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ACTIVITY => Activity Time & Toddler Activity => Topic started by: creations on July 28, 2013, 22:23:12 pm
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I feel like I've tried everything but I can't have. There must be something that DS would get really interested in, I just need to find it. He doesn't colour or scribble for more than 2 mins, same with paint, sticking, all sorts of crafts I've tried. It's not that there is zero interest but mostly it takes me 10 mins to set something up then 2 mins of him doing it and another 10 mins for me to clean up, if I keep doing that through the day it's rather long and most of my time is on setting/cleaning up the crafts rather than playing with DS. I think he'd enjoy all the activities more if he had better fine motor skill, bit of a catch 22 really because he doesn’t spend long enough on them to improve his fine motor skill.
It's rainy this week so I'm looking for fine motor suggestions for indoor play.
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Beads - use Sellotape to make the end longer and stiffer to make threading easier
Playdough - great for strengthening muscles
Making patterns in coloured salt tray
Learning scissors (let them have small real ones that work!)
Duplo
Playing with nuts and bolts, screwing bottle lids
The first fine motor craft DS loved were usborne sticker books - the ones where you make scenes. They do tons :).
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Stick a piece of uncooked spaghetti into a lump of playdough so it stands up vertically, then thread cheerios on. You can also thread cheerios onto a piece of string to make a bird feeder.
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Beads - use Sellotape to make the end longer and stiffer to make threading easier
Playdough - great for strengthening muscles
Making patterns in coloured salt tray
Learning scissors (let them have small real ones that work!)
Duplo
Playing with nuts and bolts, screwing bottle lids
The first fine motor craft DS loved were usborne sticker books - the ones where you make scenes. They do tons :).
Well...I was coming on with a list...but liz has them all!
Zac has a marble run he loves - helps set it up and then plays either the marbles.
We also do a lot of outside play and I find this helps develop those skills. Like gardening, playing in sand' with sticks, picking flowers/weeds, finding bugs and holding them, playing with pegs et
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We started with threading beads onto pipe cleaners (tie a loop in one end to stop them falling off) - much easier than shoe laces etc.
Using a small spoon or ladle to transfer coloured stones, small animal figures, pompoms, anything really, from one bowl to another. Same with using tongs. F won't stick at this for long, but it only takes a minute to set up!
Using clothes pegs somehow - I bought some small plain wooden clothes pegs, stuck a symbol on each and made a cardboard wheel with the same symbols on it, and F has to match them up.
I agree about the real scissors - F had some kiddy "safe" scissors, but they were so frustrating even for me, they wouldn't cut anything unless at EXACTLY the right angle. So now she has some small real ones and will spend half an hour cutting a piece of paper into tiny pieces.
He's into letters, isn't he - have you tried something like Montessori sandpaper letters? Cut letter shapes out of fine sandpaper and stick on card, and show him the correct way to trace it with his finger. I've just started doing this with F.
How about chalk - either on a blackboard, or on the concrete outside? F seems to be able to spend longer with chalk than crayons, I think it's a better size for her to hold.
"Painting" with a paintbrush and water outside? No clean-up to worry about ;)
I'm keen for more ideas myself!
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L has some threading cards from the ELC. Basically a picture with holes in it around the edge and you thread a shoe-lace like thread through the holes to 'draw' the picture.
L likes them cos she says she is sewing like granny.
Also have some plastic tweezers and small balls/Pom poms for sorting/moving about.
TBH though she's not really one for sitting still long enough to actually complete any of these activities (but she'll play with play dough for ages) but she has a go
Oh one other idea is she likes 'sorting' my button tin and also playing with buttons+play dough - she makes cherry cakes!
And making scones I guess is good for strengthening hand muscles - the bit where you rub the butter into the flour. But not though of it like that before..!
I guess she prob does other things that help but don't really think of it like that when were doing them.
What about making pictures with beads/pegs on a board? I think Nicola got some v cheap from a pound shop recently for her DD. been meaning to find some for L
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Oh yes, F loves her pegs on a board - she doesn't make pictures yet, but sorts the colours and sticks them all in. And she loves to knead dough - real dough, when we're making pizza or something.
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When I get a chance (remember ;) ) I'll list down O's fine motor activities from the occupational therapist.
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I'll come back later tonight with some pins- you might have tried them already- but more ideas the better hey!
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Thank you ladies.
I've tried many of these and he has very limited interest for example he will get through his box of containers with lids very quickly (all different types of containers I put together for opening/closing) because he can do it, on the other hand he won't entertain his nuts and bolts because he finds it too hard. So we get stuck with it being either too easy or too hard. He loves stickers but gets insanely frustrated because he wants me to peel them off the sheet, I encourage him to do it himself and he will be ok for about 2 mins and I see his feeling of achievement when he manages one or two but then he loses interest because it's hard. He loves me to get the play dough out, but then wants me to do everything whilst he does almost nothing. I think fine motor play is just not his thing right now - which I suppose is why I'm looking for more ideas.
