When developing curriculum, daycare providers must include age-appropriate activities for young children that develop fine motor skills. This Cinco de Mayo flower craft will support a creative arts unit as well as promote visual motor coordination, bilateral coordination, and hand strength.
Fine motor skills are actions that involve the small movement of hands, wrists, feet, fingers, toes, tongue, and lips. In contrast with gross motor skills which involve larger muscles of the arms, legs and feet, fine motor skills focus on small muscle movements in coordination with the eye. Some important fine motor concepts and skills that preschool age children learn to master are bilateral coordination, visual motor coordination, grasp, hand use, manipulation skills, pincer grasp, wrist rotation, pre-writing grasp, hand strength, and tactile awareness.
Children learn fine motor skills through practice. Activities which involve writing, drawing, cutting, stringing, and buttoning are great examples of activities that promote the development of fine motor skills. The Cinco de Mayo creative arts activity includes the preparation instructions, procedures, and materials list for this activity. It also provides age-appropriate learning objectives and a sample of the simple supporting verbal cues necessary to encourage participation and support learning.
Cinco de Mayo Flower Materials
For each child you will need:
Butcher paper
Coffee filters
Food coloring in variety of bright colors
Eyedroppers
Chenille stem
Basket
Activity Preparation
Cover the activity table in butcher paper or newspaper
Set out all materials on the table
Coffee Filter Flower Activity Procedures
- Invite the children to the activity and let them know they can make festive flowers for cinco de Mayo.
- Show the children how to use an eye dropper to add food coloring to several coffee filters in a and encourage them to use a variety of colors. Allow to dry.
- Help the children assemble the flowers: Place one coffee filter decorative side down on the table. Next, place the other coffee filters on top with decorative side up. Fold coffee filters in half and then scrunch the middle of the coffee filters. Hold the scrunched area in place by wrapping the chenille stem around it.
- Straighten the stem. Arrange several flowers in a basket.
Learning Objectives
Objective 1: To provide the opportunity for increased visual-motor coordination by folding and scrunching the coffee filters
Verbal Cue A: Can you fold the coffee filters in half?
Verbal Cue B: I like you are scrunching your coffee filters.
Objective 2: The child will practice spontaneity in materials usage.
Verbal Cue A: Which color of food coloring would you like to choose?
Verbal Cue B: I like how you choosing to decorate your flowers!
Objective 2: To practice cooperation and sharing through the sharing of art materials.
Verbal Cue A: Can you let Jason use the green food coloring when you are finished with it?
Verbal Cue B: I like the way you are sharing the red food coloring with Kerry.
Children in your child day care center will create a unique work of art while enhancing their fine motor skills.
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