With Valentine’s Day coming up, parents often wonder if there are any activities that their child can participate in that also helps with fine motor development. Valentines are a great way to get your child involved in school and also provides parents with the opportunity to introduce sensory and motor activities.
Here are a few fun ideas for making valentines that work on fine motor development:
“Wooly Be My Valentine” Cards
You can print a blank wooly card on thick paper and have your child be in charge of gluing on the small pom poms. This is a fun and easy way for your child to develop the use of the pincer grasp. All you need is the picture, glue and some small pom poms and you are ready to go!
Rainbow Calming Jars
These jars are fun and easy to make. They are comprised of materials that can be found throughout the house. All you need is a plastic jar/water bottle, glitter, baby oil and warm water. For Valentine’s Day, experiment especially with red and pink glitter for colorful sensory bottles!
“Happy Valentine’s Day, For Crayon Out Loud” cards
This valentine has a couple more steps than the others but is a great motor activity for you child. The materials list is a bit lengthy, but the heart shaped crayons at the end makes it worth it. You will need a variety of different colors of crayons, a silicone heart shaped mold pan, two different colors of cardstock paper, glue, and a pen to write with! The first step is to cut all the crayons into small pieces (parent should do this step), then the kiddo’s job is to stir the crayons in a big bowl. The stirring motion helps the child refine their motor control and it is also fun to see all the crayons mix together. The next step is to stuff the crayons into the heart shaped molds. The parents would then put the crayons in the oven at 250 degrees for 15 minutes. After they are done, let them cool off for a few minutes, then you can glue them on to the cardstock paper and have your kiddo write a valentine!
Tissue Paper Valentine Wreath
This fun Valentines decoration is easy to make and tissue paper can be a great sensory item! Crumpling up the tissue paper is also a great fine-motor activity. All you need to make this wreath is cardboard and tissue paper, glue, a hole puncher, and a piece of ribbon. The parents should have the cutout of the heart available for the kiddos to glue the tissue paper on. All the kids need to do is crumple up the tissue paper and glue it on to the heart. The parent can then hole punch the cardboard, and tie a knot.
Heart Strings Valentine
These yarn valentines are adorable and so simple to make. All you need is colored paper, scissors, yarn, and glue! All the parents have to do is cut the paper into a heart shape, cut some pieces of yarn, put out some glue and let the kiddos go crazy. They will have so much fun playing with the yarn and gluing them on to the heart. Yarn is a fun sensory object that also helps refine motor skills. This will be the cutest valentine around!