Anyone in the UK know where I can get some cheap and cheerful tongs/tweezers? I've been looking out for plastic salad server tongs but not found any yet. I have metal ones but there is quite a sharp edge and i know he'd end up running up and down with them rather than sitting still with them (I let him use them at dinner when he can't leave the table but otherwise they are not suitable for play).
Nuala I like the wooden peg idea. I think he would be more interested in pegs if they had meaning (he won't just 'play' with our pegs) - like letters written on each one, and i could make a series of cards with words for him to match up the letters and peg them on. I've added pegs to my shopping list.
Rubbing flour and butter he won't do, kneading real dough he won't do. He appears interested because it is 'real' (we do do cooking together) but when it really comes to it he finds it too hard, not enough of an instant result and tells me to do it.
I've added peg board to my shopping list too.
The first fine motor craft DS loved were usborne sticker books - the ones where you make scenes.
Added to wish list they look great, thanks :)
DS had two 'scenes' in reading books that came with stickers, he was motivated to try harder/longer because the stickers related to the story and he was supposed to retell the story on the board. He's far more likely to pile the stickers all on top of one another. Did you find this or was the scene done 'correctly'? He also likes looking back at the 'scene' he made but that doesn’t involve any fine motor, just looking and I suppose a degree of imagination as he re-lives the story looking at it.
have you tried something like Montessori sandpaper letters? Cut letter shapes out of fine sandpaper and stick on card, and show him the correct way to trace it with his finger. I've just started doing this with F
Does F sit still and show interest? I have a set of letters just about identical to this (but bought, I saw them dirt cheap so just got them). He will only sit for about 30 seconds. I think he knows how most/all the letters are formed even though he can't do it alone so lacks interest in tracing them with his finger. We can write a letter to Granny and it holds his attention for 5 mins, he gets very excited about it. I do hand over hand and mostly it feels like he is trying to form the letters correctly himself although if I let go he has just about no control of the pen. I think this is why he doesn't draw or scribble much, he just can't control the pen/chalk/crayon to the level he wants.
I'll list down O's fine motor activities from the occupational therapist.
Oh yes please if you find time!
I really feel like I've tried a lot. I know he is way more interested in gross motor, tearing around the play park or soft play. We do LOTS of this but there's a limit to how much I can pay out to go to swim/soft play and it's too wet just now for play parks.
Maybe I'm trying too hard. I mean just now he is entertaining himself with cars and his garage and some imaginative play with conversations going on between cars and little characters. He is turning a transformer from car to robot repeatedly and that involves fine motor.
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Duplo? Does he like to build?
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Creations - he sounds a lot like L. She is much more interested in climbing, running jumping etc but also imaginary play. She's always on the go though and doesn't like to sit still that much.
I like Sara's idea of gardening as L likes to do this a lot (she has her own child set of tools and a small watering can) and can potter about with them for ages. Much more interested in that than actually sitting down to do an activity.
Jigsaws I guess involve fine motor - fitting the pieces together. L went through a phase of loving this but not so interested any more (prob cos she's done all hers so many times now - will have to put some more on her birthday list..)
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Ok so quite a lot have been mentioned already but I'll list the ones which haven't!
Picking up small bits of broken food (hundreds and thousands!) or perhaps you could buy something he'd like to eat and then he can pick it up and eat it!
Wind up toys
Posting letters - make a post box out of cardboard
Building blocks
Tracing lines / patterns
Drawing in between lines - so create some sort of maze and he tries to keep within the lines
He then has a "hand gym box" which has a selection of the following in - and the idea is that he goes to the box and chooses the activity - now I appreciate your DS is quite a bit younger but again I'll list the ideas given to us not mentioned previously!
Hole punched card for threading string
Multilink bricks
Plastic container with split peas / lentils in move items in and out
Pick up sticks - could use matches??
Nuts and bolts (use real ones much more interesting!) for screwing and unscrewing just like daddy!
Stress ball - good for strengthening
Jigsaws
Putty rather than playdoh so it can be stretched and squidged
The others have listed a lot of good ones on O's list already. He also has print out of various lines which he can try and cut along.
Hope that helps!
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Our nursery recommended Hama beads for fine motor stuff!
And I've just bought a pair of plastic tongs for 75p in Sainsbury's. Tweezers in plastic can be got from amazon, haven't found them elsewhere yet.
Have you googled Montessori activities? They have loads and loads for fine motor skills.
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a pair of plastic tongs for 75p in Sainsbury's
Brilliant thank you! Sainsburys is one shop I never go to, but I've just despatched a request to DP to get some next time he passes which is quite frequently.
Thanks for the other ideas too. I'll have to come back later as we are about to go out, my hope of just one day at home is already cancelled and we are off out to play on escalators and look around the £ shop for beads and peg boards.
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We got beads from Tesco. Quite cheap too. Hama beads also mentioned here too. Have fun!
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Anyone in the UK know where I can get some cheap and cheerful tongs/tweezers?
