Thursday, November 7, 2024
We’re ready to welcome the holiday season that's headed our way
but we haven’t forgotten about all the fun the first two ‘ber months brought!
Today, we’re reminiscing about Halloween
and the memories 2024 brought!
Laurie spent the evening with her daughter and her family.
She and her husband passed out candy to kids in her daughter's neighborhood
while mom and dad went trick-or-treating with Little D and Little P.
We had a black cat and a unicorn this year!
However, Little P was much more interested in emptying out her sister’s candy bucket
than the actual trick-or-treating!
Little D was VERY thrilled with the snow on the ground!
(A Little side note - Little D’s baby doll, Annabelle, goes everywhere with her…
even when trick-or-treating and playing in the snow!
Meanwhile, thanks to FaceTime and photos, Laura and her hubby
were able to celebrate virtually with their Little L and Little P and their parents.
Or should we say the fishermen and their catch?
While we had a snowy Halloween here in Minnesota
and the neighborhood kids were bundled up when they knocked on our door,
the weather was more cooperative near Madison!
Thanks to these Littles’ other Grand (and her sewing/crafting talents)
our little goldfish and her mermaid sister were the cutest creatures in the sea!
Now it’s time to turn our attention to November
and the days ahead!
As Grands (grandparents), we’re always looking for engaging ways
to connect with our Littles (our grandkids) in meaningful ways!
In today’s post, we’re sharing simple ways to do just that!
In fact, all Littles - especially toddlers and preschoolers - will benefit from each!
We’re celebrating Thanksgiving this month and we're using turkey activities
to sneak in those all important fine motor skills with our Littles!
GOOD QUESTION!
As retired kindergarten teachers,
we both know how important these skills are!
Fine motor skills include specific movements of the small muscles
in the hands and fingers.
They involve the coordination of the muscles, joints, and nerves,
and are essential for many daily tasks.
The development of these skills is crucial for toddler and preschoolers
as it helps our Littles perform everyday tasks like
eating, dressing, coloring and playing with toys!
Independence and self-care are fostered
and opportunities to build hand-eye coordination lay a foundation
for future learning skills like writing and drawing!
ALL IMPORTANT LIFE SKILLS FOR OUR LITTLES!
With a few needed materials that you can easily get your hands on
(some you'll even find in your home already!),
you and your Littles can enjoy these turkey activities all November long!
#1 - Pluck That Turkey!
Grab a colander and some feathers and you are ready to go!
Add a few additional details, like Laura and her Little L did
and, before you know it,
you’ll have a cute turkey to make this fine motor activity extra festive!
MATERIALS NEEDED
• a colander
• a collection of feathers
(we purchased these and are able to use them over and over again!)
• brown, yellow, red & orange construction paper
• googly eyes (or a black marker)
• a pair of tweezers or tongs (optional)
(we found a plastic tongs at the dollar store or here’s another option)
• scissors, glue stick & tape
DIRECTIONS
Make a turkey from the construction paper! We cut shapes for the turkey and then Little L glued the pieces together. Little L added googly eyes (you could also glue on paper eyes or use a black marker to draw them on).
TAKE NOTE: Learn from our mistake! At first we made our legs too long (in the second photo) and then realized they would be longer than the colander so we had to cut new shorter legs and glue those on... we even shortened the body to make our turkey fit better!
Tape the turkey to the front of the colander and add feathers by sticking them in the colander holes. Little L couldn't get enough of this and was tickled as her feathered turkey emerged!
Your Little can then use the pair of tongs to pluck the turkey! The pinching action will help strengthen your Little’s finger muscles! (Of course, your Little will also benefit from plucking the feathers with their hands if you don’t have a pair of tongs or tweezers!)
Don’t be surprised if your Little wants to add feathers to the turkey and then pluck them, over and over again...
PLUCK AWAY!
#2 - Beaded Feathers!
Here’s another fun activity that Laura prepped for Little L!
Threading the beads fascinated her!
And, once again, this is a project that can be repeated
AND your Little’s hand muscles and hand-eye coordination will get a work out
while threading the beads AND when taking them off, too!
