Fine Motor

April Themed Money Match-Up

I have to say that after doing this for a while, I have found myself noticing things that I’ve probably seen a million times but have never really “seen.” This next find is one of those things. I had just picked up some new markers for Andrew in the school supply aisle of our grocery store when I sawÂ these garage sale stickers.

P1030832 — Garage Sale Stickers and Calendar Cutouts

I was not planning a garage sale, however I did like all of the stickers with the different money amounts on them. They would be perfect for counting coins! I placed the stickers on some calendar cutouts (Post-It Notes, index cards or any paper works, I just like how the cutouts make it so easy to be thematic.) and got to work on the rest of the activity.

Since Easter is just around the corner, I paired the sticker-ed cutouts with some plastic Easter eggs to not only make it more colorful and fun, but also help him build fine motor skills (by pulling the parts of the egg apart to open it).

I grabbed a coin jar and filled some eggs with coins that added up to 25 cents, 50 cents, 75 cents and $1.00. I chose to do 6 eggs and mixed them in with empty eggs to make it more of a game.

P1030835 — This egg has two quarters which add up to 50 cents.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Hunt, Add, Match

P1030841 — My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Hunt for the eggs with coins. Add the coins and match them with a flower that has the same amount.

At the station, he has to find the eggs that had coins in them, open it, pour out the coins and we count them together. When we figure out the amount, we match up the egg and coins with a cutout that has the same amount.

P1030838 — One dime and 3 nickels add up to 25 cents.

P1030839 — Two quarters add up to 50 cents.

If these amounts are too high for your child, there are blank stickers to write on or you can bypass the stickers altogether and writeÂ out amounts they are ready for, perhaps starting off with just pennies and counting by ones or using only one kind of coin to work on counting by 5’s or 10’s. Here are links to two posts I did on coin counting and why it is important to make sure they understand coin values before expecting them to be able to count mixed coins. Coin Counting Part 1 , Coin Counting Part 2

I hope I have shown you how easy it is to combine a few basic things to create a fun and purposeful activity to build developmental and academic skills? I cannot wait to see what else is out there waiting for me to notice! 🙂

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Design and Drill

When I first saw this toy I thought it would be a huge hit with Andrew and when he seemed reluctant to play with it I immediately made plans to turn it into a station activity in My Obstacle Course. It is a square with holes to be used with colored screws to create designs or patterns. It comes with an electric drill as well as one the child can use manually. This is a great toy for combining fine motor skills, problem solving and planning along with math skills (patterning).

P1030695 — The colorful screws and drill

The cards that come with the toy range from basic to complex and can take a bit of time to complete. I found that having Andrew make the pattern or picture that was on the card from start to finish was too much and he lost interest when he realized it was going to take a while. I began shortening the activity by either starting a picture or pattern for him to finish or only giving him a certain number of screws to drill in. This helped a ton and was far more motivating to him.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Finish the Pattern

Choose colors or a pattern. Begin the row or the pattern and have your child finish the pattern by screwing in the pieces that come next. I like to provide the exact number of pieces that he will need to complete it. Once I saw that he had a good idea of the pattern, I would include an oddball screw to see if he could recognize that it did not belong.

P1030691 — Card with basic rows of different colors

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Make the Same (finishing what is shown on the paper card)

This is the most challenging activity and is something that I found worked best when I began the pattern or picture and provided him with the screws to finish it.

P1030687 — Andrew's board almost finished (missing two purple screws in the bottom row)!

This is another toy that was purchased for Christmas and was not really played with until I taught him how to do it in a small, structured way. Breaking down the steps into small, manageable pieces makes such a difference! It is now a toy that he understands, enjoys and is more comfortable playing with. Click here for a previous post on new toys not played with.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Pastry Brush as Paint Brush

Pastry (or Basting) Brush

I found these bright brushes at Target. I thought that they would be great for painting with while also being super easy to clean. Andrew is not a huge fan of painting and past attempts involving sheets of blank white paper have lasted about 15 seconds. I took that knowledge and decided to make this painting station look very different. I set out these brushes…

added a pie tin…

and a plate or cookie sheet underneath (since my tin has holes).