We just got this set: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3678491.htm#pdpProductReviews It's down to £2.49 in the Argos sale ;D it comes with tweezers, scoopy tongs and a net which you can use for all sorts of things, and of course a small bucket with magnifying lid. DS loves it and uses it for all kinds of activities :D
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DP went to Sainsburys and looked all around then asked the assistant, no plastic tongs. maybe some shops stock different things or they sold out here?
Wooden clothes pegs - instant hit! I just ripped the bag open and gave them to him with an old bit of card to pin them onto and he went for it (we had literally just arrived home from the shop so I hadn't done any set up). They are a LOT easier to pinch than the plastic ones he's attempted to use in the past, and so far I haven't even needed to put letters or numbers on them to make him interested. It's nice to see him squeezing the end together and working on it without straining.
Thanks for taking the time to list your activities from the OT Laura. I think we already do all or most of those.
Picking up small bits of broken food - every meal time really, peas, sweetcorn, blueberries, sultanas, slippery roast pepper etc etc
Wind up toys - I'm looking out for some as he only has one broken one!
Posting letters - make a post box out of cardboard - yes we made a post box together and post office desk too. We have role play games with customers asking for stamps, receipts car tax etc (there's a great postman pat free print out set on line more suited to an older LO than DS, your DS might like it) al of it involve stickers, writing/scribbling/posting/stamping with date or letters stamps and ink pad etc.
Building blocks - he can build an 18 little wooden block tower and really doesn’t care to play beyond that, it's a 2 or 3 min activity then move on. He'll build megablocks or duplo so long as he has someone playing with him too.
But when it comes to these sort of things it just seems way beyond him. I think this is why we are a bit stuck between skill levels ??
Tracing lines / patterns
Drawing in between lines - so create some sort of maze and he tries to keep within the lines
He likes to do a few dot to dots with me, finds the numbers super fast and knows they are supposed to be joined with the pen but can't get a line from 1 to 2 without me guiding him. His pen skill/direction erratic to say the least, he also tries to go way too fast to control it.
HH that bug kit is a good idea. I've considered them lots of times but kept thinking 'bugs' instead of 'oh there is a set of tongs like scissors' iyswim. The only bugs he will look at are a set of dead ones in a display case from malaysia, anything living he has 0.5 seconds interest so I put off buying the bug kit. The scissor tongs look like they could scoop and pick up little stone or marbles, beans etc as a completely bug-free activity. Great!
I doubt he is delayed with his fine motor skills. I'm just in search for something to entertain him at home on rainy days really. By 9am he's already played a couple of hours with cars/trains/diggers and is really ready for something else yk.
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Just thought of another one that will be great - but only for this time of year - can he help you to pod peas? My DS used to love it at that age and still does (also loves picking and top and tailing fruit).
Fresh raw peas are also soooo yummy....
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That's a lovely idea :)
He does like to help cook and he does like eating peas - perfect combo for him then!
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Fab!
Sorry you couldn't find the tongs. I think they were with all the disposable picnicware. But again, maybe amazon is your friend here?
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Oh what about picking berries!?
We have a bug catcher, Zac loves it. Also has as a kids gardening set, his own scissors,spade, broom, rake (helps daddy rake leaves)
So you may think im a terrible parent but Zac loves pins...he only does it with my mum (not at home) and he pins into a pincushion. He uses the ones with the big round tops. We've never had a problem with him getting Hurt and he knows he can only do it with grandma sitting in a specific spot
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DS loves sewing! With a plastic needle? And felt?
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And MJN just reminded me Z loved my ribbons, buttons and fabric too for a while.
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Oh what about picking berries!?
Definitely something I have on my Summer plan for days out. I wasn't even thinking of it being fine motor, just a nice experience and a trip for us all.
I'm really looking for things at home indoors when we have rain, the last couple of days it's been like tropical storms after the heat wave. My 'big plan' for summer is huge amounts of out door time and as much gross motor as possible so even on rainy days I'm trying to take him to indoor soft play and swimming, but the cost is too much to do all the time (plus a bit repetitive even with doing a rota of play parks and pools) and I have a hope for just one day per week where we don't go out, yk just chill together at home. I doubt we can manage it tbh.
We made a helicopter this afternoon which went down brilliantly. It's a construction set he was given (free cycle) with nuts and bolts, spanner, screw driver etc and I really didn't think he was up for it, but suddenly he is :) I think the motivation came from me buying him a toolbox (again £ shop - wow I sound like a cheapskate!) this morning and he got all excited to put his tools in it, then asked to build the helicopter he saw in the instruction picture. A full 30 mins focus with me helping. Then we did a 'work book' page together, a shapes and opposites book I picked up in the £ shop this morning which he really enjoyed.
