Fine Motor Skills Archives ⋆ Page 3 of 4 ⋆ Parenting Chaos

Water Beads and Shaving Cream on the Light Table

April 8, 2016February 22, 2016 by Stephanie Oswald

A couple of months ago we upcycled our Lego/Train Table into a light table. Well, that is if you would consider buying a square of high impact acrylic plexiglass and Christmas lights a upcycle…Since then we have been exploring various ways to play with a light box. This simple activity of Water Beads and Shaving Cream on the Light Table is by far one of my kids’ favorites.

It never ceases to amaze me on how the easiest kids activities are always favorites with my kids. It just goes to show that play does not have to be elaborate or complicated!

Hammering Water Beads

May 21, 2017September 5, 2015 by Stephanie Oswald

So…it’s no secret that my kids LOVE water beads. At least twice a week they are requesting that the water beads get pulled out. While I love sensory bins, there are times (especially when the weather outside is beautiful) that we need to be exploring more than a bin. Hammering Water Beads is a fantastic way to take a water bead sensory bin and extend the play into some gross motor fun.

The other day while I was talking to a colleague, they said to me that they were not into sensory play. That they didn’t care for the mess of sensory bins. And I’ll be honest, my heart sunk a little because I realized that some of the activities that I share on the blog make it seem like sensory play happens in a bin and is always messy. And that can’t be farther from the truth — that is just the type of sensory play my kids prefer. And while this activity is messy (because we love messy play) I hope that it helps get you thinking outside of the bin 😉

The Very Hungry Caterpillar DIY Puzzle

April 8, 2016May 17, 2015 by Stephanie Oswald

The Very Hungry Caterpillar DIY Puzzle: Bring this classic Eric Carle book to life with this delightful DIY puzzle. This is one busy bag your kids will want to play with often!

One of the great things about this busy bag puzzle is that it can easily be recreated to go with any book your child loves, is a fun upcycle, and it can be tailored to the complexity that your child needs! Adventures in a Box created one to go with Good Night, Good Night Construction Site that we just adore!

Since we are just starting to really explore puzzles with Meatball I kept our caterpillar puzzle on the simple end. I am in love with how it turned out!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar DIY Lacing Cards

April 8, 2016April 21, 2015 by Stephanie Oswald

The Very Hungry Caterpillar DIY Lacing Cards are an excellent activity for developing fine motor skills, improving hand-eye coordination and concentration, and keeping little kids busy {especially during quiet time}!

These last couple weeks have been beyond crazy with our move. With chaos fully exploding around us and restless kiddos we have been on the hunt for simple DIY quiet games our kids could create. Before we gave these a try we made some DIY Paint Chip Puzzles that were an absolute hit with the kids for our house hunting road trip. Wanting to expand on some of our easy busy bags before the big move we gave this DIY Lacing Cards a try — they loved them!

DIY Paint Chip Puzzles for Kids

April 8, 2016March 28, 2015 by Stephanie Oswald

DIY Paint Chip Puzzles for Kids: Making puzzles for your kids just got easier (and cheaper) because all you need are some free paint chips and scissors!

Recently we decided to get a little crazy and do a super long road trip with the kids up to Salt Lake City, Utah. We got even more crazy and decided to relocate there…but, that story will be for a later time once life quiets down here a bit. Anyways, being that we were going to spend a good 22 hours in one vehicle with rowdy children we went on a massive hunt for simple and quiet activities that they could easily do in the car. This busy bag was by far one of the quickest to put together and one of their favorites to play with. Plus it was FREE!