crafts

Kinesthetic Learning Fine Motor Activity

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The Kinesthetic Sense is needed for almost every task. Read on for more information on kinesthetic learning, exactly what is kinesthesia, how the kinesthetic sense plays a part in fine motor skills, and kinesthetic fine motor activities that can help with motor planning and learning through play.



What is Kinesthetic Learning?


The Kinesthetic sense is a huge part of every action we do.  When we pick up a toothbrush and brush our teeth, we “know” the motion and amount of pressure that is needed to move the toothbrush and polish teeth without poking the side of mouth with the toothbrush. 

The Kinesthetic sense allows us to zipper a jacket without looking at the zipper. It allows us to tie our shoes while looking up at a friend on the playground.  It allows us to have a conversation and look around at our table mates while using a fork, wiping our mouth, and picking up a cup during dinner. It enables a student to flip the pencil and erase a mistake without looking at the pencil and thinking through each step of moving the pencil within the hand. 

Kinesthesia allows us to participate in actions with motor planning, appropriate motor actions, and effective proprioception. 


These kinesthetic learning fine motor activities use homemade bean bags.




Praxis, or
kinesthesis help
us understand how to move our bodies. 
The praxic system is also known as the kinesthetic system. The kinesthetic system essentially “puts it all
together” when it comes to motor responses to sensory information that has been
perceived by the other senses.  

Knowing how to move our body and how those actions are to be performed is a big part of sensory processing, including a combination of many senses! Read more about sensory processing and how all of the senses are part of a big puzzle in our recent book, The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook. 


All of this processing movements and knowing how to move the body within an action make up kinesthetic learning. 


Kinesthetic learners need to move their bodies, manipulate materials, and really interact with learning materials.  These children tend to fidget, wiggle, slouch, or get up out of their seats when in the classroom setting.  This site has a lot of great information on kinesthetic learning. 


Adding movement opportunities involving multiple senses into learning opportunities benefit the kinesthetic learner. 


Kinesthetic learning has also been called three dimensional learning. 


Kinesthetic learning occurs during learning experiences where a student feels, touches, hears, moves, and overall “experiences” in learning. 

Kinesthetic Learning and Motor Planning in Activities


Having a motor plan for an action can help with tasks that
are performed again and again. This is true for the motion needed to open and
close scissors while using both hands in a coordinated manner. 

Motor planning
is necessary for formation of letters and numbers (Consider being able to jot
down notes very quickly or writing a quick fill-in-the-blank word when looking
up at a Smartboard.) Motor planning allows us to manage clothing fasteners
without looking. This is the “muscle memory” that allows movements to be performed in a
smooth and coordinated manner.

Addressing the kinesthetic sense in learning can be helpful for many children, particularly those who are kinesthetic learners. 

Proprioception and the kinesthetic sense

Linked to motor planning and kinesthetic motions is
proprioception. The ability for muscles and joints to manage weight and
position in space are necessary for movements to occur with appropriate force
modulation.

The Proprioception Sensory System is the recognition and response to the body’s
position in space with an internal feedback system using the position in space
of the joints, tendons, and muscles. 
This sensory system allows the body to automatically react to changes in
force and pressure given body movements and object manipulation.  The body receives more feedback from active
muscles rather than passive muscle use.  

Related to the proprioceptive system is kinesthetic motor actions, or praxis.  Individuals are able to plan and execute
motor tasks given feedback from the proprioceptive system. Praxis allows us to
utilize sensory input from the senses and to coordinate hat information to move
appropriately. 

Kinesthetic Learning Fine Motor Activities 

Kinesthetic actions occur in both gross and fine motormovements. When a child is able to complete jumping jacks with coordinated
upper and lower body movements they are utilizing gross motor kinesthetic
movements. 


When a child manages buttons on their pajamas without looking and
with a coordinated manner, they are utilizing fine motor kinesthesia (among other skills! This is an overgeneralization.) 

These outdoor kinesthetic learning activities can be as fun as they are helpful for kids!


Kinesthetic Fine Motor Activity

Kids can work on kinesthetic learning and kinesthetic fine motor skills with this bean bag activity that helps to address motor planning needs.
There are ways to develop and strengthen kinesthetic fine
motor actions. These activities can be used to help develop muscle memory,
motor planning, and the ability to recognize and respond to various levels of
weight and kinesthetic input.

One way to develop kinesthetic fine motor skills is to use
weighted bean bags in various weights.

These simple DIY bean bags use brightly colored sand in
see-through plastic baggies. Different styles of DIY bean bags can be used to
provide more a more lasting bean bag.

Use these DIY bean bags to address kinesthetic learning needs and boost fine motor skills.
Use dry rice and liquid food coloring to create colored
rice. When the rice is completely dry, fill varying amounts into plastic bags.
(Cloth pockets can be used and then sewn up for a more lasting version.)