He also had another go with the wooden pegs so that was great too :)
I would totally love to do gardening with him but we don't have a garden, our roof terrace is so hot on hot days and gets full on gales during the storms which just batters plants to dust. I have set up an indestructible out door toy (play box with stones instead of sand, bucket, rake, wheelbarrow, watering can - yes he puts stones in it and pours them out - treasure stones to dig for, dinosaurs etc etc) but that's about our limit for outdoors at home.
I think sewing would be too fiddly for him yet. He still gets frustrated by the the big chunky beads and fruits at play group with fat string to thread through. I give him cotton reels and straws for threading at home and he's agreed to use the string once for those, I really don't think he could cope with smaller beads or a needle yet even a fat needle.
I think part of my search is something that is just the right level for him because he is SO INTENSE and gets very frustrated when he can't do something, I don't want to keep offering things that upset him even though I am happy for him to feel the drive of frustration and desire to want to master his skills.
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BTW great ideas everyone! I think I sound dismissive of some of them because I have tried or already got lots of stuff for him.. but I am ever so grateful for all the ideas and inspiration :-*
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Z has something like this at my mums. And it teaches him maths too ;)
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=wooden+fruit+cutting&client=safari&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=XRb3UenfG8ahkAWLu4HYBg&ved=0CDIQsAQ&biw=768&bih=928#biv=i%7C10%3Bd%7CLDq7TVngkcleXM%3A
Also he loves these mum and dad got from Russia, but you can buy the concept anywhere now
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=wooden+russian+dolls&client=safari&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pRb3Ufu2LoOjkAXC_YGwBQ&ved=0CEEQsAQ&biw=768&bih=928#biv=i%7C1%3Bd%7CtxzzrHkzS-R3ZM%3A
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Quote from: Papaya on Yesterday at 07:02:56
have you tried something like Montessori sandpaper letters? Cut letter shapes out of fine sandpaper and stick on card, and show him the correct way to trace it with his finger. I've just started doing this with F
Does F sit still and show interest? I have a set of letters just about identical to this (but bought, I saw them dirt cheap so just got them). He will only sit for about 30 seconds.
We only do it for about 10 mins a day (3 letters at a time) and we play as much with the sound of the letter (playing eye spy) as tracing the letter. She doesn't always want to trace it at all, she might just watch me. So it's not that much fine motor practice really! And if you're really after something to entertain him indoors and take up time in the day, it won't buy you much time.
F will spend AGES playing with cloud dough inside - like an hour. We do it on a plastic sheet on our tiled floor, so any that escapes off the sheet is easily swept up. It moulds like sand so lots of scooping, transferring, making castles, pressing shapes into it... Recipe here: http://theimaginationtree.com/2012/01/glitter-cloud-dough-beach-sensory-tub.html
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Here's some things i've found on pinterest- i haven't done them all- but i like the look of them!
http://pinterest.com/pin/181762534933909986/
http://pinterest.com/pin/181762534932542700/
http://pinterest.com/pin/181762534932177652/
http://pinterest.com/pin/181762534932075698/
too tired to pin more! will have a look again tomorrow...
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Another good cheap idea is to have LO put colourful cocktail sticks (with paper fruit / umbrellas / tinsel on top) into polystyrene / styrofoam blocks :)
Sticks are cheap from £ shops / supermarkets and foam is free (packaging material).
It has to be fully supervised as the ends of the wooden sticks are sharp, but DS loves creating tropical islands with them ;D
You could even do an edible one with real fruit on sticks!
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Some more ideas- Again haven't done them all- just things i like the look of! Some mightn't be 'strengthening' or anything specific, but all work using the hands is fine motor activities....
http://pinterest.com/pin/181762534933775473/
http://pinterest.com/pin/181762534932814881/
http://pinterest.com/pin/181762534932266549/
http://pinterest.com/pin/181762534931145483/
http://pinterest.com/pin/181762534931016561/
http://pinterest.com/pin/102668066478298681/
http://pinterest.com/pin/303993043568385507/
http://pinterest.com/pin/39265827974378874/
http://pinterest.com/pin/144748575496143584/
http://pinterest.com/pin/214343263488364838/
http://pinterest.com/pin/162833342750359029/
I did this one the other day and it was great- he then mixed all of the vinegar in and then scooped from one bowl to the other... http://pinterest.com/pin/129056345543690317/
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Thank you :D
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yeah- bit of a bombardment ::) You have to let me know if you do any of them and find them good- or a total fail!!
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They all look great Katy and I reckon I'd enjoy them all...just not convinced DS would be interested. I loooove the rolling pin printing one but I can just see me spending an age getting it all set up for DS to spend just 2 mins then walk off and leave me with the mess to clean up. I'm sure at some point in the future he *must* get interested in these sorts of things enough to stick at it for a decent length of time. I don't mind at all doing the activities with him, yeah it would be lovely to find something he can do on his own so I can do something else, but even doing crafts right with him it takes a lot of encouragement to get him to stay more than 2 mins.
I've done a few of those arts activities with him before, things like printing/painting with cars and animals, it's over so fast for him but again the set up and clean up for me is totally out of balance with the activity time, it just means I'm not available to do other stuff with him.
