Motor Development

Cubed Cheese Sculptures

February 15, 2012 by Jenae — Leave a Comment

Looking to make lunch time or snack time a little more interactive? The boys had TONS of fun creating sculptures using cubed cheese and toothpicks!

We’ve been holed up in the house all week due to Big Brother (and now Little Brother) being sick. We were desperate for a little excitement…even if it only involved cubed cheese. :)

You guessed it…all you need is some cubed cheese and toothpicks!

This activity even has an educational element: it’s great for developing fine motor control!

Big Brother’s “Bunny Ears”

Teaching Little Brother how to make his own bunny ears.

The best part is, after they’re done “playing”, they can eat their structures for a healthy snack!

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Filed Under: 2-3 years, 3-5 years, Fine Motor, School Age, Snacks

For Christmas last year, my cousin and his wife gave the boys these awesome stilts that they made (they got the idea from Made by Joel). Not only are these tons of fun, they also work on balance and coordination…therefore an excellent gross motor activity.

We decided to take them along to Big Brother’s camping party to use for tree trunk stompers! They were a hit and it was so fun to watch the kids walk on them!

I really like this version because they can either be used flat with younger kids (like in the picture above) or they can be turned on their ends for older kids wanting to walk ‘taller’ (like in the picture below).

Using my keen observation skills (once again), here’s what I can gather about how to make them. Keep in mind, I myself did not make these. They were an amazing gift and one that we are greatly enjoying!

Here’s what you’ll need:
1 4×4 piece of lumber
saw
drill
strong rope (be sure to double-check that it is lead-free rope)
sandpaper

1. Using a saw, cut two 6-inch blocks of wood from the 4×4 lumber. Sand the edges, if necessary.

2. Drill a hole through the center of the wood block, big enough for the rope to fit through (the holes in ours are about 1/2″ in diameter).

3. Cut two pieces of rope about 52 inches long (or measure on your child to see what the right length might be).

4. Slide the rope through the holes of both wood blocks and tie a strong knot.

And it’s perfectly okay to try them out yourself too! :)

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Filed Under: 2-3 years, 3-5 years, Camping, Gross Motor Development, School Age

Mini Bow & Arrow Set (with free printables)

January 27, 2012 by Jenae — Leave a Comment

When I saw this idea for making a tiny bow and arrow set, I knew this would be a fun activity to do at Big Brother’s camping party! I adapted it slightly to fit our needs.

These mini bows REALLY work (the arrows will shoot at least 5 feet), though they are a bit tricky to operate for little ones and require some serious fine motor control. But the kids (and the dads, especially) seemed to love this addition to the party.

Here’s what you’ll need: Skill Craft Sticks (the ones with the little notches all over them), dental floss, cotton swabs, and sandwich-size baggies. Also, be sure to print out these labels to attach to the individual baggies. I printed them on the Avery Shipping Labels (8163: 2″ x 4″ with with 10 labels per sheet).

Print out this instruction sheet to make it even simpler.

1. Soak the craft stick in water for an hour or so. I put this baby jar on top of it so that it would absorb the water and not just float at the top.

2. Pull a strand of dental floss and tie it on one of the far notches on one end of the craft stick. Carefully bend the craft stick until it makes a “bow” shape. Pull the floss tight and wrap it around the notches at the other end of the craft stick.

To make the arrows, cut one of the cotton-tipped ends off of the Q-Tips. Then on the cottonless end, cut a small slit in the center of the Q-Tip so it makes a small groove in the back of the arrow.

You can kind of see what I mean in this picture…

I was just going to leave them how they were…but it was for a little boy’s birthday party and it just seemed weird to have pink arrows. I had some brown spray paint that the homeowners before us left, so I lined a pan with foil and sprayed the q-tips. I sprayed one side brown and let it dry and then turned each over and sprayed the other side brown.