Use colored duct tape to secure the bean bags.

Occupational therapists will love this bean bag activity to build kinesthetic learning and fine motor skills by addressing motor planning needed for tasks.

Students can then use the weighted bean bags to practice and
develop kinesthetic fine motor skills.

Weighted bean bags may be sized appropriately to fit the
child’s hand to address arch development and closure of the hands.

The weighted objects can be dropped from one hand and caught
with the other supinated hand. Trial this activity in various positions and
distances. Then, switch hands so the non-dominant hand is dropping the bean bag
and the dominant hand catches the bean bag.

Have the child close their eyes and drop the bean bag from one hand to the other. This encourages and challenges the kinesthetic sense without input from the visual sense. More practice with the eyes open will make this exercise easier as the child’s muscle memory is built. 

Various weights and sizes of objects should be trialed in
the various positions and distances.

Try this activity while sitting and standing.

There is more input from heavier objects and less input from
lighter weight objects.


Be sure to limit throwing of these bean bags, unless you enjoy sweeping up lots of dyed rice! 

Other weighted objects can be used for this activity too,
including marbles, small balls, stress balls, etc.

This kinesthetic learning fine motor activity uses DIY beanbags made with colored rice. Use them in learning activities where kids move and learn.

DIY Fidget Tool Zipper Pull

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This DIY Fidget Tool is a good one to add to your therapy toolbox! A fidget tool attached to a zipper pull can be helpful for kids who struggle with wiggles, over or under responsiveness to sensory input, those who have worries or sensory challenges on the school bus or while out in the community. Using a zipper fidget tool can be helpful when waiting in line and it’s hard to keep little hands to oneself. 
 
This DIY fidget tool is also a fine motor powerhouse for kids to make. I love adding crafts like this one to the therapy line up because not only does it work on essential fine motor skills, it also creates a functional tool that kids can wear and be proud of. When they have made a colorful and fun zipper pull fidget tool, they will be proud to wear it, show it off, and use it to address needed sensory processing struggles!
 


Kids can use this DIY fidget tool zipper pull for addressing sensory needs that result in worry or anxiety, sensory meltdowns, or other issues as a result of sensory processing challenges. Read how to make a DIY fidget tool for sensory needs and how to use a fidget tool.

DIY Fidget Tool Zipper Pull

 
This DIY Fidget Tool Zipper Pull is very easy to make. You’ll need just a couple of materials:
 
Pony beads
Fuzzy craft sticks (pipe cleaners)
 
We received both of these items from www.craftprojectideas.com
 
To make the fidget tool, thread the beads onto a whole pipe cleaner. Bend the pipe cleaner in half and create a small loop. There should be enough space between each bead and at the top of the loop to allow for movement when the bead is wiggled. 
 
Kids can use this DIY fidget tool zipper pull for addressing sensory needs that result in worry or anxiety, sensory meltdowns, or other issues as a result of sensory processing challenges. Read how to make a DIY fidget tool for sensory needs and how to use a fidget tool.
 
Twist the top shut and loop the end through a zipper pull. Use the ends of the pipe cleaner around the zipper pull. 
 
And that’s it! The diy fidget tool zipper pull is done!
 
Kids can use this DIY fidget tool zipper pull for addressing sensory needs that result in worry or anxiety, sensory meltdowns, or other issues as a result of sensory processing challenges. Read how to make a DIY fidget tool for sensory needs and how to use a fidget tool.
 

So, why would a child need a fidget tool on their jacket?

 
When kids have difficulty with self-regulation, emotions, anxiety, sensory processing, or other concerns, they may act out or end up in meltdown mode. This can be especially true in settings where environmental stimulation is on overload. 
 
A situation such as on the noisy school bus where students are jostled around among other loud students and a lot of other children sitting nearby can be overwhelming to the child with sensory needs. 
 
Standing in line at school as students wait to go outside to recess or to come indoors after recess can be a time when students have trouble keeping their place or keeping their hands to themselves. 
 
A child who becomes overwhelmed by worry and anxiety heading into new situations can find comfort in movement that a fidget tool offers. 
 
All of these are situations when a zipper pull fidget tool would be a great sensory diet accommodation to keep on hand. 
 
Kids can use this DIY fidget tool zipper pull for addressing sensory needs that result in worry or anxiety, sensory meltdowns, or other issues as a result of sensory processing challenges. Read how to make a DIY fidget tool for sensory needs and how to use a fidget tool.
 

A Fidget Tool is a Sensory Diet Tool

Children who have a sensory diet in place or utilize sensory strategies to address specific needs may have other accommodations or tools in place such as a fidget tool. A keychain fidget tool can be just the item that provides children with a grounding point and gives them the ability to focus, attend, or participate in activities. 
 
