Activities that are meaningful and motivating to children are vital to encourage their participation. When children are interested in activities, they are better engaged and motivated to take part. This is especially true when children struggle with specific skills, such as fine motor coordination or upper body strength.
As an occupational therapist, I know how important motivation is to the children I work with. I wanted to share five of my favorite Halloween activities for building fine motor skills in children! I found these on some great websites and wanted to share them.
1- Alphabet Bats!
This fantastic idea comes from "A Dab of Glue Will Do". It addresses fine motor skill through using a hole punch. And it incorporates letter (or number) recognition. Prepare bats from construction paper and write letters or numbers on them. Children choose letters and then punch holes in the correct matching letter. This can be done with numbers too. To change things, an adult can call out letters to work on listening skills.
See it HERE: https://www.adabofgluewilldo.com/fine-motor-bats/
2- Spider Rings!
This fun activity from "Learning with Mrs. Langley" works on pincer grasp, hand control, and force modulation (the amount of pressure a child uses). Firm straws or sticks are placed in putty, and children place small spider on, one on top of another, until you reach the top. Work on patterns if you have different spider colors!
See it HERE: https://learningwithmrslangley.blogspot.com/2018/09/surviving-halloween-week-of-lesson-plans.html
3- Googly Eyes Goop Scoop!
For this activity children work on pincer grasp and hand strength as they use tongs to scoop googly eyes from slime. This activity come from "Adventures of Adam".
4- Ghost Stack!
Placing one item on top of another requires careful hand control and shoulder stability. Activities that require stacking is wonderful skill-building work for kids. I found this great activity on "Turner Tots". Simply make spooky faces on white paper cups. Then ask kids to stack them. One person can make a stacking pattern, and a child can copy it.
5- Pumpkin Decorating!
A fun activity is to decorate small pumpkins with rubber bands. This challenging yet rewarding task is from "The Imagination Tree", and works on hand strength. Children can take turns or each have a pumpkin of their own.
Feel welcome to leave a comment. What are your favorite go-to Halloween fine motor activities? What tasks do your students or kids struggle with? Get in touch by e-mail at KidsMasterSkills@gmail.com
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Lisa Marnell MBA, MS, OTR/L
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