The idea for Pushpin Numbers came from Big Brother’s preschool teacher, who has been using this method for one of the alphabet centers in her classroom. It is super simple, great for teaching letter and number formation, and helps your child develop the proper grip needed for writing.
Rest assured, there was no one poked in the making of this post. ;)
Here’s what you’ll need: corkboard, pushpins, construction paper, and a marker.
1. Write the number/letter on a piece of construction paper and then secure it to the corkboard with 4 pushpins. I also added the corresponding number of dots to the bottom for some one-to-one correspondence as well.
2. Give your child an extra pushpin and instruct him/her to start at the top and poke holes on the number.
Notice the grip of his fingers…the same grip he uses when he holds a pencil.
Little Brother also got a turn and did surprisingly well!
Little Brother has NEVER held a pencil correctly. But notice how he is holding the pushpin! :)
We took the activity to another level by putting it on our overhead projector to see what would happen.
Ta-Da! Look at the numbers!
Each of the boys pointing to their numbers.
Have you ever let your child use a pushpin?
Crystal M :) says
September 28, 2012 at 10:18 amThis will be perfect for B! Thanks Jenae! :)
Anu Ganesh says
September 28, 2012 at 1:18 pmWonderful!!
Vicky @ Mess For Less says
September 29, 2012 at 5:36 pmMy daughter has a lot of trouble holding the pencil, but I think she would enjoy this. Thanks, just pinned!
[email protected] says
September 30, 2012 at 10:34 amWhat a great idea. I especially like how you placed them on the projector for further exploration.
We did an activity similar to this, using toothpicks to practice letters –
http://discoverexplorelearn.com/2012/03/pinhole-letters/
Donna says
September 30, 2012 at 3:52 pmYes, we have done pin punching and loved it! We punched some fall leaf outlines and blogged about it here:
http://growinggreatkids.blogspot.com/2010/11/paper-punching-push-pinsperfect.html?m=1
I like the idea of using letters and numbers as well! Nice Montessori activity.
TheTubelight says
October 6, 2012 at 7:22 amThank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I’ve tried coaching my daughter into holding a crayon properly but she just didn’t want to. After a little hesitation, I taped 3 pieces of cardboard together (from some boxes we had lying around), drew a picture, gave her a pushpin and away she went! She loved it and kept wanting to do it.
The best bit? The next time she was using a crayon, she was holding it properly!