This DIY Fidget Tool would be great alongside our DIY Fidget Tool for School, allowing kids to wiggle and move those fingers!
 
This jacket fidget tool is inconspicuous, making it a great fidget tool for school, much like this DIY weighted fidget tool.
 
Kids can use this DIY fidget tool zipper pull for addressing sensory needs that result in worry or anxiety, sensory meltdowns, or other issues as a result of sensory processing challenges. Read how to make a DIY fidget tool for sensory needs and how to use a fidget tool.
 
Want to know more about what a sensory diet is or how to implement one? Check out some of our recent posts on sensory diets and be on the watch for our upcoming book, The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook. 
 
 
Kids can use this DIY fidget tool zipper pull for addressing sensory needs that result in worry or anxiety, sensory meltdowns, or other issues as a result of sensory processing challenges. Read how to make a DIY fidget tool for sensory needs and how to use a fidget tool.

Christmas Tree Gift Tags

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We’ve made our own Christmas tree gift tags last year.  This version was just as much fun to make and we can’t wait to wrap a few presents with our DIY Gift tags!  This Christmas tree art was great for preschoolers and toddler.  All it took was a little stamping and cotton swab painting.  If you’re not into making gift tags, this Christmas tree craft needs just a little stamping as a nice piece of holiday art to decorate with this Christmas!
 

Christmas Tree Gift Tag Craft

 
Christmas Tree gift tags are a fun Christmas craft for kids!
 
Note: This post contains affiliate links. 
 
Make Christmas tree gift tags with the kids at Christmas school parties.


Christmas Tree Gift Tags

We started with a recycled paper tube that was bent into a triangle shape.  This was dipped into green paint and ready for stamping all over the paper.  Little Guy liked this part best, and made a ton of little trees on his paper.

Christmas gift tags that kids can make as a holiday art project
 
A brown marker to draw little tree stumps on each triangle and it started to look more like Christmas trees.  We used our Spill Proof Paint Cups and some cotton swabs to decorate our Christmas Trees. 
 
Now this was Baby Girl’s favorite part of the painting!  She reeeally got into dotting little decorations on her Christmas trees.  Painting with the cotton swabs is such a good way to work o n tripod grasp for new pencil users and pre-handwriters.  They were able to dab a little red paint in the spill proof cup and dot it onto the paper with a tripod grasp on the cotton swab.
 
A Christmas tree craft kids will enjoy this holiday season.
 
Once the trees and the decorations were dry (and this took a while after Baby Girl painted…!) We snipped our papers into little gift tags and hole punched a place to tie a pretty ribbon.
 

Christmas Handwriting Activities

Writing out that Christmas wish list is a difficult task that brings out tears instead of holiday excitement.  I’ve got a solution for your kiddo with handwriting difficulties: a packet of modified paper for all of the Christmas handwriting tasks that come up each year.  Use this handwriting pack to help kids who struggle with handwriting to participate in holiday traditions while even working on and developing their handwriting skills!

Working on handwriting with kids this Christmas season? Grab your copy of the Christmas Modified Handwriting Packet. It’s got three types of adapted paper that kids can use to write letters to Santa, Thank You notes, holiday bucket lists and much more…all while working on handwriting skills in a motivating and fun way! Read more about the adapted Christmas Paper here. 

 
 
 

Christmas Fine Motor Activities

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Christmas Fine Motor activities

If you work with kids, you might be thinking about Christmas activity ideas that promote the development of fine motor skills. These Christmas Fine Motor Activities are creative ideas that boost dexterity, build fine motor strength, promote precision of grasp, enhance separation of the two sides of the hand, and enhance tripod grasp with a Christmas theme. 

Christmas Fine Motor Activities

These fine motor activities can be used in the classroom as a Christmas craft that doubles also develops the underlying fine motor skills that are needed for so many functional tasks.


Go through the activities below and find your favorite way to play and develop fine motor skills this holiday season!

Use these Christmas fine motor activities to develop skills like hand strength, grasp, endurance, prehension, bilateral coordination, visual motor skills, and more in order to help kids with pencil grasp, handwriting, scissor use, and more.


Christmas theme fine motor activities

When kids make crafts or holiday decorations, they are using and developing many skills. Manipulating tools such as scissors, glue, hole punches, tape, glitter, etc, kids experience various tactile experiences.


Creating with paper or other material requires visual motor skills (eye-hand coordination), fine motor manipulation and strength, dexterity,  bimanual coordination, visual perceptual skills, visual attention, prehension, midline crossing, and visual spatial awareness.


By using tools such as scissors or a hole punch, children can gain proprioceptive input that can be calming within the classroom environment. 


Here are Christmas themed Fine Motor Activities that can be used in the classroom, home, or clinic this holiday season:

Use this Christmas Tree Hole Punch activity to develop strength in the hands and more. This activity uses a hole punch to create lights for each Christmas tree. The bonus with this craft is the learning and math component. Add a colorful twist by adding colored tissue paper to the backs of the trees with glue. 
 
