We are huge fans of using pom poms within play. They are cheap, you can soon make a huge collection and they are the perfect size for fine motor activities. For the letter P in our A to Z Fine Motor Series we set about creating a Pom Pom Fine Motor Target game.
I wanted to give my son an incentive for holding on to the pom poms using a fine motor tool for longer than he usually does. Normally he will pick up a pom pom using different fine motor tools and will then drop the pom pom immediately.
With our Pom Pom Fine Motor Target game my son had to hold on to the pom poms in order to place them into the different coloured cardboard tubes. Each set of tubes were worth different points. The red tube in the middle was worth three points, the blue tubes were two points and the green tubes were only worth one point.
Setting up the Pom Pom Fine Motor Target game was straightforward. I used a total of 19 recycled cardboard tubes and coloured the outer and inner rim using either a red, blue or green permanent marker pen. I wanted a way to hold all of the cardboard tubes together. In the end I opted for velcro cable ties but you could use string.
On the table I left out a variety of different fine motor tools. These included a purple Jumbo Tweezer, a Handy Scooper, a Squeezy Tweezer and an elephant and giraffe chopsticks from the Safari Stix Animal Chopsticks. Next to these I placed two containers of multicoloured pom poms.
My son opted to use the Handy Scooper straight away. He picked up several pom poms at once. However, when he came to placing the pom poms into the cardboard tubes he realised that they would just fall on to the table. He soon changed tactic and only picked up one pom pom at a time.
The Squeezy Tweezer proved to work well in the game. It was a great size for individual pom poms and for positioning it above the cardboard tubes.
The game kept my son occupied for ages. He was focused on filling as many cardboard tubes as he could and getting as many points as possible. My son had no idea that the main aim of the activity was to develop his fine motor skills.
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