Image by Wonderfully Complex on Flickr
When developing curriculum, daycare providers must include age-appropriate activities for young children that develop fine motor skills. This holiday glitter bell activity will support an fine 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 glitter bell activity includes the preparation instructions, procedure, 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.
Glitter Bell Materials
For each child you will need:
Empty Cereal Box
Glue
Paint brush
Scissors
Glitter in various colors
Ziploc bag
Ribbon or Yarn
Embellishments of your choice..fabric scraps, beads, etc.
Activity Preparation
- Cut the cereal boxes to create individual pieces of cardboard.
- Draw a bell shape on each piece of cardboard.
- Cover the craft table with butcher paper or newspaper.
- Place remaining materials on the table
Glitter Bell Activity Procedures
- Invite the children over to the craft area and explain that they can make and decorate a holiday glitter bell.
- Help children cut bell shapes out of the cardboard.
- Ask each child to choose a glitter color and put that color in their Ziploc bag.
- Help the children paint the bell shape with glue
- Put the bell inside the Ziploc bag and encourage children to shake the bag until it is completely coated. Remove and allow to dry.
- Let children decorate the bell embellishments like ribbon, beads, and fabric scraps.
- Allow to dry then poke a hole in the top of beach bell.
- Help children tie the bells together with yarn and then hang to display.
Fine Motor Learning Objectives
Objective 1: To provide the opportunity for increased visual-motor coordination by using scissors to cut wavy lines.
Verbal Cue A: Can you cut the bell shape out of the cardboard?
Verbal Cue B: I like how you are cutting bell out using your scissors.
Objective 2: To provide the opportunity to increase bilateral coordination, hand strength and visual-motor coordination and pincher grasp by stringing the bells onto the yarn.
Verbal Cue A: Let’s string the bells onto the yarn.
Verbal Cue B: I like how you putting the yarn through the holes.
Objective 3: The child will practice spontaneity in materials usage.
Verbal Cue A: Which color glitter would you like to choose?
Verbal Cue B: I like how you choosing to decorate your bell.
Children in your child day care center will create a unique work of art while enhancing their fine motor skills.
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