This week I put out a seasonal art project on my art shelf. I had purchased these texture rubbing plates from Let's Explore over a year ago but had yet to use them in the classroom. I found a printed turkey that was fairly simple and made several copies of it. I placed the copies on a tray on the art shelf. Right next to the tray of turkey papers I placed the tray you see below which holds four of the texture plates and a box of crayons. To do this project the child takes one turkey paper and the red tray to a table. They place the texture plate with the textured side up and then place the turkey outline on top. Using a crayon they fill in an area of the turkey with color. This work is so good for strengthening the little muscles in the fingers. Rubbing a crayon across a textured surface creates more resistance or "drag" than just drawing on a piece of paper on a smooth surface. This makes it an excellent activity for developing fine motor skills. I have been so pleased with how popular this work has been in the classroom. It has been chosen by some of my younger children who typically do not choose this type of work. In addition to improving fine motor skills, this activity requires sustained concentration and attention to detail.
Here is just one of many examples of the turkeys that have been created this week.
The other day I was randomly looking over my Amazon profile, and found a list I made of products that help build fine-motor skills in babies, toddlers, and children. I wrote it in 2007 when Jake was 5 and in still in Occupational Therapy - we were really focusing at the time on his fine motor skills. I owe a lot of what I know about such things to our lovely O.T. Rachael, and to many of the books I have listed to the right.
I think a lot of people would be surprised how easy it is to start including fine-motor activities in playtime . . . especially since so many really fun things help to build those skills! Many of you are probably already doing some of these activities with your children and not realizing how great they are for development i think so.
Posted by: sildenafil citrate | April 23, 2010 at 11:14 AM
hello , grat info thank´s
Posted by: divisas forex | February 02, 2010 at 12:55 PM
Laura, when the children use the rubbing plates do you have them hold the crayons in the regular way? I have always used paperless crayons held on their sides with rubbing plates. Your post has inspired me to dig out some of my stored plates for new work next week.
Posted by: Melva | November 07, 2009 at 07:30 AM