber bands for your child to secure around the screws, nails or tees and you can help them build fine motor skills! (Here is a previous post I did combining styrofoam, golf tees and a hammer called Hammer Away!)

(Click here for a link on Amazon)

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Make the Same – Part 2

I modeled this My Obstacle Course station activity after several packaged toys Iâ€™ve seen that come with pattern cards for children to replicate. It’s so easy to make your own and custom fit them to what your child needs to work on.

To make them, I used some color coding dot stickers that I found in the school supply/household utility aisle of our grocery store…

P1010117 — Make the Same station activity using color coding dots.

andÂ some index cards (I used colored but plain white cards might work even better).

I used the sticker dots to make basic patterns – ABAB, AAB, ABB, ABC, etc.

P1010111 — My Obstacle Course pattern cards - ABAB pattern (the yellow dots can be seen in person but didn't photograph well)

P1010110 — My Obstacle Course pattern cards - ABB pattern

P1010109 — My Obstacle Course pattern cards - ABC pattern

At the station, I provide paper and stickers, have him choose a pattern card and using the stickers, he peels and sticks the dots on to make the same pattern. If this activity is easy for him, I would have him choose several different cards to do. If it is too challenging, I would limit it to two.

I like that this works on the skill of patterning as well as building the fine motor skill of using their fingers to peel, hold and place the sticker onto another sheet of paper. This also requires some planning because they have to put the sticker in a place that will allow the others will fit. If planning is challenging, you can place lines or x’s on the paper for them to place the sticker on or above.

These sticker dots have other uses as well that I will post on in the near future. I really like finding inexpensive items that have multiple purposes for building different skills!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Cootie Catcher

I received some wonderful materials from Creative Teaching Press and these â€œCootie Catchersâ€ were included.

P1030938 — Package of "All About Me" Cootie Catchers

Seeing this activity sent me back to elementary school days remembering when we would make these out of loose-leaf paper in order to determine who best friends were, who we were going to marry, and all sorts of Â other goofy things. Creative Teaching Press has taken this idea and turned it into a fabulous way for children to get to know other people. (I also got a book with 20 different Math Cootie Catchers that I cannot wait to try out!)

I was not sure if Andrew would be into this sort of thing but decided to give it a try, after all it would require some fine motor skills, motor planning and also allow us to work on social skills of asking and answering questions.

I know that Andrewâ€™s ability to fold is not great, I wanted to introduce this to him without making folding the goal so I did it ahead of time. (It was really easy to do because the folding lines are already pre-creased so I just had to follow the directions.)

P1030941 — Cootie Catcher made and ready to go!

P1030942 — The other side, where the fingers go to open and close the Cootie Catcher.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Cootie Catcher “Get To Know Me”

We did not write the answers to the questions down on the paper but asked them out loud instead. We opened and closed the â€œCootie Catcherâ€ a certain number of times to see the different questions (5 seemed to work well) and chose the questions randomly until they were all answered.

I began the questioning and modeled how to open and close it for him. He did a great job and I was surprised by some of his answers. Just when you think you know someone, they have a new favorite food!

When it was his turn, we worked to get his fingers in the right places and I helped show him how to open and close it.

P1030890 — Not perfect with the finger placement but good enough to get the job done!!

I was so excited that he was really into asking me the questions. Not only that, he actually waited and listened to my answers!! I think the fact that he was concentrating on the opening and closing of the â€œCootie Catcherâ€ helped to focus his mind.

This comes as package of 30 (a class set) so it makes it a great material to share with friends, cousins or teachers once you’ve decided how many you need.

Personal Note: I have to say that seeing spelling errors in blog posts is a major pet peeve of mine and was pretty disappointed to find out by my husband this morning that I had spelled “Translator” wrong in yesterday’s post title. It is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me and I try really hard to make sure that I check, double-check and spell check things I publish. I wanted you to know that I was aware of this and have corrected it but you have my most sincere apologies for this mistake!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Do-A-Dot Art Station

Do-A-Dot paint markers provide a great way to quickly and easily get an art project together without worrying about getting a lot of paint on fingers, hands, etc. It also is a good way to build hand muscles by pushing and using pressure to make the dots on the paper.

P1020423 — Building hand muscles by holding and applying pressure to the marker.