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He will get better at sitting for things but to be honest it took for o to go to school before he'd sit and do craft type activities. I guess just seize the moment if he shows an interest in something which involves fine motor. That's what we try and do.
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Funny enough he will sit for a decent length of time to write a letter. OK only about a sentence long but a sentence is a lot of letter forming and sitting for a 2yo. The 'work book' I got this week is a hit. We sat at his table for least 20 mins on the first 2 pages, he was so excited about it and ever so 'studious'!
He likes sitting together to do dot to dot too, it's just that he can't control the pen well enough to join the dots properly, but it's good practice.
Oh I also saw on one of those links using scissors to cut up play dough sausages/snakes. That's a good idea. I'll certainly do that, I think it would be a easier way to practice rather than paper which he just can't manage.
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yeah- hamish has quite liked cutting with the playdough.. cutting with paper is a really tricky bimanual task really- the paper hand actually has to do a lot of work...
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Zac loves too cut everything! Playdoh is good, as is thin card. We have even used his scissors (clean them first) to help me cut herbs or veges smaller for tea (like spring onions) - its not pretty but it works!
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All right ladies, your lovely work has been condensed into a single post and stickied on the G&D board here: Activities for developing fine motor skills
So add more to there if you come up with anything (though feel free to continue chatting about where to buy tongs, etc on this thread!) :)
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Made the cloud dough yesterday - disaster! haha! DS enjoyed some of the measuring before telling em to do it, enjoyed a moment of stirring before telling me to do it and rubbed it through his fingers for about 2 mins before chucking a hand full across the kitchen counter, another on the floor and then giving up on it...however he did enjoy using the dustpan and brush and washing the kitchen floor :)
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My DS was quite a bit older before he really liked messy play. He was ever so funny about dirty hands for ages. But these days he is cool with it - I think he was about 4 by then.
DD spent ages drawing with chalk on the patio this weekend. My Mum got some chalks with handles and she seemed to like those much better - I guess she didn't like the chalk feeling on her hands.
There was a cool playdough activity I saw this weekend - printing letters into playdough and they decorating the impronts with beads. They looked like hama beads to me. Do you think your DS would like that? Seemed like fine motor hidden with letters to me ;).
With the drawing - both my kids seemed to suddenly improve overnight - like Megan stopped doing scribbles and started drawing lots of circles. She can't cope with copying patterns or letters yet, but can draw faces if she is in the mood. She likes me drawing circles and she puts eyes and mouths on. We made paper dolls together. DS was kind of the same - all of a sudden he would improve without me doing anything particular. And he enjoys abstract art stuff much more now than when he was 2.5. I guess he appreciates the colours and creation, or notices how the colours mix, rather than simply creates which he was never that interested in. They both loved dipping string in paint and making worm paintings once.
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He was ever so funny about dirty hands for ages.
Yes he's a bit like that. I never bother with aprons when we do messy stuff because he stays basically clean and only does the activity 2 mins so it's just not worth it. However, he *will* get very dirty hands for a few mins, he'll squish messy stuff, rub paint all over a tray or paper for several mins and will do hand prints and foot prints on paper happily for a few mins. Then he wants a wash and will rarely return to the activity. He always enthuses about crafts if I suggest something but once we start it's like he doesn't see the point of it so just stops. He does seem to be better with non-messy non-craft activities.
We do do quite a lot of things, I just find it hard to fill an entire day if we don't go out or if we can't stay out all morning, plus lunch, plus some of the afternoon up to nap time (2pm or 2.30pm). I always run out of ideas.
A couple of days ago he did several dot to dot pictures, he sees the numbers so fast but doesn't take the time with his pen to join them very well - that's where he needs to improve his fine motor because he wants to do it but can't yet. He also spelled his name correctly for the first time, speaking the letters, so I quickly grabbed a tub of letter stickers and told him to find the letters, then once he had them all peeling the backs off (needed some help to start the peeling) and sticking them down in the right order. I turned it into a letter to Granny and we just wrote (hand over hand, he does most of the movement in the right directions, but again can't control the pen enough) "Dear Granny I can spell my name xxx" on the same paper as the stickered name, wrote Granny on the envelope and stuck the stamp on. He was so pleased with himself I suggested we do it again, so did exactly the same thing for Nana. In all it must have taken about 30 mins because we were late starting our BT routine. See, with this activity he must have seen a point to it, many activities he just doesn't see the point.
The next day I combined the dot to dot with spelling his name by writing his name, large letters, in yellow and putting dots around in black, he happily wrote on top of them with a darker pen, then did Mummy, Daddy, Granny and Nana, I was amazed he managed much of it himself with very little or no help hand over hand. So maybe he his motor skills are beginning to catch up with his desire to do things. Again it held his attention a lot longer than just giving him paper and a pot of pens/crayons/chalks. With pens he just takes one lid off, does one mark on the page, says the colour, puts the lid back on, selects another colour, repeat. it is all fine motor skill, esp the lids, but 2 mins later all the colours have been named and used and he is finished. He won't just sit and draw/scribble yk. Before his 2yo development check I started to get concerned that he couldn't draw a circle (wouldn't even scribble in circles or spirals) and one day I asked him very specifically "will you draw a circle"
"no"
"will you draw a zero"
"no"
"will you draw an O"
"no"
"will you draw earth"
"oh yes...earth, saturn, venus, jupiter..." circle after circle and when he ran out of planets he put the pen down and walked away.