Make a fine motor Christmas card that kids can make too, while working on hand strength, coordination, and eye-hand coordination skills…with a fun Christmas card that kids can make and gift to friends or family!


Use crumbled tissue paper to create this Fine Motor Christmas Tree from Crafts on Sea. Crumbling paper develops the arches and builds strength in the hands. 

Kids will love this Christmas Jingle Bell Sort activity and won’t even realize they are building skills they need for development. This activity can be used all season long to help kids develop in-hand manipulation and separation of the two sides of the hands as kids sort colored jingle bells.


Make these Fine Motor Lacing Christmas Trees from Happy Hooligans to develop skills like visual motor integration, bilateral coordination, tripod grasp, and more. 

Creating this Snowman Fine Motor Craft is a fun way to develop skills like bilateral coordination, pincer grasp and more. This craft is one that builds fine motor strength and precision while creating a fun holiday decoration. 


Boost fine motor skills like grasp, strength, and more when making these Craft Stick Christmas Trees from Easy Peasy and Fun. 

This Fine Motor Christmas Tree Craft addresses many skills needed for development and function. This craft has been very popular here on The OT Toolbox. It’s a way to recycle egg cartons while working on various skills: bilateral coordination, fine motor strength, visual attention, spatial awareness, arch development, wrist extension and stability, and more. 


These Fine Motor Christmas Trees from Stir the Wonder are fun decorations that promote bilateral coordination skills. 

Use recycled bottle caps to make this Bottle Cap Fine Motor Christmas Tree Craft. This fine motor activity can be a holiday decoration that boosts fine motor skills such as precision, in-hand manipulation, tip-to-tip pincer grasp, rotation and dexterity of the fingers needed for in-hand manipulation, and bilateral coordination.


You can find more Christmas themed play and fine motor crafts and activities here on this 25 days of Christmas Play series that we shared a few years back. 

 

Christmas Handwriting Activities

Writing out that Christmas wish list is a difficult task that brings out tears instead of holiday excitement.  I’ve got a solution for your kiddo with handwriting difficulties: a packet of modified paper for all of the Christmas handwriting tasks that come up each year.  Use this handwriting pack to help kids who struggle with handwriting to participate in holiday traditions while even working on and developing their handwriting skills!


Working on handwriting with kids this Christmas season? Grab your copy of the Christmas Modified Handwriting Packet. It’s got three types of adapted paper that kids can use to write letters to Santa, Thank You notes, holiday bucket lists and much more…all while working on handwriting skills in a motivating and fun way! Read more about the adapted Christmas Paper here. 






Use these Christmas fine motor activities to develop skills like hand strength, grasp, endurance, prehension, bilateral coordination, visual motor skills, and more in order to help kids with pencil grasp, handwriting, scissor use, and more.

 

Christmas Theme Handwriting

For more Christmas fine motor work, try paringin the activities in this post with Christmas handwriting. Use the modified paper to work on areas such as line awareness, spacing, letter size, and legibility with bold lines, highlighted lines, and color-coded lines.

Looking for done-for you therapy activities this holiday season?

This print-and-go Christmas Therapy Kit includes no-prep, fine motor, gross motor, self-regulation, visual perceptual activities…and much more… to help kids develop functional grasp, dexterity, strength, and endurance. Use fun, Christmas-themed, motor activities so you can help children develop the skills they need.

This 100 page no-prep packet includes everything you need to guide fine motor skills in face-to-face AND virtual learning. You’ll find Christmas-themed activities for hand strength, pinch and grip, dexterity, eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, endurance, finger isolation, and more. 

Click here to grab the Christmas Therapy Kit.

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.

Visual Perception Apple Activity

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During the fall months, apple activities are a fun way to sneak in skills like visual perception development or fine motor strengthening.  This visual perception apple activity promotes both of those areas in a fun and creative way.  We used recycled pouch bottle caps to make DIY stamps that fit in with an apple theme.  If you are looking for more visual perception activities, there are a bunch on the site.  Check out the additional ideas at the bottom of this post.

The apple theme is perfect for the fall season and would fit in nicely with this apple theme gross motor activity.

Visual perceptual skills are needed for so many skills! Handwriting, reading, writing, math, spelling, shoe tying, cutting with scissors…everything! You’ll find easy and fun ways to work on visual perceptual skills through play here. 

Kids will love this visual perception apple activity using DIY apple stamps.

Visual Perception Apple Activity

This post contains affiliate links.
You’ll need just a couple of materials for this idea:
Scissors
Applesauce pouches (Eat the applesauce and then wash and dry the lid!)
Hot glue gun (I love this mini version for making quick projects like this one.)
Paper
Red paint

This activity goes along with the popular children’s book, Ten Red Apples. Grab the book and do this developmental activity with the kiddos.  You’ll love all of the book activities that combine children’s books with activities to promote development of functional skills and underlying skill areas here on The OT Toolbox.

