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Simple Valentines Fine Motor Skills Activities

Valentines Fine Motor Skills

Valentines fine motor skills activities transferring threading punching

Simple Activities for Grasping, Transferring & Punching

This morning I planned on three simple to set up Valentines fine motor skills activities to practice different skills. To mix it up a bit I gave each a Valentines theme with hearts or colors that he enjoys! He loves pink and he will always say it is his favorite color and I love it too. The three Valentines fine motor skills activities I set up focus on punching with a three finger (tripod) grasp, threading with a two finger (pincer grasp) and transferring with tongs (focusing on fingertip involvement).

Punching Valentine Fine Motor Skills Activity

valentine fine motor thumbtack heart set up

I traced a heart on a sheet of red paper and placed it on a recycled styrofoam sheet with a thumb tack pushed into the paper. I showed him how to hold the thumb tack with his thumb and two fingers. Then I showed how to push through the paper and follow the outline. He thought it was hard work and had to stop and adjust, rest his hand and have a refresher course every once in a while, but he finished and was pleased with his work. He like the other side where he could see how the tack punched through.

valentine fine motor thumb tack heart

 

Transferring Valentines Fine Motor Skills Activity

valentine fine motor transfer set up

I initially started this Valentine fine motor activity with a different implement for transferring. However, I am trying to work with Liam on using his fingers more than the palm of his hand and fist to make these things open and close. We abandoned the tea strainer thing as lovely as it looks for our more easily managed dollar store tongs. Liam does love the tea strainer so he played a bit first with it. I really had to encourage him to keep just his fingertips on the tongs and work slowly and carefully.  I had 30 hearts for him to transfer from a shallow bowl into a taller vase

valentine fine motor heart transfer

 

Threading Valentine Fine Motor Skills Activity

I set out a piece of craft foam, toothpicks and beads for this Valentine fine motor skills threading activity. I started the activity by creating the first part of the pattern for him to follow. I also made sure I had enough beads before I started! Of course, you could let your child make his own pattern or have cards of colored dots to follow depending on skill level.

valentine fine motor bead patterns set up

I let him choose which ones he did in whatever order he wanted! He had to pay careful attention to the patterns and colors and we often had to double-check what he was doing since he tends to move quickly. We completed this Valentine fine motor skills activity without too much bother. He did a great job using his pincer grasp for each bead with just a little encouragement!

valentine fine motor bead pattern work

It was definitely a Valentines fine motor skills packed morning together!

More Fun Valentine’s Fine Motor Skills Play Ideas

Lego Heart Building Activity Lego Engineering Valentine's Day Legosvalentine cutting skills activity

Fine Motor Fridays Blog Hop

FMF2

Valentines Fine Motor Play from Craftulate

DIY Puzzle in a Box @ School Time Snippets 

Pipe Cleaner Loops from P is for Preschooler 

Edible No-Cook Nutella Playdough from Still Playing School

 Valentine’s Day CUT-Punch-PASTE Projects from Lalymom 

Light Bright Geoboard from And Next Comes L 

Fine Motor Heart Stamping from House of Burke

Sensory Valentine’s Sand Tray from Racheous – Lovable Learning

Previous Post: « Valentines Sensory Bin Water Beads Sensory Bin
Next Post: Fun Hands On Play Science for Kids »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Laura M

    January 17, 2014 at 1:10 pm

    So many fun ideas! I think we are almost ready to graduate to the poking things, my daughter would enjoy that!

  2. littlebins

    January 17, 2014 at 1:40 pm

    It is hard work but I think we need to move in that direction!

  3. Georgina @ Craftulate

    January 17, 2014 at 2:50 pm

    Great ideas here – we’ll definitely be trying the threading activity!

  4. Emma

    January 17, 2014 at 5:40 pm

    I especially love the threading the beads and the punching the thumbtacks – they really need to pay attention and concentrate on what they’re doing!

  5. Still Playing School

    January 18, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    My favorite is the beads on the toothpicks!

  6. Claire

    January 18, 2014 at 3:57 pm

    These are awesome!! Pinned and sharing with our Facebook followers too! 🙂

  7. Kristina

    January 19, 2014 at 2:40 am

    Great ideas! I don’t have a favorite as I seriously like them all!!

  8. Dyan

    January 19, 2014 at 5:12 pm

    I love the heart and thumb tack activity! Here’s hoping lots of people gripe about giving a kid a sharp object to play with…haha 😉

  9. Birute Efe

    January 23, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    Nice ideas. We will try the one with tooth pick and the beads. I think my kiddos will love it.

Trackbacks

  1. Valentine’s Day Activities for Kids: Invitation to Play – The Homeschool Resource Room says:
    January 18, 2018 at 7:41 pm

    […] Your child will love to practice their fine motor skills with an invitation to play with beads from Little Bins for Little […]

  2. 30+ February Preschool Activities and Themes for Preschool - Natural Beach Living says:
    January 27, 2018 at 5:01 am

    […] Valentine’s Fine Motor Skills Activity – Little Bins for Little Hands […]

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