Looking for Valentine’s Day themed fine motor activities that are fun?!

 

Fine motor skills are so important in a child’s development.

 

With Valentine’s Day soon approaching, I thought that it would be a great idea for me to share some fun and amazing Valentine’s themed Practical Life activities!  These activities promote hands-on learning, fine motor skill development, and are key to developing other areas of a child’s development as well.

 

 

 

 

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When I was in my classroom, I LOVED decorating and planning for the Valentine’s Day theme. I was always so busy creating and putting together many new works and activities for all areas of my classroom; not just the Practical Life area. The Practical Life area of a Montessori classroom is one of my favorite curriculum areas. I would to make it a point to change out my Practical Life activities and exercises at least a few times a month. That way, the activities would keep the children intrigued, engaged and excited to explore the Practical Life area of the classroom.

 

 

 

Practical Life…what is it?

The Practical Life area in a Montessori classroom or home school is the area of the classroom where children develop the necessary skills related to the care of self. Many of the works foster fine motor skills, grasping, cutting, transferring, and hand eye coordination. These skills are a necessary precursor to writing, reading, and mathematical functions. There are many activities that can be included in the Practical Life area; there are no limits as to what you can add! However it is important to always consider and take into account the different developmental stages of the children in your classroom or home school.

 

There is even more in depth information on the importance of the Practical Life area as well as a more detailed description of the other areas of a Montessori classroom.

Whenever possible, I liked to tie in the Practical Life area of the classroom with the weekly theme. There are so many amazing activities to do for Valentine’s Day, so this is a theme that we would do for two weeks! The pictures shown are of actual works that were in my classroom at the time; and were introduced one at a time over the two weeks we celebrated Valentine’s Day.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did putting them together!

 

 

10 Amazing Valentine’s Themed Fine Motor Activities

 

1. Pink playdough with heart shaped cookie cutters in different sizes

Make heart shaped cutouts using playdough and cookie cutters

Materials:

• a tray
• playdough
• heart shaped cookie cutters
• rolling pin (optional)
• a pair of scissors (optional)

Objectives:

• grasping
• fine motor skills
• hand eye coordination

 

 

2. Hanging heart doilies with clothespins

Hang the heart doilies around the top edge of the basket using clothespins

Materials:

• rectangular basket
• heart shaped doilies
• clothespins

Objectives:

• fine motor skills
• pincher grasp
• pencil grasp

 

 

3. Making a heart bouquet

Make a heart bouquet using heart cake toppers

Materials:

• plastic heart cake toppers
• glass vase
• a tray

Objectives:

• fine motor
• eye hand coordination

 

 

4. Cutting heart shapes

Follow along the line and cut out the heart shape

Materials:

• scissors
• paper with heart shaped traced on it
• hot dog tray

Objectives:

• scissor practice
• fine motor skills
• hand eye coordination

 

 

5. Transferring plastic hearts with a small spoon-one to many

Transfer the hearts from one bowl to many using a small, flat spoon

Materials:

• a tray
• 1 large glass bowl
• plastic hearts
• a spoon

Objectives:

• pencil grasp
• fine motor
• hand eye coordination

 

Related post: Valentine’s Day children’s books your child will fall in love with

 

6. Valentine’s pony bead sorting

Using their fingers, children pick out and sort all of the pony beads by color

Materials:

• a tray
• 1 large glass bowl
• 3 to 5 small bowls
• pony beads in different colors

Objectives:

• fine motor skills
• sorting
• hand eye coordination
• pincher grasp

 

 

7. Transferring heart shaped jewels using a tea infuser

Transfer all of the heart shaped jewels from one bowl to the other using the tea infuser

Materials:

• 2 glass bowls
• tea infuser
• heart shaped jewels
• a tray

Objectives:

• hand grasp
• hand eye coordination

 

 

8. Transfer heart shaped beads with tweezers

Transfer heart shaped beads from one bowl to many using tweezers

Materials:

• a tray
• heart shaped beads
• 1 large bowl
• 2 small bowls
• tweezers

Objectives:

• fine motor skills
• hand eye coordination
• pincher grasp
• pencil grasp

 

 

9. Transferring heart shaped confetti using a medium sized spoon

Transfer the heart shaped confetti from one bowl to the other using a medium sized spoon

Materials:

• a tray
• -a medium sized spoon
• heart shaped confetti
• -2 small bowls

Objectives:

• hand eye coordination
• grasp

 

 

10. Pin poking heart shapes

Using a large push pin, poke around the heart shape close enough to be able to punch out the shape.

Materials:

• a tray
• a small bowl
• a large push pin
• a poke mat
• heart shapes to poke

Objectives:

• fine motor skills
• hand eye coordination
• pincher grasp
• pencil grasp

 

 

 

What to take from this

The most important thing to take away from all this is to make it fun and inviting, so that the children will  naturally want to be engaged in and utilize the activities you add. Many of the materials in each of these activities can be found at the Dollar Tree, believe it or not! They always have such great Valentine’s themed items; perfect for any classroom or home school environment. I always got all of my trays, glass bowls, and many other items from there as well. You’d be amazed at the wonderful finds and great quality classroom items they have! Check out the Dollar Tree; you can even order in bulk online! You can’t beat that!

 

 

Do you have an fun Valentine’s Day themed activities you like to do? It can be anything that gets children involved, engaged and using all aspects of their learning! If so, please tell me about them in the comments! I always love hearing and finding other ideas and activities!

Anitra J.