Use DIY apple stamps to work on visual perception with an apple theme.
To make the apple stamps:
Cut the scrub pads into different shapes.  We made a square, circle, diamond, and heart.
Make your own foam stamps to work on visual perception and fine motor skills.
Use the hot glue gun to attach the shapes to the pouch lids. This is a job for an adult.

Kids can work on visual perception and fine motor skills using DIY stamps with an apple theme.
Once the foam shapes are attached and the glue is dry, you can start to work on those fine motor and visual perceptual skills.

Use these DIY stamps to work on visual perception and fine motor skills with kids.
This is a fun visual perception activity for kids to work on skills using DIY stamps.
Pour a small amount of red paint onto scrap paper.  Kids can use the stamps to make different shapes by pressing the foam side into the paint and then pressing paint onto paper. There are several fine motor skills being addressed with these stamps:

Apple Theme Fine Motor Activity

Show your child how to hold the stamp using their thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger.  This positioning on the pouch cap encourages a tripod grasp and separation of the two sides of the hand.
Ask the child to use the stamper with their dominant hand.  By holding the stamp with to paint, they are also developing and strengthening the arches of the hand.
Additionally, the size of the stamp encourages an open thumb web space which is perfect for a functional pencil grasp during handwriting tasks.
These stamps are quite the fine motor power tool!
Apple stamps for helping kids work on visual perception and fine motor skills.

Apple Stamps and Visual Perception Activity

Next, kids can turn those shapes into apples by copying the different parts that make an apple.  We used black and green markers to add a stem and leaves to each apple shape.
To encourage development of visual perceptual skills, show kids how to copy the stem and leaves. They can then copy those parts onto their apples.  Try adding one or two leaves or making the stems go into different directions or with different lengths to encourage visual memory, visual discrimination, and visual motor skills.
Use these apple stamps to help kids improve visual perception and fine motor skills needed for handwriting, reading, and more.

Visual Perception Apple Activities

There are so many ways you can use these apple stamps to address visual perceptual skills!
Make copying sheets where kids copy the apple shapes in the correct sequence to address visual memory.
Make visual discrimination sheets where kids can identify the difference in shapes.
Work on visual spatial relations by stamping apples in different positions on a page.  Kids can then tell where they see a specific shape in relation to another shape.
Address visual discrimination by making an “I Spy” type of sheet.
Work on form constancy by covering up part of an apple shape and asking kids to make the apple shape that matches that shape.

Apple theme visual perception activity for kids
How would you use these apple stamps to address visual perception?

Kids love these visual perception apple activities that also work on fine motor skills
These apple stamps is a fun apple activity to use in coordination with a book.  If you have been a reader of The OT Toolbox for long, you know that we love to combine favorite children’s books with developmental activities.  For this apple activity, we joined the bloggers in the Virtual Book Club for Kids group in creating an apple themed activity that fits with the book, 10 Red Apples by Pat Hutchins.
We loved reading this book as we counted the apples on each page.  The book, Ten Red Apples is a fun way to address visual perceptual skills like visual discrimination, visual memory, and form constancy as each page contains the animals that eat an apple from the apple tree.  To address visual perceptual skills with this book, ask your child to scan the group of animals and pick out individual characters or animals on each page.  It’s a visual perceptual challenge that carries over to skills like reading and writing.

For more creative ways to address visual perceptual needs, try some of these ideas by clicking on the images below.

Looking for more ways to add apple themes into learning and play? Try these creative ideas from the Virtual Book Club for Kids team:

Apple Tree Alphabet Letter Match  Still Playing School
Apple Piece Names  Preschool Powol Packets
Sea of Knowledge    Apple Addition within 5 Dough Strips
Fingerprint Apple Counting Activity   Messy Little Monster
Apple Math: Counting & Fractions   Teach Beside Me
Red apple number bonds to 10   Rainy Day Mum
Apple Tree Playdough  Clare’s Little Tots
Apple picking sticky wall  Views from a Step stool
Baked Apples  Witty Hoots
Apple Stack Game and Snack  Toddler Approved
Jumping Apple Seeds  JDaniel4’s Mom
Apple Theme STEM Activity for Preschoolers  The Educators’ Spin On It
Glitter Apple Stamping  My Bored Toddler
Apple Tree Tracing Page
Apple Farm Song with Movement  My Storytime Corner
Ten Red Apples: Number Words Activities  Growing Book by Book
Apple Tree Gross Motor Game  Inspiration Laboratories
Apple Sewing  CrArty Kids

Narwhal Craft

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Narwhal craft

This narwhal craft is perfect for an ocean theme, or for kids who are heading off to the beach this summer. It’s a great narwhal craft for preschool, grade school or to go along with a fun narwhal book. Add this activity to your favorite kids crafts that build skills in OT or at home.