P1030631 — Pastry Brushes, Pie Tin and Paper Plate (to catch spills)

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Paint Planet Earth

I placed some washable finger paint on the cookie sheet (or on another paper plate if that’s what you are using underneath). I used blue and green paint because he had been learning about the planets in school and the station direction was to paint the planet Earth.

P1010012 — Using both hands...interesting 🙂 .

This station activity is really easy to set up and clean up. It was the first time (at home with me) where he was actually willing to paint and I think it really helped him to have a defined space and to know he was expected to cover the whole bottom. A blank white paper can be very intimidating and this was structured enough to make him feel comfortable to be willing to try. He had a ball with this and I enjoyed watching and listening to him as he painted!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Stir Up Some Fun With Spring Colored Whisks!

I found these colored whisks at Target and besides being perfect for using in a spring themed My Obstacle Course, I realized they would be perfect for building a skill I was working on with Andrew.

If At First It Doesn’t Work, Try Something Different

I had introduced a stirring activity with him (stirring frosting with a spoon) and realized that it was too challenging for him because he didn’t have the hand muscle strength to dig in and move it around. I thought that these whisks would be perfect for him to build his hand muscles while grasping the handles and moving it through something that would provide just a little resistance…water!

This is such a simple activity, and probably one that many of you have done with your children, however as Andrew grew up we never really had those pretending to “make soup” on the kitchen floor with pots and wooden spoons or “splash in the kitchen sink” water experiences. While he loves swimming, bathing and showering, he doesn’t like the possibility of getting wet and having wet clothes on.

(Recent story about to illustrate this…Last week when we went to Morgan’s Wonderland and there was a really cool water experimentation-station. There were lots of spinning parts, which he LOVES, but I could tell he was anxious about getting wet. He even came up to me and said, “Next time I wear my swim suit and swim shirt so I can’t get wet.” In his mind, the rule must be – “It’s okay to be wet in a swim suit.” I showed him the complete change of clothes that I had in my bag and assured him that he could change his clothes when he wanted. This helped tremendously and he was then willing to step in closer and really experiment with some cool things! I will post pictures of him at this station to my Facebook page.)

I have learned to reintroduce things that didn’t work before by making small tweaks, which also gives me a lot of insight as to what is standing in his way or what he is ready to handle at that time.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Stirring Water With A Whisk

I used a large plastic bowl…

added the whisks…

P1030670 — Whisks and bowl waiting for water

some water and a few drops of food coloring when we got to the station! I also placed a rimmed cookie sheet under the bowl to catch any spills. The food coloring is not essential but I do find that it helps give this activity purpose, especially for someone who needs to see the purpose in doing something before fully engaging.

At first he hesitated, worrying that he wouldn’t be able to do it like he wanted but I could see he was curious about what would happen with the food coloring if he gave it a stir! I began by placing my hand over his so he could feel the pressure necessary to hold the whisk and also to show him how to move it around the bowl.

P1010010 — Stirring the water to make it green.

Sometimes you have to look no farther than your kitchen cupboards to help your child build skills. The colorful whisks just add a bit of fun and also keep his tools separate from mine 🙂 .

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Building Hand Strength with Frosting and Food Coloring

I was looking for ways to build Andrew’s hand strength, particularly the muscles that allow the hand to squeeze and squashÂ things. I have shown how I’ve used frosting in a cake decorator (Cookie Cutter Decorating) to work on this and was particularly excited about his interest in making colors with food coloring and thought about combining the two. Knowing that he doesn’t really like to get his hands sticky (neither do I!) I turned to one of my favorite items for containing messy things – the Ziploc bag.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Squeeze the frosting to make new colors.

Station Activity Set Up:

I scooped some whipped frosting into the bag and placed some drops of food coloring, strategically scattering them around so they wouldn’t all be clumped in the same spot. For this particular station activity I choose yellow and blue food coloring because it was March and I wanted him to see how those two colors make green. With the prep work done for this (another easy station to set up – time spent, probably less than a minute!) it was ready and waiting for My Obstacle Course to begin.

