STREAM Activity: Fine Motor Skills

Develop your little one's fine motor skills!

Activity best for children age 2 and up

As kids get older they learn all kinds of skills that will help them later on in life. Learning to write is a big leap forward for many children. When young children engage with hand-eye coordination activities, it strengthens the skills they need to be successful at handwriting, as well as reading. Your eyes help you to see the object, your brain figures out what you are seeing, and the hands follow what the brain tells them to do. Picking up cheerios and learning to put them in your mouth is an example of eye-hand coordination. This activity is a fun way for little ones to practice their hand-eye coordination while older kids can have fun using their imagination to create interesting designs.

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Materials you’ll need:

Colander or any round strainer

Pipe cleaners 

Guiding Questions:

How does the pipe cleaner feel?

Can I bend the pipe cleaner?

How many pipe cleaners will I use?

What designs will I make?

Directions

STEP 1
Take a colander and place it upside down on a table or the floor.

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STEP 2
Hold one end of a pipe cleaner and push it through a hole on the colander. Find a hole on the other side of the colander to place it in.

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STEP 3
Keep adding pipe cleaners until you have a whole forest of them. Cleanup is easy, just pull out the pipe cleaners. Have fun creating cool designs.

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Grown Ups-Are you looking for more ways to extend your child’s learning? Check out these extension activities to build upon today’s STREAM activity!

Reading Connections: 
Tails by Matthew Van Fleet
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Real-World Connections
Making necklaces with yarn and cheerios is another great way to practice eye hand coordination. For fun outside, play a game of catch with soft and bouncy balls.