Today he posted a ton of play letters in his play post box before I even dragged myself out of bed. Breakfast he always eats with a fork, we've done mono printing (a heap of prep and cleaning for me, some enjoyment from him but not hugely), he made lunch, opening the mayo jar and spooning some out, lid back on, chopping spring onions with spring loaded kitchen duck scissors (kid friendly), mixing with fish, chopped yellow peppers and cucumbers with his dog knife, spread butter onto bread and spread the fish spread on, cut each sandwich in half, shared out the pieces of pepper and cucumber - all fine motor stuff and all interest him. I gave him some tiny potato sticks (not healthy!) with his sandwich so he got a fair amount of fine motor practice picking those up too. He's also dialled Granny's number on the phone to call her for a chat, made a traffic jam of toy cars, and put about 3 DVDs in the machine and turned it on (including opening the boxes releasing the disc and putting them all away too) - lots of fine motor. Just not lots of time taken up! The DVDs took up a fair whack of time though.
I still have this afternoon to fill. It's pouring outside.
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Does he like sensory trays?
Like this?
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Oh Sara Z is so adorable!
Z and DS are clearly very different kids :) DS loves a sensory tray yeah, loves to shout "oh wow!" then smile lovingly at me and say, "Thank you Mummy!" and then empty it on the floor, spread the contents around and walk off to look for something else to do :D ::) :D
We do have limited success with the large tray outside on the terrace with rocks in it on the rare occasion the weather is suitable to go out there. He seems less inclined to empty the whole tray of rocks/gravel out and will dig a bit, dump in his wheel barrow, line up the trucks and drop stones into his watering can. 10 -20 mins if he has someone fully involved with him.
He does play with his cars and trucks a lot though, lining them up, driving them etc.
The more I think about it the more I suspect we are just trapped between two developmental milestones and that the difficulty of entertaining him at home just now is down to this. Things are either too easy so over in a flash, or too hard so not really attempted or too pointless so he lacks motivation.
I left a washed out spread tub and lid for him today and he immediately got excited and ran off to get a selection of characters to pile into it. That somehow developed into a long imaginative play session where he did different voices for each character and one of them had to rescue a car from "an emergency" where it had become trapped in the operators section of a crane/wrecking ball truck thing which in turn had become trapped in the chimney of a card play house. It was all very involved and exciting although I fail to see what it had to do with low fat spread and the tub was abandoned in the kitchen half full of little people :P
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We have just had a leap, before this Z was very frustrated a lot of the time. Definately around the age your DS is now, he was struggling to self play and/or play with anything for longest an 5 mins. He was a little lost YK?
Remember they all are so different! Sounds like he is totally normal for his age :D
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F is definitely most interested in imaginative play atm - so really, she only sticks with the fine motor stuff so long as she can turn it into an imaginative game. Like with chalk, she won't just draw a picture but will draw a story, and has to narrate everything as she's going. She did a very convoluted picture today of baby Spring in my tummy and the stairs up to the tummy and the slide for him to get out (hehe) and dada with no baby in his tummy beside me, and in the end it looked like just a big jumble of scribbles and zigzags but she'd told me such an involved story in the process - and it's that process she's interested in, not the drawing itself. So yeah, not that interested in just drawing a sunshine or something, and describing it to me later. Not interested in colouring either, too boring.
Does your DS like blocks? We have quite a large set of wooden blocks of different geometric shapes, and F loves to build with those, especially things like making a playground for her little animals to play in.
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she won't just draw a picture but will draw a story, and has to narrate everything as she's going
Yes DS was doing this a little while back! We signed up for a marvellous "Mark Making" toddler class, it was only 5 weeks long which was a shame because he was SO into it. It felt more structured than the free-play groups we go to, and the 'teacher' gave them work books to stick their work in, also little bits of homework. It was a pre-writing class so all activities were various things to make marks (not letters) and encourage scribbling and fine motor etc. DS loved it. He loved the slightly more formal aspect and loved his work book. We did SO much in those 5 weeks, mainly at home though as he flitted from one thing to another a bit in the class (which was still very much free-play but set up to encourage more fine motor) and at home he did some fabulous nursery rhyme drawings. Just like F the final picture was very abstract, marks, scribbles, spirals, lines...but each mark he made he explained to me "this is the mummy on the bus, chatter chatter chatter" etc He even drew marks which were his interpretation of the sound 'chatter'. He stuck at it if I kept up the encouragement and if I wrote (very small) on the paper what each scribble was so it was all labelled up. he did a few like that and I really thought we were on to something but the course ended and he just stopped! I have tried to emulate the activities at home, the same kind of motivation to have a work book and to have other adults look through it, to make a big deal of each drawing as we stick it in and date it etc. But it just hasn't worked. I think he actually needs to take his book to a 'teacher'! Which sort of worries me that he only did these things for her praise rather than the pure enjoyment of it.
