Fingernail Clipping Activity

I was in need of an activity that reinforced fine motor skills with my children. Interest in playdoh and push pin work has waned for right now. Therefore, I pulled out an old favorite --- fingernail clipping.

When I first introduced this activity a while ago, we traced our hands and drew fingernails on them and practiced cutting the paper nails. 

I decided to try an updated version this time when I brought the fingernail clippers back to the shelf. I cut small strips of paper (I used three different colors) approximately 3 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. I used red, green, and blue for this activity (mainly because these are the colors that I found first in the art bucket).

I pulled out our measuring spoons and separated the 1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp, and 1 tsp from the ring.

I affixed red, blue, and green bands around each spoon.

I used a white sheet of paper and labeled the placement of the objects. This also teaches the measurements of 1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp, and 1 tsp. The child uses the fingernail clippers to cut small pieces of paper and fills up the spoons according to the color of the band on the spoon. 

The aspect I really liked about this variation is that the children spent more time actually practicing cutting with the clippers as they had the goal of filling up each spoon - which helped my goal of them practicing their fine motor skills longer!

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Sequencing: Order of Events Cookie Recipe

There are many ways to practice putting events in order:  cutting comic strips apart and having children put them in correct sequential order, write lines of a favorite nursery rhyme on slips of paper and have child put the rhyme in correct order, etc. 

Since we have been making treats and baking, I thought it would be fun to make a sequence of events activity (free download)  using one of our favorite recipes: No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. 

Here are instructions for the work:  Print out downloads (all are free). Have a child read over the control card that explains how to make no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies. Then, place the control card upside down to the side of the workspace. Place the blank recipe sheet on the workspace (laminate for durability)

Blank recipe card

Cut apart the second page of the download (free)  to create the cards that will be placed in the correct spot on the recipe sheet.

These sections are cut apart to create cards that will be placed on blank recipe sheet

The third page is the control page so child can check his/her work.

Control Card

The child stacks the cards to the right of the blank recipe sheet and then picks up cards one at a time and places them in the correct order/place on the recipe sheet. The workspace should look like this:

Place cards on blank recipe sheet in correct order

If the child is young, you can remove the blank recipe sheet and have the child match the cards to the control card and then advance to the blank recipe sheet once they have had lots of practice.

I have also created no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookie nomenclature cards (free download)  to go along with the recipe sequencing work:

No-bake cookie ingredient nomenclature cards

Other sequence of events resources:

• http://www.havefunteaching.com/worksheets/reading/sequencing/sequencing-worksheet.pdf
• Binky's Story Scramble
• Story Sequence
• For older learners:  Sequence of Events sheets

Building Sentences

I am more mathematical minded than language. Language sometimes frustrates me- it is my weaker area. Teaching kids how to write can be a great challenge. You can model good sentences, you can try to explain how to write good sentences, but what do you do if that doesn't seem to be helping? I was racking my brain for new ideas until a friend shared this sentence-building exercise with me. It makes developing a good sentence so easy for beginning writers.

First, the child writes a simple sentence which includes a noun and a verb and then progressively adds more words to the sentence according to the following structure:

• sentence:                The girl cried.
• which:                       The young girl.
• how:                         The young girl cried silently.
• where:                      The young girl cried silently in her room.
• when:                       The young girl cried silently in her room last night.

 I created a sentence-building page to make it easier to remember the "which, how, where, etc."

I have it posted in the free download section of my site Montessori For Learning.


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Games, Creativity, and Fine Motor Skills

I love going to the bookstore. Something about just walking in the doors brings a feeling of peace that relaxes my mind and body. I could spend hours and hours wandering through the aisles, rediscovering the old and taking in the new.

On my way to the gym last night, I took a little detour and visited our local bookstore. At first I felt a little guilty, but once I walked through those doors, the guilt just floated out of my head. I promised myself that I would not purchase anything, as it is close to Christmas and we have had "Murphy" come live with us over the last couple of months in the form of car problems, heating unit issues, extra doctor bills, etc.

I was making one last stroll through the back of the store. It is the hobby and craft section of the store. I usually try to stay clear of this section as it is extra tempting to purchase these wonderful books, but I never seem to have time to start, much less complete, any of the projects.

One book stood out from the rest. It was called Origami Games: Hands-On Fun for Kids by Joel Stern. I have a few origami books that we have created projects with, but the kids were somewhat tired of doing the same thing. My son especially needs activities such as these to work on his fine motor skills, as they are still lacking significantly in this area. I do have to admit there are only so many butterflies you can talk a little boy into making. This book was just what I needed.

Origami Games contains activities that enable you to create actual games to play. It has instructions ranging from a basketball hoop, bowling pins, to sailboats. It even has a game called "Slay the Dragon" where you make a "goal post" (also used for paper football) and hang an origami dragon from it and try to knock it down with a triangular football-shaped paper. We created a basketball hoop this morning and had a blast. It was so much fun and I love having the kids make their own "fun" while getting such a practical skill at the same time (fine motor skills)

If you think the basketball hoop looks fun - you should make the catapult! It was loads of fun!



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Word Study: Nouns

Parts of speech can be somewhat confusing at times and need to be reviewed on a regular basis in our household so we keep the information fresh in our brains. When we begin our review, we usually begin with the Noun Game. It is a game that can involve the whole family and is lots of fun.

After we finish the noun game, we sometimes complete a "mad-lib." Usually when  we are focusing on one part of speech, I will fill in the other parts of speech that are missing (i.e. going ahead and providing the verbs, adverbs, etc. and just leaving the nouns blank) and they provide the nouns and then we read the stories aloud for a few laughs.

Another activity we engage in is pulling sentences from favorite books (or make up or own) and writing the sentence down on a white board or piece of paper. The montessori symbol for nouns in a black equilateral triangle, so we draw the symbol above the nouns in the sentence.

I have also created noun cards for the pink, blue, and green levels in montessori (phonetic and non-phonetic). Today, my Little Angel worked with the blue phonetic noun set .  I added a black triangle to this set to introduce the symbol to her.

As an extension to our activity, we use the noun cards to create original sentences and then mark our nouns with black triangles.

Find more great montessori materials at Montessori for Learning!