We made these dyed lollipop sticks many moons ago, (2015!) as a fine motor and visual motor tool to use in color sorting and other fine motor activities. The colorful sticks are fun and provide countless opportunities in your OT sessions for creative exploration, problem-solving, and hands-on learning.
We made these dyed lollipop sticks last month and have been playing with them a lot. Counting, patterns, fine motor play, art, visual perceptual work, and imagination are fun with these colorful rainbow sticks. They are so easy to dye with just a little food coloring, and very fun. We’ve used these rainbow sticks in a few different ways recently and will be sharing soon on the blog!
Dyed Lollipop Sticks for play and learning
How to dye lollipop sticks
left over from various parties. The idea to color them in rainbow shades came to me after seeing them in the baking bin next to food coloring. A rainbow of manipulatives would be fun for all kinds of play. I put a handful of sticks into small plastic baggies and added a few drops of liquid food coloring
. More food coloring will bring out brighter colors. 
Once dry, you are ready to play! These things are completely gorgeous and we had fun just naming all of the colors, rolling them back and forth, and sorting.
Fine Motor Skills with Dyed Rainbow Lollipop Sticks
More rainbow activities that you will love:
Other Ways to Use Dyed Lollipop Sticks
We shared just a couple of ways to use dyed lollipop sticks in developing sensory motor skills. Here are more ideas:
- Color Sorting: Have children sort the dyed lollipop sticks by color into matching containers or on a color mat.
- Pattern Making: Create and replicate patterns with the sticks, such as alternating colors or building sequences.
- Counting and Number Matching: Use the sticks for counting activities or to match with numbers written on paper or cards.
- Stick Building: Encourage children to build simple structures or shapes by gluing the sticks together.
- Letter and Shape Formation: Have kids use the sticks to form letters, numbers, or shapes on a flat surface.
- Tactile Tracing: Glue the sticks to create raised lines on paper for children to trace with their fingers, enhancing tactile feedback.
- Matching Games: Write letters or numbers on the sticks and have children match them to corresponding cards or objects.
- Sensory Bins: Add the dyed sticks to a sensory bin filled with rice, beans, or sand for children to find and sort.
- Stick Weaving: Weave yarn or string around and between sticks placed in a grid pattern, working on fine motor skills.
- Craft Projects: Incorporate the sticks into art and craft projects, such as making frames, collages, or decorations.
Rainbow Handwriting Kit– This resource pack includes handwriting sheets, write the room cards, color worksheets, visual motor activities, and so much more. The handwriting kit includes:
- Write the Room, Color Names: Lowercase Letters
- Write the Room, Color Names: Uppercase Letters
- Write the Room, Color Names: Cursive Writing
- Copy/Draw/Color/Cut Color Worksheets
- Colors Roll & Write Page
- Color Names Letter Size Puzzle Pages
- Flip and Fill A-Z Letter Pages
- Colors Pre-Writing Lines Pencil Control Mazes
- This handwriting kit now includes a bonus pack of pencil control worksheets, 1-10 fine motor clip cards, visual discrimination maze for directionality, handwriting sheets, and working memory/direction following sheet! Valued at $5, this bonus kit triples the goal areas you can work on in each therapy session or home program.
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
