We have been very busy over the past few weeks getting ready for school. My daughter is heading to VPK-4 next week. We have gone back to school shopping and met her teacher and even gotten our backpack ready for the very first day....we are all set!
While my daughter is at VPK she will be learning all sorts of new skills and perfecting some that she already has. One of the skills she will be working on is her writing. So to get her ready we are exercising her fine motor muscles.
This quick and easy little activity will get your little one's hands ready to grip that pencil and start writing their name in no time at all.
All you need is an ice tray with small openings, colorful pom poms (assorted sizes), and plastic tweezers. Put all of the pom poms into a shallow container. Have your little one use their tweezers to grab the pom poms and place them into the ice tray. Make sure they are gripping the tweezers just like they grip a pencil so they exercise those fingers.
You can introduce a new element (time) and set a timer or sand timer (from a board game) see if your little one can grab the pom poms with increased speed. You could also have them select all of the small, medium and large ones or select by color.
If you have a little ham like I do they will most likely end up playing a few games of their own as well. Building up the muscles in their hands will help them become successful writers. If their muscles are strong and they can grasp their pencil correctly you will notice better control which transpires into better handwriting skills and decreased frustration when writing.
My one and a half year old also loves this game for him we change it up a little bit. I spill the pom poms on the floor and he has to pick them up with his hands and place them back in the container. This helps your little one's hand eye coordination as well as develop their pincer grasp.
The goal is to keep learning fun and light hearted, watch for fatigue and frustration. If they aren't in the mood, don't push walk away from the activity and come back when your child is ready. Little one's pick up new skills very quickly when they are enjoying themselves and when they see your enthusiasm.
Have a Happy Monday!
Love this idea. My boys are 20 months, so we might just start with using their fingers...but I can see how good the tweezers would be for their grip down the road. Thanks for sharing!
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