Colorful Bottles

I saw an idea somewhat similar to this some time ago on Pinterest.  Ours didn't turn out near as glamorous but the girls still enjoyed it so who cares!  haha  I first gathered two empty mini water bottles and filled them about 3/4 with water.  I then set out some supplies of different colors and textures that they could place in their bottles.  

They loved putting everything in.  I say everything, I should say almost everything.  The dice ended up being to big for the opening at the top.  You would have to have a different shaped bottle for that.  Even Big K loved this activity because initially it was really only planned for Little K to work on some fine motor skills and following directions.  I turned it into a lesson of sinking and floating for Big K.  She noticed that the tiny pom poms floated but then after awhile sank.  Got a little lesson in there about how when something fills with water, it becomes heavier and then sinks.  

Very focused.

Little K decided to keep the cups and make her own game of stacking when we were all done. She stayed engaged with that much longer than the actual "activity." 

And then of course we very often just end up getting into our sensory table and dancing around with whatever we've got.  She's my wild girl!

Tree Blossoms

Saw this craft idea on Pinterest and thought it would be awfully cute for Big K to do and place in her room.  We've been working on redoing her room little by little these past couple weeks.  Her theme is trees, owls, birds, that kind of thing.  I'm really big on having kids own art displayed in their room so thought this would be perfect to add to the decor.  She did a fantastic job but I will admit that I jumped in and added a few extra dots to it just to fill in the "blossoms" more.  Otherwise, her little tree may have been a little empty.  I just cut out a tree.  Actually I should say my husband cut out a tree, glued it onto another piece of scrapbook paper and then let her dip a q tip in different colors of paint for the blossoms.  Again, can't go wrong with paints and it's another good fine motor activity.  

Tracing with cooked noodles

Noodles are fun to touch because they are slimy.  


Manipulating things into letters etches the image of them into their minds even longer.


And it's a very concentrated task that your children are bound to stay committed to.  

Heart Sun Catchers

Pony beads, cookie cutter, and some glue is all you need for this cute craft.  Put all the beads you want, however you want in a cookie cutter.  Pour on the glue (Big K's favorite part).  Let dry (this takes quite awhile to dry all the way through).  Then when you take the cutter away, you have a beautiful heart sun catcher you can place in the window.  This was by far my favorite Valentines Day decoration.  Unfortunately I forgot to get the "after" picture in the window.  Guess you'll just have to trust me that it was super cute. 

"Thumb" bodies

This was just a random little cute art we did one day.  Big K likes using stamp pads but never with the stamps.  She always wants to put her fingers in it!  So I used this idea and had her make Valentines for her class and then just decorate some on plain paper.  I let her draw the face, arms, and legs however she wanted.  I find it hilarious how children make arms go on forever.  

Here is what her class Valentines turned out like.  They say "Thumbodies" crazy about you with a crazy straw attached.  I thought they turned out quite cute myself. =)

 Close up.

Word Clippies

A different approach to working on spelling and fine motor at the same time! I simply wrote one letter of the entire alphabet on separate clothespins. I then came up with a few simple words, wrote them on paper with some crayon, and then laminated them. I made it a matching uppercase to lowercase activity too to work more on letter recognition.

It took Big K several tries to get the hang of how to squeeze the clips but she soon got the hang of it.

And that's the point anyway right? to work on fine motor skills? If we could all do it the first time, then it wouldn't be practice!

Big K loved this activity and wanted to go through and do every word I created!

Sorting Mini Pom Poms

Just another little activity to help with those fine motor skills.  We spent some time sorting mini poms poms into muffin pans.  As simple as this is, Big K LOVED this activity. 

Look what great practice this is for the tiny hands! 

Believe it or not, this is one of our activities that she asks to get out and do over and over again.  Who would have known?!

Letter Tracing with Water

Water and paint brushes. A few of my daughters favorite things. Talk about EASY entertainment. I wrote all the names of my daughters friends in her class at preschool on paper towels. She then traced them with a paintbrush in water. We talked about the first letter and what sound it made in everybody's name so that she could figure out herself who's name she thought it was. She got every single one right! No shock there!









Another way we have loved using water with paintbrushes is like this.  I write out whatever she wants me to, the alphabet, peoples names, whatever, with chalk and then she traces over them with water to make the letters disappear.  Another hit activity that she requests over and over again!

Funny Family Faces

This was not only fun for Big K but hilarious to my husband and I!  I printed off a picture of each of my girls faces, laminated them, gave Big K a dry erase marker and let her go to town decorating them.  It cracked me up seeing the faces she made up.  A little scary too...



I got this idea from another blog I follow, "Play at Home Mom."  

Button Hearts

What child doesn't want an excuse for using glue?  And what Mommy doesn't like the look of buttons?  A simple craft we did this Valentines Day was glue some buttons onto a heart.  I cut a heart out of scrapbook paper, then attached it to some cardboard to make it more sturdy so that when she was done she could make it a door hanger on her bedroom door.
So cute!

Wrapping Paper and Scissors Sensory Tub

Cutting with scissors is a skill that needs to be practiced at an early age.  Let's face it, it's a difficult skill.  I just placed some wrapping paper and kid scissors in a tub and let Big K have at it.  She loves cutting!

And I don't know what it is about kids and cutting hair, but without it even being mentioned, at the end of doing this activity, she was already talking about wanting to cut peoples hair.  Uh oh!  Let's just say I keep the scissors well hidden.