P1000895 — My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Squeeze the frosting to make new colors.

At The Station:

When he got to the station, he read the directions that he was to squeeze and squish the frosting so the colors would mix or combine. I demonstrated how to do this and showed how he could lift the bag and squeeze the frosting to move it around. He pushed and pressed, made a fist and pounded the frosting. It was hard work for him but he was also so excited to see the colors changing as the mixed in, first turning the frosting yellow and blue in sections and then mixing to make green. I loved it because it was really working his little hand muscles without him getting upset or bothered by sticky frosting on his hands. (Working on sensory tolerance for the stickiness is a station on its own, one done right at the sink 🙂 . But my goal for this activity was to build fine motor, hand strength.)

When you are done, the bag of colored frosting does not have to be disposed of just yet. It can also be used to build beginning handwriting skills…

P1000669 — (Colored frosting in Ziploc bag)

the same way I showed with No “Ick” Finger Painting! Your child can practice making shapes, letters and numbers in the colored frosting while also building finger and hand strength.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Handwriting Skill Building With Dry Erase Books

P1000108 — My Obstacle Course Station Activity: "Write and Wipe"Â Book - Practicing Uppercase "C"

This is for those of you who either have children that actually enjoy working in workbooks or have children who are ready build handwriting skills yet are reluctant to practice with paper and pencil. I do not have a child who loves working in workbooks but I was one of those children. I loved doing workbooks! Anyways, I found these dry-erase/wipe-off books at Lakeshore Learning to help Andrew with handwriting. He was not into them at the time I purchased them a few years ago but I brought them out again recently when he was showing an interest in his dry erase board. (Just another example of remembering to reintroduce things he wasn’t ready for!)

P1030509 — Dry erase books to build skills necessary for handwriting, such as making curved, vertical and horizontal lines.

P1030510 — A sample page to work on drawing diagonal lines (necessary for letters like k, v, w, x, y and z).

This series of books guides them through the basic skills necessary before introducing the letters and numbers.Â They are the perfect bridge between tools like Aqua-Doodles, MagnaDoodles and paper/pencil.

This sort of activity is also great for children who have a hard time pushing or using pressure when writing with a pencil. The marker allows them to work on letter and number formation without requiring a great deal of pressure (that is important as well but is a totally separate thing) like a pencil or pen does.

P1030507 — "Write and Wipe" books for numbers, lowercase and uppercase letters.

There’s Just Something About Dry Erase Markers!

These books give children structure for these skills in a way that is not as intimidating since it wipes right off. This is a big deal for some children who are reluctant to write or draw because they realize that what they are putting down is not necessarily the way they want it to look. For a long time Andrew wouldn’t even try to draw or write, always asking me to do it or help him (which usually turned into me doing it anyway!) so it would be “right” in his eyes the first time. If I did convince him to just try, he would purposely draw it really big or make a scribble as if to say, “See?!? I told you I couldn’t do it! This sort of tool helps a great deal with that and made a huge difference for him when he saw he could just wipe a mark away with a tissue or paper towel. Made it into something that wasn’t a big deal to fix. Love that!!

Make Your Own

This type of activity is also something you could set up and do on your own without the book by using a sheet of paper with a sheet protector over the top. All you have to do is either draw or write the lines, letters or numbers that your child is ready for onto a sheet of white computer paper, slide the paper into a sheet protector and your child can use a dry erase marker and trace over. Wipe clean when you are finished and change out the paper to work on a something different! Many times I will look at books that are in stores to get ideas for how to build skills and tweak them so they are more interactive or kid-friendly (or Â in our case “Andrew friendly” 🙂 ).

Using Within A My Obstacle Course

When including these as My Obstacle Course stations, I would choose one page or part of a page at a time, depending on what they are able to do.

Links:

Here are links to the Lakeshore Learning website:

Getting Ready to Print Practice Books

Printing Letters

Printing Numbers

Note: I have no connection to Lakeshore Learning, I am just sharing what I have found that has worked for us.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

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