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I am a great fan of providing items for the kids to play with and just watching to see what they do with them.
It was just before bedtime last night and the kids were full of energy bouncing around like their pet rabbits. I decided to offer them 2 baskets, one with various loose parts the other full of toilet rolls. (We craft at home so empty toilet rolls don’t bother us, cardboard tubes from things like wrapping paper or foil is also suitable for this)
I lay one of the large blankets on the floor and set the baskets out in the middle. Almost immediately 2 of the 3 kids came over to inspect. The 3rd continued to hop around, I guess I can’t win them all! 😉
My main intent for these baskets was to calm the kids down and make them ready for bedtime, but to also give my youngest (22 months) a bit of fine motor skill practice. I saw her earlier in the afternoon with a half full toilet roll (it was on the bedside table) tearing one sheet off at a time and stuffing it down the middle in the inner cardboard tube. Frankly it looked like fun.
At 22 months my toddler loves to stuff things in holes, take a look at this spice bottle and tooth pick activity we did or even this one from when she was barely a year old picking up sticks.
My 4 year old was also interested in the loose parts basket and after a bit of adding items into the tubes he removed two and started playing I see you. I think he is recalling our toilet roll binoculars we made a little while ago!
Much free play to be had with loose parts, much of it includes fine motor skills. My 4 year old found a tooth pick in the collection and stuck a pom pom on their side, my toddler removed a toilet roll to bring closer for more play.
More sticking sticks in things! Out of all the items in the basket she was drawn to the sticks. She filled the toilet roll then lifted it for all the sticks to fall out.
At this point she decided to line them up and I counted them as she did. I love grabbing opportunities to count and point out colors. 😀 This is also the first time she has lined sticks up, she thought it was fabulous! 
All in all I thought this quick little pre-bedtime activity to be a hit and I had 2 calmer kids to put into bed a few minutes later.
Take a look at what my co-hosts are up to this week with fine motor skills!
- Sensory Nest Building from Still Playing School
- Threading Buttons from School Time Snippets
- Painting with Carrot Shavings from House of Burke
- Colorful PomPom Toothpicks from Stir the Wonder
- Play Dough Fine Motor Skills & Proprioception Sensory Input from Little Bins For Little Hands
- The ULTIMATE Guide to Cutting Activities for Preschoolers from Lalymom
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- Click here to get your copy.
Still Playing School says
What a great winding down activity before bed!