P1020425 — Push the marker and get a circle of paint.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Use the Do-A-Dot marker to make a spring picture with green grass, a yellow sun and orange flowers.

This took about 20 seconds to put together – a sheet of white paper and 3 Do-A-Dot markers. Instead of leaving this as a free form art project which tend to overwhelm Andrew, I gave it a purpose. I had him use the green marker to make grass, the yellow marker to make the sun and the orange marker to make flowers.

P1030927 — Some fun conversation while making the sun!

P1030928 — Seriously considering where to place the orange flowers.

This was the perfect little art project for someone who doesn’t really get into art projects. Quick and fun for him while producing a beautiful piece for me to hang!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Jelly Beans Tweezing

I was at our grocery store and found these different colors of Easter grass.

I purchased them not for our Easter baskets but rather to use in My Obstacle Course along with tweezers or tongs for fine motor skill building. While Andrewâ€™s handwriting is really improving, we still need to build his pencil grasping muscles and tweezers are a great tool to use for this. Since Easter is just around the corner and I like to use things that are thematic and seasonal, I bought some jelly beans to put in the grass for him to get out.

I always try things out before putting them into the Obstacle Course so I know what he is going to be experiencing. This activity requires more pinching pressure to grab the jelly bean, which is going to help him build those finger and hand muscles. If this is too difficult for your child, use something that is larger, like ice-cube tongs or switch the jelly beans with colored marshmallows.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Jelly Bean Tweezing

Set Up:

I used an old baking tray…

P1030814 — Easter grass and an old baking tin

and placed some grass in, spreading it out so it wasn’t just one big clump.

I put some jelly beans in…

P1030820 — Jelly beans scattered in the grass.

set out the tweezers and it is set!

P1030822 — Tweezers grabbing the jelly bean

At The Station:

Your child will use the tweezers to grab the jelly beans out of the grass. You could work on color recognition by having your child hunt for a certain color or choose a certain number you’d like them to find, especially if this is challenging for them.

P1030825 — Going into the grass to get a jelly bean.

You could provide a container for them to place the jelly beans in after they find them. I may even use a different color grass in another bowl to make a nest for the pretend play add-on I describe below.

Pretend Play:

Activities like this one also lend themselves to a bit of pretend play. We have pretended that these were bird eggs that fell out of the nest onto the ground and we have to get them back to the nest before the mother bird returns.Â Get creative and have some fun!

P1030823 — Combining thematic or seasonal items with household items to create a fun station activity.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Giant Alphabet Beads For Lacing

I was looking for ways to help Andrew build the fine motor skills and motor planning necessary when lacing or stringing something together. I tried all sorts of things – the lacing boards, which did not interest him at all because he truly did not care if the holes around a picture had a lace around it. He did not see the purpose in that at all. I tried lacing boards that required him to lace together two separate pieces, an animal and it’s home. That was a little more motivating for him but he quickly lost interest once he could tell that they were attached after just one or two “stitches.”

Lacing beads to make a certain pattern using a pipe cleaner worked better…

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Lace the beads to make the same pattern.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity Completed

but then I hit the jackpot for him…

giant alphabet beads to make words! He loves making words and this was something he found purposeful and worth his time and energy.Â I found these letter cubes at Lakeshore learning supply store (click here for the link). He has to string the letters in the right order on the lace to form words. For him, this was awesome and the lacing or stringing became secondary to creating words.

Working to make the word "cookie" since we had just read a Frog and Toad story about cookies.

I chose words that went along with the theme and often mixed up the letters and gave him a written clue to make it more fun.

If At First I Don’t Succeed, I Try, Try And Try Again!

This was another one of those lessons that taught me to never give up! Sometimes I have to approach a certain concept or skill a number of different ways before I find something that clicks with him. There are those of you out there who may start with the letter beads and find that your child is really motivated by the lacing cards – I know I loved those as a child! The important thing I have learned is to think about what my child likes, what motivates him and then I try to find ways to engage him using that knowledge. Not everything in life is going to be perfectly tailored to what he likes to do and how he likes to do it but when I am working with him at home to build the skills and concepts he is ready for, I have the benefit of providing activities for him so he understands and learns in the way that is most beneficial to him. You can do the same!!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

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