The following lesson is designed to aid children with their fine motor skills using clothespins and teach color matching. I used the cans for the purpose of self-containing the lesson (Montessori style) so that my two-year old class could have the chance to choose what they work on and take it from the shelf without it being difficult to carry. You could do many variations on this lesson. I did have to modify it myself as it turned out the clothespins were too difficult for my students aside from the oldest twos. I switched out the clothespins for squares of paper with the colored dots that I had laminated and attached velcro, in a way maintaining the two fold purpose of the lesson. As I have used these containers for many different lessons, they can also be used to correspond with monthly themes. In the past I have made matching cards using stickers with velcro backs that the children use to match (insects, ocean life, dinosaurs) while placing the cards inside the can for easy storage afterwards.
Materials:
- Baby formula can
- Cardstock
- Items to match (colored dots, stickers, etc)
- Clothespins/Velcro depending on the ability of your child/students
- Packaging tape
Preparation:
Tape one set of the item to be matched around the can while the other set is used on the end of the clothespin. If you are doing squares of card stock with a matched item, I suggest laminating it for durability and hot gluing it to the clothespin. As I said with my class I had to modify the lesson by getting rid of the clothespin and laminating a card stock square with the dots on them to be matched by velcro.
This video continues the series of fine motor activity videos we are starting. Fine motor activities are extremely important with preschool age children. Such important functions such as writing, cutting, and more require the coordination and a certain amount of strength in the small muscles of the hands and fingers. In addition, fine motor activities require intention and concentration. In particular, using lessons that require passing objects through a slot works on developing wrist movement as the child tries to orient it into the container as well as serving as a practice for hand eye coordination. In this video I used a three finger grip which was encouraged by the Montessori school I worked previously. This lesson can easily be adapted for other themes/seasons by changing the shape/type of the objects being used to put into the can. In addition instead of using a baby formula can, I have seen other educators use chip cans as well. I also laminated the shamrocks for added durability with my two year old class. Materials: -can -scissors -cut out objects (shamrocks)
