Christmas lights fine motor play in a little bear village? Yes, please!
We took our light strand with dot stickers activity up a notch to create Christmas lights fine motor play. We even added the bears to create sweet holiday village.
I want to help my three-year-old strengthen his fingers and begin to introduce patterns. I also want to create a similar activity for my five-year-old so that they can work side by side.
Here are two variations to this simple fine motor play!
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How do I practice fine motor skills with my children?
It’s easier than you may think.
Every activity that involves the small hand muscles help strengthen hands and help dexterity.
Movements such as:
I know you have heard and tried many of these easy fine motor activities. Add this holiday activity to your Breakfast Invitation list!
My toddler’s job was simple.
I invited my three-year-old over to the activity and showed him the little bear town.
I didn’t say much at first. It is up to him to make the first move. He took his favorite counting bears and placed them in each window.
Next, he went into the holiday lights and began to color match. Taking dot stickers off the paper is great fine motor practice for early learners.
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As my three-year-old worked, I shared with him that the colors follow a sequence.
I casually introduced this as a pattern.
Ideally, I want my toddler to color match the dot stickers from the left and move to the right. – This is how we read and write, and eye-tracking will help it become more natural when he learns to read.
But my three-year-old is three, and he wasn’t interested in the left to right progression. Rather than lose him in a power struggle, I stayed flexible.
I want to stay flexible to gain momentum and recognize that he is learning through play.
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Here’s how I set this fine motor activity up for my toddler
Materials
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Tape the white paper to the table. Add a simple holiday Christmas village.
Add a few red and green counting bears to encourage imaginary play.
Draw a few light strands above the house. Use your markers to create a color pattern above the village.
I made this fine motor activity a little different for my five-year-old.
For him, I started the pattern, and his job was to complete the color sequence. He’s worked with patterns before, and extending the pattern was good practice for him.
This fine motor activity works for many ages and stages!
Which variation will you try first?