Narwhal craft

Sometimes, adding a themed craft to a favorite children’s book is just what kids need to get crafty while working on skills like scissor use and fine motor skills.  We used one of our favorite new books, “Not Quite Narwhal” by Jessi Sima to come up with a fun narwhal craft that is heavy on the scissor skill practice.  If you are looking to help a child with scissor use, we’ve got TONS of scissor skill activities here on the site. 

 
Make a narwhal craft that goes along with the children's' book Not Quite Narwahal
 
Affiliate links are included in this post.

Narwhal Craft 

This narwhal craft was a fun one for us!  I have a few girls in the house who are crazy about all things mermaids, unicorns, and rainbows.  While an actual narwhal has nothing to do with these things, there is just something fun and whimsical about narwhals!  
 
Not Quite Narwhal book and narwhal craft that kids will love making while working on scissor skills.
 
When you read Sima’s Not Quite Narwhal, you definitely feel the fun and whimsy of unicorns and narwhals!  We picked up the book in the new release section of our library and it has quickly become a hit in our house.  
 

This book is a creative and fun story about Kelp, who is born among the narwhals but always thought he seemed a little different. One day, Kelp is carried by a current to meet mysterious creatures who seem more like him and make him wonder if he might not be a narwhal after all. This is a sweet library book find that we’ll definitely check out again!! You know those books that show up in your library bag again and again. 

 

We’ve been reading Not Quite Narwhal over and over again and noticing new adorable details in the illustrations with each read-through! We decided to make a few narwhals of our own to join Kelp in his adventures!


Make a Narwhal Craft and work on Scissor Skills

This narwhal craft has double duty: It’s super cuteness goes along perfectly with the book AND it sneaks in scissor skills.  Kids can work on cutting on lines with simple shapes in order to build a narwhal.  
 
We made an easy version with simple geometric shapes and a more complex narwhal craft that would be perfect for older kids.


To make the narwhal craft, you’ll need just a few materials:

  • Blue cardstock (cardstock is thicker paper, so it’s excellent for slowing down scissors to ensure more accuracy when cutting along lines, especially for younger scissor users.)
  • White cardstock
  • Scissors (These are the best for kids who are learning to cut.)
  • Glue
  • Not Quite Narwhal (optional, but definitely recommended)
 
If you’re working on scissor skills, The Scissor Skills Book is a resource for parents, teachers, and therapists.
 
Read more about The Scissor Skills Book HERE.
 
Help kids improve scissor skills with this narwhal craft.

To make the narwhal craft:

Draw simple shapes on the cardstock.  For kids who are learning to cut, use thicker lines made with a marker.  You’ll need:
 
One large oval for the narwhal’s body
One curved rectangle for the tail
One long triangle for the bottom fin
Two small triangles for the tail fin
One long white triangle for the narwhal’s tusk
 
Use an ocean theme narwhal craft to work on scissor skills with kids.
 
Kids can cut on the lines and build a narwhal.  Use the picture above to construct the narwhal.
 
You can also use this craft as an opportunity to develop visual perceptual skills like form copying and eye hand coordination.  
 
It’s a lot like building pictures with tangrams!
 
Kids can work on scissor skills when making this narwhal craft.
 
For a more complex craft, draw the narwhal on the blue cardstock in one big, and curved shape.  Cutting on lines with multiple turns is appropriate for young tweens and older kids.
 
This narwhal craft is great for helping kids develop and work on scissor skills.
 
 
 
Find more crafts that address skills like scissor skills, direction following, and fine motor development on our crafts for kids page. 
The Scissor Skills Book addresses scissor skill development including scissor crafts for kids
 
 
The Scissor Skills Book addresses scissor skill development including scissor crafts for kids
 
 

More Narwhal and fish Crafts to Build Fine Motor Skills

You’ll find more fish and narwhal crafts in our Summer Fine Motor Kit. Check out all of our seasonal and themed fine motor kids below:

 

Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.

Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:

Letters Fine Motor Kit
Kit de motricidad fina de verano
Summer Fine Motor Kit
Outer Space Fine Motor Kit
Space Fine Motor Kit
Spring fine motor kit
Valentines Day fine motor kit
winter fine motor kit
Winter Fine Motor Kit

Or, grab one of our themed Fine Motor Kits to target skills with fun themes:

Want access to all of these kits…and more being added each month? Join The OT Toolbox Member’s Club!

Here are some kids crafts you may like: 

Scarecrow craft
Germ Kids craft
Germ kids craft
Pirate Puppet

A final note on narwhal crafts

A narwhal craft is a fun and educational activity for preschoolers and kindergarten students. This cute arctic whale is a fascinating animal, with its long tusk and unique adaptations for life in the frigid waters of the Arctic. By creating a narwhal craft, children can learn about this amazing creature and develop their artistic skills at the same time.

