Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Easy Toddler Pincer Strength Activity {Learning with Foam Stickers}

Welcome back to #toolsforlearning! Every Tuesday an awesome team of bloggers will be taking on the challenge of activities with common educational manipulatives! We want learning to be hands-on, interactive and fun! This week we're featuring Foam Stickers!


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I designed this activity for Squiggles' (3years,) as a way to develop her pincer strength and also to build on her love of stickers.

I was never really into offering my girls stickers to create with until my dad began looking after the girls while I studied. I guess, I saw the stickers as being wasted because they girls didn't use them in the way I would (a very silly reason) however since Dad introduced stickers to our house, I've learnt to love them.


Peeling stickers has the double advantage of working on pincer strength (so important for when it's time to write) and allowing the girls to express their creativity.

Foam stickers are fantastic for little ones, they tend to be bigger, which makes them easier for little hands to manipulate. I also love foam stickers for littlies as if they have trouble peeling them you can peel the backing off and place them on a piece of baking paper-rather than be frustrated this can enable your little to be empowered to peel their own stickers whilst working on that oh, so, important pincer strength.


As I said in Learning with Alphabet Stamps, I'm all about low-prep activities at the moment.

To set up our pincer strength activity, I simply placed a few packets of foam stickers into a seperated dish. (I opted for garden themed ones as we'd just been outside gardening). I then placed a piece of paper on the table-and that was it!


Squiggles added some textas and pencils to the mix and then she got creating! I purposefully chose a mix of stickers-some with normal, individual backings and others that came on clear backing and would be easier to pull off.

Squiggles showed alot of resilience-choosing the harder-to-peel stickers and refusing to give up until she had all the paper off! Her face, when she was able to peel the backing off in one piece was priceless!



Soon, the focus of our activity shifted a little as Squiggles began to name the creature stickers-frog, turtle, ladybug, bee. As she named each creature she mimed their movements and mimicked their noises. We soon began talking about the bees we'd seen in our garden and how they help the garden to grow.

Don't you just love when you find a simple learning activity your little one loves?!

Now for the fun part…

Would you try this activity or have you tried another? We want to see! You can share pictures to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Google+. Tag your pictures with  ‪#‎toolsforlearning‬.




Be sure to check out each blogger, as we will each have a different way we enjoy playing and learning with these fantastic resources-leaving you with a list of the best ways to learn with Foam Stickers!

Foam Stickers Process Art from Still Playing School
Fill in the Bugs from Learning 2 Walk
Shape Puzzle with Foam Stickers from Mom Inspired Life
DIY I Spy Foam Book by Best Toys 4 Toddlers
Letter Sticker Matching Activity from Books and Giggles
Foam Sticker  Writing Activity from The Kindergarten Connection
Foam Stickers Name Puzzles from Teach Me Mommy
Broken Hearts Puzzle from Adventures of Adam
DIY Gameboard Kids Can Make from School Time Snippets
Sticker Shape Matching from Play & Learn Everyday
DIY Maths Game for Kids from Mum in the Mad House

Don't forget to use #toolsforlearning on Instagram to share your Foam Sticker learning activities!!  

For more like this check out this post about awesome ways to learn with Alphabet Stamps!
http://squigglesandbubbles.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/stamps-on-light-table-learning-with.html
  
Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.  You know you're infant/child best, use your own judgement-considering your infant/child's temperament, habits, behaviour and development before you play with a new play medium.


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