Fine Motor Preschool Activities - Scissors & Cutting Skills

Teaching preschoolers how to use scissors and is an ongoing task for us preschool teachers. This is one of my favorite fine motor preschool activities which allows time, fun, practice and "mess control" all in one activity.

This can be one of your centers in your classroom and four at a time is the maximum number of children I allow at any one time. Use this as a rotational activity with other similar ones.

Swimming Pool Cutting Center

One of the skills we are always working on is fine motor cutting with sissors.

You can buy a hard shell swimming pool for around 10$. It fits four students with lots of room to spare and it fits in the corner of the room nicely.

Fill it with old magazines and let them pick their favorite pictures to cut. They love being in the pool and all the mess is contained.

Be sure to make one of the rules--no standing!

Try this to allow them time to practice this necessary skill. They can simply enjoy the process and not have to worry about accuracy.

Let me know if you have any special ways you have of teaching this skill.

I will post them here for all of us to enjoy.


If you found these fine motor preschool activities helpful, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.preschoolplanner.com/thefullstory.html

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


PS: If you would like to receive my free newsletter for more ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html

Preschool Playdoh Activities - Fruity Play Doh

February is here and the groundhog saw his shadow this morning! Here in the US this is a fun myth that is supposed to signify a full 6 more weeks of winter. What better time to introduce some new preschool playdoh activities!

I realize that there are numerous recipes for Play-doh for preschoolers. I always find the homemade kind the most fun and creative. Check out the recipe below for one of my favorites.

Fruity Play Doh
1/2 cup salt
2 cups water
Fruit drink mix (Kool-Aid)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons alum.

Combine the salt and water in a saucepan and boil until the salt dissolves. Take from the heat and add the fruit drink mix. Add the oil, flour and alum. Knead until smooth. This will last two months in an airtight container or zip lock freezer bag.


Let the children help to knead the dough and to manipulate it. This is relaxing for them and helps them to focus. I use the playdoh to teach colors, numbers, shapes, counting, fine motor skills, and letters.

Be sure to have the playdoh available with as many tools as possible. I have cookie cutters of the alphabet, numbers, shapes, objects, etc. I have small rolling pins, garlic presses, potato french fry cutters, the sky is the limit here.

BEST TIP: Practice using scissors with the playdoh. The doh slices easily and grips the scissors better than paper giving them the fine motor feel of how to cut.

If you like these preschool playdoh activities, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.preschoolplanner.com/thefullstory.html

There are Two Editions now for the Preschool Planner: Basic or Platinum.


Send me any ideas you would like to share and I will post them on my Blog.

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


P.S. If you would like to receive my free newsletters for ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html

Preschool Back to School Activities - Personalized Placements

Here is an idea for preschool back to school activities that is as good for you and your staff as well as for your preschoolers. This is a personalized way for you to get to know unique likes of your students and for their friends to get to know their classmates.

This idea was one of the hundreds sent to me recently. Try using this idea or modifying to fit your own situation.

It is a way to work on fine motor controls such as cutting and gluing. They can learn site words or how to identify their own names. Tracing letters reinforces alphabet skills as well.

Personalized Placements

I sent a paper placemat with the child's name written on the top. Parents work with children looking through magazines & ads, to cut and glue their favorite foods or just draw them on the mat. When they were returned, we laminated the placemats and each child uses his/her during meals/snacks. This works great with name recognition for everyone and while we're waiting for our lunch, we trace our names with our finger!


If you like these preschool back to school activities, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.preschoolplanner.com/thefullstory.html

There are Two Editions now for the Preschool Planner: Basic or Platinum.

If you prefer lessons which have ideas for the Toddler Age, go here to the second volume of lessons. There is an entire bonus section devoted to TODDLERS.

http://www.preschoolwhiz.com/v2.html

Send me any ideas you would like to share and I will post them on my Blog.