MATERIALS NEEDED
• brown, yellow, red & orange construction paper
• googly eyes (or a black marker)
• pipe cleaners
• pony beads, assorted colors (we got ours here)
• a paper punch (optional)
• scissors, glue stick & tape
DIRECTIONS
Make a turkey from the construction paper. If your Little is old enough (like Little L), they will enjoy this craft project, too! Glue the pieces together - if you’d like a guide, use the photo above and then add googly eyes (or draw them on).
Punch holes across the top of the turkey’s body. (I simply poked holes with the scissors since Little L and I did not have a paper punch available.)
Pull one pipe cleaner through each hole and twist it half way, as shown. (It was very important to Little L that the pipe cleaners be in rainbow order!)
Your Little will have fun threading the beads onto the pipe cleaners. Depending on your Little’s age, they may want to sort and thread beads by color or they can simply thread random beads onto each pipe cleaner!
NOTE: We took the beads off the pipe cleaners when Little L was done and then we stored them in a plastic container for another day of feather beading!
#3 - A Sticky Turkey!
Laurie is sharing a color matching activity
that she planned for her own Little Turkey, Little D!
What Little doesn’t love stickers…
and the pinching and hand-eye coordination that takes place is an added bonus!
MATERIALS NEEDED
• dot stickers
(if you don't have any in a drawer, you can often find these at Target or a dollar store)
• colored construction paper to match the dot sticker colors
• a turkey body (you can make your own or find one online)
DIRECTIONS
Once you’ve found some colored dot stickers, make a turkey with feathers that match the color of the dots... another engaging craft project for you and your Little!
Have your Little attach each sticker dot to the matching feather!
Your Little will work on their fine motor skills while learning colors
and you will end up with a delightful turkey to decorate your home for Thanksgiving!
#4 - Feed That Turkey!
This finger pinching activity was perfect for Laurie’s Little D
when she was just sixteen months old!
MATERIALS NEEDED
• a clear recycled plastic bottle, cleaned & dried
(be sure the opening is slightly bigger than the objects you are “feeding” the turkey)
• colorful pom poms (we got ours here)
• googly eyes (or you can use black & white paper)
• red and yellow construction paper
• feathers (real ones or ones you’ve cut out of paper)
• scissors & glue stick
DIRECTIONS
Empty and wash the bottle. Decorate it as you’d like (feel free to use our photo as a guide). You guessed it... this can be another fun craft project for your Little!
Show your Little how to feed the turkey! Infants that can sit and grab and younger toddlers can use their fingers to put the pom poms in the bottle. Older Littles (older toddlers and preschoolers) can work on finger dexterity by using a pair of tweezers or tongs! You can even give your older Littles directions for which pom poms to feed the turkey! (i.e. “Feed the turkey a pink pom pom.” OR “Feed the turkey 3 pom poms.” and so on.)
When the turkey is full, turn it over and shake the pom poms out!
Little D enjoyed this even more than putting them in!
NOTE: Always supervise young Littles - especially if they are at the stage where they put things in their mouths!
We’re confident your Littles will have a blast working on fine motor skills
while they spend time crafting a turkey or two!
Let us know if you have questions or please leave a comment
if you have a new idea for us to consider!
You can leave a comment at the end of this post
OR
you can always email us directly at ourgrandlives@gmail.com!
As always, we invite you to check out our social media sites!
(Click on each link provided here or at the ones provided at the top of each page.)
We’ll be back TOMORROW with another FALL FAVE to share!
We hope to see you then!
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These are so much fun! I love the "feed the turkey" activity. I remember doing these fine motor activities with my girls. It brings back so many memories. Thank you for sharing with us at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party #63.
Steph@CrazyLittleLovebirds
HI Laura, I always find sparks of joy reading your posts. Love the Fine Motor Fun for Thanksgiving theme. I've selected your post as one of my favourites to feature in next week's #WeekendTrafficJamReboot. Have a lovely week. Sue from Women Living Well After 50
Hi laura, you always have such fun activities to share, thanks so much! As we don't do Thanksgiving here turkeys don't feature that much but it's certainly a fun craft idea!
Deb from www.debs-world.com for #TeamWWWhimsy
Hi Laura, you always have the cutest and cleverest craft ideas for the littlies. Happy Thanksgiving to you (in advance)! We don't celebrate that here in Australia of course because it's an American occasion. Thanks so much for linking up with #WWWhimsy xo