Yes we make a zoo out of his blocks and animals, he likes that.
This morning I invited him to draw on a piece of paper I set up last night and he suddenly said he needed to write numbers. So we had about 5 mins of a similar activity to doing letters the other day, I wrote the number he traced over the top in a different colour and then wrote it on his own. There was no continuing with it though, it doesn't lead into scribbling, or practising marks or anything. Just 0 - 10 then walk away.
Wonder if I can do a large scale dot to dot on big paper (or I have a large dry wipe sheet like a white board but fabric) on the floor, shapes or numbers or a maze. Sometimes changing the scale helps inspire him. Maybe...
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Does he like sorting? What about a tray/tub of salt and colour butter beans? You can colour them with food colouring or water colour paint and when dry mix them with lots of salt. Kidney beans are good too but apparently they can be poisonous raw so you'd have to be sure he wouldnt eat them. Then you can get pots and sort all the green beans into one pot, yellow beans in another and so on.
Do you think he might like one of those excavation kits? You can even make your own http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2007/07/make-your-own-f/
Have you seen tap tap art? You nail little wooden shapes to a cork board with tacks and a wooden hammer to make pictures. You get cards with designs to copy too. My two both enjoy these.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tobar-Tap-Art/dp/B0012GOSK4
Do you have a hole punch? I thought hole punch art looked fun and could make a nice pic for grandma and nana. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tobar-Tap-Art/dp/B0012GOSK4
We recently went to a restaurant and both boys had fun trying to eat their dinner with chopsticks. Of course they didn't get the grip right as they had never tried before but they still had a go.
Straws are great in the bath. Mine love trying to fill pots up by trapping the water in a plastic drinking straw. Whisks also go down well, especially with bubble bath. Using squeeze bottles with those lids with a small hole in is good for strengthening. You can add a squirt of shower gel and fill them about a quarter full with water, then shake and squirt out the foam. Mine love cleaning the shower screen with it or squirting it up in the air.
If he enjoyed making the helicopter maybe he would like folding paper into paper aeroplanes. Then you could have races and make up stories to keep his interest.
If he finds threading difficult what about cutting a kitchen towel roll into 2cm thick rings and letting him thread those into something like ribbon? Might be too boring but perhaps he could write the numbers on first and then have to put them on in the right order.
Does he like musical instruments? What about button castanets? http://tinytappingtoes.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/easy-and-funbutton-castanets/ Hardly any gluing and playing with them is good for the fingers too.
Maybe you could do your clothes peg idea with letters and have him make words with them. You could write the word and he has to peg on the correct letters over the top.
Is he interested in science experiments like dancing raisins in fizzy water? You can try with different veg and fruit and see what sinks, what floats and what dances :)
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Thanks Ali :)
Does he like sorting? What about a tray/tub of salt and colour butter beans?
I keep trying sorting activities thinking one day he will be ready and interested but so far no. Except that he has quite a few of those mini box sets of board books and if I let him make a big pile of mess by dumping them all out of their boxes then later I can ask him to clear up and with minimum guidance he will sort which books go in which boxes and put them all away. He has also spontaneously sorted magnetic letters on the fridge into colour groups, cars into colour groups - but if I set up a sorting activity he just looks at me like I'm mad. The last one I tried was different (dried) pasta shapes, twists and penne I think it was. He just poured them all into the sorting tubs without sorting then walked off - he does make me laugh, I keep trying these things but he doesn't see the point.
Do you think he might like one of those excavation kits?
He just wanted the dino skeleton inside without doing any of the excavating. DP and I ended up doing it.
Have you seen tap tap art?
Looks brilliant! I really do think he would like that a lot! Have added it to his wish list.
Do you have a hole punch?
Yes. Did you link an example of hole punch activity/art? Because the link is the tap tap art again. I'll google for ideas.
trying to eat their dinner with chopsticks
We do this too! Not been out for Chinese for a long while but if we cook anything Chinese or get a take away the chopsticks come out :) Which reminds me to wish list some kids chopsticks, have you seen these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crong-Chopsticks-Right-Handed-Only/dp/B0040YQBBO/ref=pd_bxgy_kh_img_y
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fred-CHOP-Red-Chopstick-Kids/dp/B000GDBE1A/ref=pd_bxgy_kh_img_y
Love the straws idea and the squeezey with foam in, he has a squeeze bottle for water play but I haven't tried it with bubbles in. Nice.