There are many different types of narwhal crafts for preschoolers and toddlers. Some popular options include using a narwhal craft template to cut out a paper narwhal, creating a narwhal drawing or painting, or using narwhal clipart to decorate a cardboard or foam narwhal cut-out. These crafts can be adapted to suit different skill levels and interests, and can be completed with a variety of materials, including paint, markers, glue, and glitter.

To make a narwhal craft for kids, start with some basic materials like construction paper, scissors, glue, and crayons or markers. Cut out a narwhal shape from the paper and then decorate it with your chosen art supplies. You can also use a narwhal craft template to create a more detailed design, or look for narwhal pictures online for inspiration.

For a more challenging narwhal art preschool project, consider creating a 3D narwhal using foam, felt, or other materials. You can also incorporate other arctic animals into the craft, such as a walrus craft, to create a diorama or display.

In addition to making a narwhal craft, there are many other narwhal activities and resources available for preschool and kindergarten students. These include not quite narwhal activities, narwhal worksheets, and narwhal information for kids. By exploring these resources, children can learn about the habits, habitat, and adaptations of narwhals in a fun and engaging way.

Whether you’re looking for an easy narwhal craft or a more challenging narwhal project, there are many options available for kids of all ages and skill levels. By creating a narwhal craft, children can develop their artistic skills, learn about a fascinating arctic animal, and have fun in the process. So why not dive into the world of narwhals today and create your own amazing narwhal craft!

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.

Cute Lantern Crafts for Kids

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These lantern crafts are not only cute, they are easy to make. Sometimes you need a go-to place for crafty ideas when the kids are itching to make crafts, and this list of lantern crafts is it! Gather up the art supplies, grab the kid-friendly scissors and get ready to craft with the kids!
 
Cute Lantern Crafts for Kids

Cute Lantern Crafts For Kids to Make

 
Try these crafty ideas with the kiddos this weekend:
 
Color Block Candle Holders from Moms and Crafters
 
Winter Village Luminaries from Red Ted Art
 
Fine Motor Lantern Craft from Sugar Aunts
 
Fairy House Luminaries from Messy Little Monster
 
Paper Craft Snowflake Luminary from Papercraft  
 
Mondrian Inspired Luminaries from Mum in the Mad House
 
DIY Frosted Luminaries from Zing Zing Tree
 

Fairy Lanterns Mason Jars from Adventure in a Box

Fine Motor Lantern Craft

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I love to find creative ways to sneak in the fine motor strengthening.  This fine motor lantern craft is one of those activities.  These easy hole punch lanterns are a creative way for kids to craft this season and all year long.  They look great on a mantle or window sill or would be the perfect addition to a classroom or birthday party.  The best thing about these lanterns are the fine motor skills that kids develop and mature while making an easy craft for kids.

Kids will love to make this fine motor lantern craft while working on fine motor skills like hand strength and scissor skills.

Fine Motor Lantern Craft


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For this fine motor lantern craft, you’ll need just a couple of materials, and you’ll probably have most of the items in your home right now.

This is a great fine motor lantern craft while working on fine motor skills like hand strength and scissor skills.

Fine Motor Lantern Craft Material list:

Cardstock in different colors (We used bright colors, but you could go with any color scheme.)
Hole punch (This one is great for kids.  To further increase fine motor strength, try this one.)
Tape
Battery operated tealights
Scissors

School based Occupational Therapists will love to help kids make this fine motor lantern craft while working on fine motor skills like hand strength and scissor skills.
This craft is actually a great way to help kids with their ability to use scissors. Cutting cardstock is a resistive activity as the material is thicker than typical paper. 

Cutting cardstock helps kids slow down their scissor speed and allow for greater accuracy.  

Read more about helping kids cut with scissors on our scissor skills crash course.

Work on fine motor skills like scissor skills and strength and make this fine motor lantern craft
Decide how tall you want your lanterns to be.  For more holes (and a brighter lantern), you’ll want a shorter lantern.

Cut the cardstock into strips.  Use the hole punch to punch holes into the cardstock strips.

Use the tape to secure the lanterns around the battery operated tealight candles.

I’ve found battery operated tealight candles at the dollar store, but this is the best deal if you are looking to purchase several for a line of lanterns.


Fine Motor Strength with this Lantern Craft

Address fine motor skills like strengthening and scissor skills with this fine motor lantern craft for kids.
When punching the holes using a hole punch, kids are strengthening their gross grasp.  While it seems like kids are using their whole hand to squeeze the hole punch, they actually are powering up the ulnar side of the hand.  Engaging the muscles of the ulnar side allows for kids to increase their power grasp needed for strength in the hand.  