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com

Easy Preschool Art Projects - Paper & Cookie Cutters

If you have younger preschoolers in your school or day care or the parent of a preschooler, you can always use easy preschool art projects.

The preschool art project below is just a starting point for you. Keep supplies of construction paper and cookie cutters on hand and you and your children can create so many things.

These ideas engage your preschooler in using their imaginations, their tracing skills, coloring within boundaries, fine motor with crayons, scissors, etc. Simple but with lots of room to grow and expand on any theme.

Cookie Cutter Art
If you preschoolers in the house, construction paper should be a basic staple. Combine them with cookie cutters and your kids will be entertained for quite some time creating things they couldn't do yet free hand.

Fun plastic cookie cutter sets can be purchased for under $10 and usually include 100 different shapes and sizes. Generally these sets include basic shapes, letters and numbers, as well as holiday shapes, sports and animals.

Show your child how to trace the cookie cutter onto construction paper. Have them decorate their shapes with glue, glitter, crayons, or paint, then when they are dry, cut them out to create a mobile or glue to craft sticks for a puppet show!

If you like these ideas, you'll love the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

Check them out:

http://www.preschoolplanner.com/thefullstory.html


Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


PS: If you would like to receive my free newsletter for more ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html

Preschool Math Activities - Blocks and Towers

Hello there,

Many of you have written to me asking for preschool math activities. There are so many and some of the simplest ideas seem to be the childrens favorites.

Thanks to all of my readers who have been sending me their ideas for teaching math and counting. Here are just a couple I'd like to pass on to you everyone.


Blocks and Towers

Use some wooden cube shaped blocks small enough to fit in the palm of a child's hand. Ask them to build a tower as tall as they want it to be. When it falls, they have to count the blocks and tell you the number. Of course, remember to help out the younger ones or count together. Each time they start to build again they will try to use more blocks than the before. Three skills in on--counting, fine motor, and hand-eye cordination.


Toddler/Preschool Bingo

Make a set of cards with 8 large squares on it. The center square is a "free space". Put one number in each square. Not every card must have every number. Next make a deck of cards with individual numbers on each one.

Hold up one card and then ask them to find that number on their card. This is good for number recognition and listening skills.

Keep these wonderful ideas coming in and I'll share them for you here.

Until next time, have a great day!


Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


PS: If you would like to receive my free newsletter for more ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html

Preschool Curriculum Activities - Fine Motor Skills Activity

Special thanks to Deanna, one of my readers, who sent me one of her favorite preschool curriculum activities.

I find that this age group loves any lesson or activity that involves using
their hands or bodies and mastering their abilities to do things themselves.
Deanna has tapped into this and come up with a delightful and effective way
to help them with fine motor skills and counting. How great is that!

Fine Motor Skills Activity

From Deanna…I like to do a lot of fine motor style activities with my three and four year olds....of course, you can incorporate many skills along the way as you do
so. When doing a unit on Farm Animals, I give the kids various large prints of farms animals (depending upon which animal we are working on that day),
and then they "cover" their animal with objects, by first counting out 10
objects to use, and then making that same amount of 'dots' of glue in
different spots on the animals body. They then proceed to place the object
upon the glue.

For example, for the Sheep....we use "cotton balls" to cover the
body....therefore counting to ten several different times. (for four year
olds, 20 is more challenging); for the Horse...we use brown construction
paper, and make the activity into a "tearing" project; for the Pig...we use
our thumbs dipped in pink paint to push and press to make thumb prints to
cover the body, again counting along the way; for the Cow...the three year
olds work on cutting out pre-drawn circles, and then gluing then onto the
cows body, but for the four year olds, they are cutting out their own version
of circle to glue to the cows body; and for the Chicken...we use "feathers"
and get to count and glue again.

The children always love to use their hands in projects, so they have
always appeared to love this!


If you have ideas to share, send them along and I'll post them here for all
of us to use and enjoy.

Thanks,

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


P.S. If you would like to receive my free newsletters for ideas for
your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html