Need a quick, easy fine motor skills activity? This is for you! This activity is a snap to set up, and will work your baby’s pincer grasp. Since we are using stickers, you will want to make sure you are closely supervising this activity.
Directions
- Grab some stickers-any type of stickers will work for this activity. I used left over stickers from my teaching supplies. This can also be done with washi tape.
- Find a place to put the stickers-hard floors, play mats, high chair tray, wall, etc.
- Stick the stickers to the hard surface. Be sure to count how many stickers you use especially if you have a child that likes to put everything in their mouth. Riley tried to eat a few stickers.
- For children who need more practice with their pincer grasp, leave a part of the sticker peeled back to give the child something to pinch and peel.
- For children who need more of a challenge, don’t leave any part of the sticker peeled back. Let your child figure out how to pick and peel the sticker up. Monitor your child’s frustration level. If they are getting overly frustrated, demonstrate how to pick and peel back the sticker. Peel back part of a sticker and let your child try again.
Riley's experience
Riley worked intently to peel the stickers back. I started with the more challenging approach to see what she would do. It became apparent that I needed to model for her how to peel back the stickers. Once I showed her how to peel back a few of the sticker she quickly got the idea. As she peeled the stickers up from the play mat, she then came across another challenge-how to get the sticker off her finger. She would shake her finger and rub it (non-sticky side down) on the play mat. Nothing worked. Finally, she decided to put the stickers in her mouth to get them off her fingers. Success! Problem solving at its finest. Not to worry though mama quickly fished all stickers from her mouth. We tried this activity again a few weeks later, but this time in her high chair and using washi tape instead. Riley again worked intently to peel back each strip of tape. She was better about getting it unstuck from her hands without having to put it in her mouth!
Benefits
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Fine motor development: Riley practiced her pincer grasp as she picked and peeled the stickers from the mat.
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Language development: Riley was introduced to contextual vocabulary as mama narrates what she is doing. Riley heard “sticky” as she tried to get the sticker off her finger. She heard “pick” and “peel” as she picked at and peeled back each sticker.
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Cognitive development: Riley worked on problem solving skills as she figured out how to pick off each sticker from the mat and remove the stickers from her fingers. Sensory play also increases neural pathways as more senses are involved.
Links to materials