To hold a hole punch, you need to curve the hand over the handles and engage the thumb as well.  This allows intrinsic and extrinsic muscle engagement needed for tasks such as scissor use, pencil grasp, clothing fasteners, and many other functional tasks.

This fine motor lantern craft is one activity that my kids loved to make and love to turn on each night.  We have our lanterns set up near our Christmas decorations and switching on the battery operated tealights has become a nightly tradition.

Let me know if you make this craft in your home, classroom, or clinic.  It would be a great craft for holiday parties at school as it’s not specifically religion based.  School based Occupational Therapists might add this to their activities ideas before school lets out for the holidays.

Looking for more ways to work on fine motor skills?  These are some of our favorites:
fine motor writing activity Pencil Grasp Activity Pencil Grasp Exercise Thumb opposition activity

Pencil Grasp Trick Thumb IP Flexion
Thumb Opposition

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Bear Ornament

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Bear ornament


Making holiday ornaments like this bear ornament with kids is such a fun way to develop fine motor skills, and then see the work hanging on the Christmas tree. Kids will love this teddy bear ornament but occupational therapists will love it even more for the developmental aspects! Add this bear ornament craft to your occupational therapy Christmas crafts.

Bear Ornament

Check out these Christmas Fine Motor Activities for more creative ways to work on fine motor skills and address development of skills this Christmas season. 

Today, I have a fun bear craft to share with you. This bear ornament is such a fun way to get kids creating and crafting during the Christmas season. We used this as a bear Christmas ornament, and a children’s book extension activity for the Bear Books by Karma Wilson.  

We made the bear craft based on Bear Stays Up for Christmas.  It’s true that in our house, we do love to come up with crafts and activities based on children’s books and this Christmas book themed Christmas ornament craft was no exception.

Bear ornament that kids can make for a book related Christmas ornament.

How to make a Bear ornament

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When we came up with this bear craft, we knew we wanted to create a cute bear that matched the bear in Karma Wilson’s Bear Stays Up for Christmas.  The bear books are such a fun series to read and we loved to see Bear’s friends help him stay up to celebrate Christmas.

Bear Stays Up for Christmas is the perfect book to add to your reading list this Christmas season.  It shows us how bear discovers the best gift of all is giving.  How fun would it be to read this book, make the cute bear craft Christmas ornament, and then give it to a friend?

Such a cute bear ornament for Christmas.

You’ll need just a few materials to make this bear craft:

This is such an easy bear craft.  It would be perfect for preschool aged kids or grade school children. To start, you’ll need to cut a bear face shape from the cardboard.

Bear craft that kids will love to make while working on fine motor skills.

Bear Craft

Bear crafts can be made this time of year, or all year long to work on skills like fine motor work, eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, and more.

Then, use the brown twine to wrap all around the cardboard face shape. Tape the twine to the back of the bear to keep it in place.

Help kids work on fine motor skills with a bear craft that is perfect for a Christmas ornament.

Fine motor tip: This activity is a great way to address bilateral coordination skills. Wrapping the twine around the cardboard shape allows kids to coordinate both hands together with a working hand and a non-dominant, assisting hand.  This type of activity requires a child to work at midline while looking down toward their hands.  It is a good activity for kids to seem to switch hands when writing or require prompts to hold the paper when writing and other tasks that utilize an assisting hand and precision work with the dominant hand.

Read here for more information on creative ways to address bilateral coordination. 

Continue to wrap the twine around the cardboard until most of the cardboard is not showing, including around the bear’s ears.


Add a small piece of tape to the back of the bear craft to hold the end of the twine down.


Next, stick the peel and stick googly eyes on the bear’s face.

Kids love to make crafts like this bear craft based on a popular childrens book.

Use a dab of glue or a glue dot to stick the crafting pom pom onto the bear craft.


Finally, use a small piece of twine on the back of the bear craft to create a loop in order to hang the bear craft Christmas ornament onto the Christmas tree.




While this bear craft was based on a popular children’s Christmas book, it would be a great accompaniment for any bear themed preschool book or children’s book.

Kids can make this bear craft based on the book, Bear stays up for Winter, or any bear book for kids.

Make this bear craft Christmas ornament based on Bear Stays Up for Christmas childrens book.

Need more ornament crafts? 



Nativity Tree Decorations 

Spice Jar Lid Star Ornaments 

Dog Ornament 

Pine Tree Ornament

Looking for more kid-created Christmas ornaments?  Here are some of our favorites:

Bottle Caps Holly Ornament

Spaghetti Wreath Ornament

ee cummings Little Tree Christmas Ornament

Olive the Other Reindeer Ornament

Cutest ever bear craft Christmas ornament for kids.
Every Christmas tree needs this kid-made Christmas tree bear craft ornament!


 

 

 

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.