Continuing our A-Z of Fine Motor Skills series we are on letter D. Having a three-year-old son, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to create a dinosaur themed activity.
Why is that most toddlers go through a dinosaur obsession? Our Dinosaur Fine Motor Hunt was incredibly easy to set up and lasted most of the morning.
I took a tray and placed dinosaur stickers on to the bottom. I opted to use stickers rather than actual dinosaur toys because I knew I wouldn’t be able to take my sons dinosaurs away from him for long enough! I knew I would be safe enough with the stickers.
To make the substance to find our dinosaurs I used a mixture of salt and cinnamon. I had a half empty container of salt which I added a small amount of cinnamon to. I shook the container for some time in order for the two ingredients to mix together. We then poured out the substance over the dinosaur stickers. Ensure that you don’t add too much cinnamon, otherwise it becomes overbearing and can stain the stickers.
With our dinosaurs hidden, I gave my son a variety of paintbrushes in order to locate them. Little did my son know but he was practising the fine motor skills needed in order to hold a pencil. To him he was just on a dinosaur hunt.
My son preferred to use the paint brushes to push almost all of the cinnamon salt to one side of the tray and locate the dinosaurs that way. Once he had found the dinosaurs he enjoyed shaking the tray gently in order for the salt to cover them up again. He repeated the activity time and time again.
It didn’t take my son long before he turned the activity into a sensory one. He couldn’t resist scooping the cinnamon salt into his hands and sprinkling it around the tray.
My son had so much fun with this simple activity to set up.
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