When you’re ready to use it, just put the dental floss through the slit on the end of the arrow. Then pull back and release! They really do work and will go at least 4-5 feet!

Be sure to print out these labels to attach to each baggie!

If you are going to use this as an activity for a party, I would suggest printing out (and laminating) this instruction sheet. Then lay out all the supplies and encourage an adult to help each child. Also, you’ll want to have some type of target that they can aim the arrows at to keep the kids from aiming at each other! I just took some butcher paper and painted several targets on it to hang up.

If you’re planning on having tables set up with activities for the kids to do, you can also print out this table stand label. Just print out, cut, bend in half, and trim!

Have fun!

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Filed Under: Camping, Fine Motor, Motor Development, School Age

Digging for Bugs in the ‘Mud’

January 24, 2012 by Jenae — 12 Comments

We’re beginning a brand-new CAMPING thematic unit! The one thing that I like the least about camping is all the bugs…but they seem to be absolutely intriguing to kids.

Want to encourage your child to dig for bugs in the “mud” without getting muddy (or coming in contact with real bugs)? This is a fun chocolatey-smelling version of playdough that can double as mud!

Here’s what you’ll need:

And the recipe for chocolate-scented playdough:

4 cups flour
1 cup cocoa
5 cups water
2 1/2 cups salt (just about the equivalent of an entire container)
3 Tablespoons cream of tartar (I ran out after 1 Tbsp…see the substitution below)
10 tablespoons oil (vegetable or canola)

1. Mix the dry ingredients.

2. Add the water and oil.

I ran out of cream of tartar after 1 tablespoon, so I had to use vinegar to make up the difference. Just double the tablespoons when using vinegar (1 tablespoon cream of tartar= 2 tablespoons vinegar). If you use vinegar, just make sure to add a little extra flour (like 1/4 to 1/3 cup) so that it will still be the right consistency. And don’t worry about your playdough smelling like vinegar…as it cooks, the smell goes away.

3. Stir all the ingredients together and cook over low-medium heat.

4. Keep stirring (you’ll get your forearm workout for the day in). The mixture will start to thicken up and pull together. Keep going a little bit longer until…

…it is no longer sticky when you squeeze a piece of the mixture between your fingers.

5. Once it’s no longer sticky, dump it out onto a clean surface.

6. While still warm (but not hot) knead together until smooth.

7. Cover with a dishcloth for about 20 minutes and then place inside a gallon-size plastic bag. Leave the bag open until there is no longer any condensation. Press all of the air out of the bag and seal. (Once it was completely dry, I wrapped it in plastic cling-wrap first before putting it into the gallon-sized bag since I wasn’t planning to use it for a few weeks.)

This playdough is also lots of fun for making tracks with your trucks! :)

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Filed Under: Camping, Crafts, Fine Motor, MAKE IT, Sensory

Beaded Snowflakes

January 12, 2012 by Jenae — 3 Comments

Big Brother is a bit under the weather, so making this beaded snowflake was the perfect activity to do to take a break from all the TV watching! This is the fine motor activity for our snow thematic unit.

Here’s what you’ll need: Fuzzy sticks (aka pipe cleaners) and pony beads…both of which were sent to me free from our wonderful sponsor, CraftProjectIdeas.com.

1. Arrange 3 white pipe cleaners into a basic snowflake shape.

2. Twist them together at the center.

3. Pick out all the white beads you can possibly find.

4. Let your child get busy adding the white beads to each strand!

We chose to add 10 beads to each strand. It became an excellent activity in one-to-one correspondence as well!

5. Twist the ends of each “strand” into a loop shape…or let your child choose a different design.

(Side note: At this point in time, Little Brother was really wanting to participate. I knew he didn’t have the attention span to finish an entire snowflake (nor did we have any more white fuzzy sticks), so I just gave him his own pipe cleaner and a few beads and let him have it. He LOVED doing this…we will be doing this frequently in the future now that he isn’t putting small objects in his mouth anymore.)