Ditto paper aeroplanes and kitchen roll threading (I was thinking of trying some penne threading onto spaghetti as a variant of the cheerrios threading previously suggested as we don't have cheerios)
Castanets, nice. He loves music, 'played' his uke today for Granny whilst singing twinkle twinkle little star :)
s he interested in science experiments like dancing raisins in fizzy water? You can try with different veg and fruit and see what sinks, what floats and what dances :)
Not convinced he would be taken by these just yet. I think it's a bit beyond him but perhaps in a few months. I'll keep it in mind. DP is the scientist and would prob really enjoy doing these with him.
Lots of great ideas :)
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We have the tap art, O just pushes the pins in without tapping them ;) However still god for fine motor as it requires picking up the pins and then manipulating them to go in the right place.
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Oh yes sorry I mustn't have copied the link for the hole punch art. You probably found one now but this is the one I was looking at http://nurturestore.co.uk/hole-punch-art
Cute chopsticks. We were actually in Giraffe but I happened to order Thai noodles and they came with chopsticks so we asked for some extra sets for the kids. They were just those wooden disposable ones.
What about making fruit (or veg) kebabs? My kids love kebabs and I imagine having them push the fruit on them would be good for fine motor skills. We have some metal ones that are not very pointy so the can't prick themselves.
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The fruit kebabs can be done really safely with thin drinking straws too. He's (not) done this activity many times at play group on special occasions, fun days or xmas party etc whilst the other kids thread their fruit he just stands with the straw in his hand eating directly out of the fruit bowl. Why waste time putting something on a straw when you can just put it straight in your mouth :) Did i mention he makes me laugh :)
found some plastic tongs at last! Hurrah! he lose them. tonged all his kitchen play food from the shopping basket in to the pan then started tonging his cars from the box in to the box lid before finally deciding enough of the tonging let's do some thing else.
Thanks for the hole punch link Ali, yes I saw that one when I went looking. Tried today and he just can't press hard enough so after a moment of being super excited that I was going to let him use a new tool he gave up (I'm not really surprised he can barely push down the arm for his play doh extruder). I have regular hole punch (office type) and also a single hole craft punch (works like spring loaded scissors or tongs) he couldn't use either.
Tried 3 pairs of scissors he gave up after about 30 seconds.
We ended up with a full hour focused activity on making birthday cards with tiny letter stamps and ink pads, and small letter stencil with felt pens. At least part of it was that he saw the point of it, real birthday cards for real people with real names and a real party to go to. And yet he loves imaginative play.
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I remembered another one we do - burger flipping ;D
I cut out several circles (small jam jar lid size) from coloured corrugated paper, put numbers on the back, and let him use a small spatula to flip them over (easier done on the sofa as he can get underneath them better). As well as fine motor it also gives colour and number recognition, and number ordering. You could also use letters or shapes.
He wasn't keen the first two times I put it out for him, but after that he really got it and enjoyed doing it :) You could also use the tongs with this one.
Don't worry if he doesn't seem interested the first few times, just bring the activity out every few days or weeks and he'll do it eventually! My DS has been like this over a few things, including the home-made magnetic fishing game I made him, but he always gets into it eventually 8)
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Oh yes I'll certainly keep trying the ideas mentioned here and all the others I've tried before too. I know one day he will get into them.
The burger flip is cute, he has a spatula in his kitchen set so I could show him how to flip with it.
We had a dry day and were able to go out and feed the ducks, tearing up bread and tortilla wraps, it's noticeable that he tears much smaller pieces than he used to.
He was playing with his tongs again this morning without any prompting :)
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Yay for plastic tongs!!! Have you tried pipettes also? DS loves using them in the bath. Got about a million when I ordered some so can pass you on some if you pm me your address!
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That's very generous, thank you :-*
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Another idea came to me this morning - at nursery the children used to enjoy playing hairdresser. Empty shampoo/other squeezy bottles, combs, hair bands, little butterfly clips etc would be good for practicing all kinds of fine motor skills without him even noticing. Plus it is a chance for some one on one quiet time with Mummy or Daddy. Cue the hilarious hairstyles!
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Cue the hilarious hairstyles!
:) We get those already but they are HIS :) He likes to wear my little hair clips although can't work them yet, I have larger ones he plays with though (I think they are called butterfly clips, they squeeze together to open the clasp). I have to remember to take the clips out before we go out and about, sometimes I almost forget. He often plays with the clips and all sorts of bottles and make up whilst I put my make up on in the morning, he loves a good rummage in my toiletries drawer :)
Well, we have managed quite a few sessions at home during rain etc using many of the ideas and I still have a list of other things to buy or try. His post box came out again yesterday and he was licking and folding to seal envelopes today. He's also done some writing almost totally on his own today (for birthday cards) which I was amazed at, I think the rainy days may well have improved his fine motor already. He also spent at least 30 mins playing water with jugs, stones, tongs, spoons, a muffin tray etc this morning.
There's just such a lot of time to fiil when the toddler groups aren't on. This thread has been great to keep me switching things around and thinking of 'old' and new stuff and planning things for the future too.