This is an activity where the children will develop their fine motor skills and also improve their focus and concentration. It is a very simple activity where the children will learn to make various patterns using straws.
Materials
- Straws/beads of varied colours
- Play dough
- Skewers
What to do:
- Take a big ball of playdough, large enough to hold 3-4 skewers and roll it into a circle shape and flatten it.
- Insert the skewers into the play dough.
Cut the straws into small pieces of 2-3 inches or use beads.- Ask the kids to put the straw pieces one by one into the skewers.
- Make up pattern cards, using the same colour of the straws for children to follow the patterns.
Hints and Tips:
- Skewers can be replaced with raw spaghetti also but be careful that the children don’t break them.
- Pipe cleaners can also be used as a "skewer".
- Once children master this activity, you can give them some other materials also like any shaped beads and give them instructions like, to first insert a straw then a bead and then a straw and so on.
References:
- Besttoys4toddlers.com
- WeLearnAndGrow
- Playdough Image: jamieanne on flickr