We made paper plate gingerbread and they really turned out super cute. Not only did the children enjoy making this project but they also got lots of fine motor practice. 

You will need to have:

paper plates (we glued two together)
white yarn
black yarn or pipe cleaner
brown paint
paint brush
scissors
black and pink craft foam or construction paper
white sequins (optional)

The first step is to paint the paper plate brown and let it dry. While the paper plate is drying we cut out two circles from the black craft foam and two from the pink.  You can also use construction or cardstock paper if you do not have craft foam.

We glue the black circles on for the gingerbread eyes and formed a smile shape with a black pipe cleaner and also glued that on (you can substitue black yarn if you do not have pipe cleaners). We then glue a pink circle on each side of the mouth to from the gingerbread cheeks. 

The next step was to apply glue around the edge of the paper plate and press the yarn on to make the gingerbread icing.

We went around the the paper plate twice with the white yarn.  To add an optional sparkle we then pressed white iridescent sequins on the glue as well adding more glue dots if we need them.

You can see a video of this project by clicking below:
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I am running a membership special from now until December 31st!! When you purchase a twelve month membership you will get another twelve months free ... when you purchase a six month membership you will get another six months free. If you already have a membership your membership will be extended. 

click here to see more included activities

click here to join

click here to see more included activities

click here to join

Here are December's number tracing calendars and other calendar items. You can download the patterns from the link below.

december number tracing calendar patterns

The free membership printable this week is scarecrow number match for number identification and fine motor skills. I printed the patterns on cardstock paper and laminate them. I have included both black and white as well as color patterns for this activity so you have a choice of what to print.

I have included numbers 1-30 in this activity. You may want to start with numbers 1-5 or 1-10 for younger children just starting out with learning numbers. I separate the scarecrows from the fall corn and put them in two piles but you can also mix them together.

In this activity children pick a scarecrow and then find the fall corn with the same number and clip them together with a clothespin (we used mini ones). For self-checking have the children clip the two cards back to back so the number is visible on both sides.

You can download the patterns below until November 28th. After that date they will only be available in the member's section which is also where I have added a scarecrow letter match.

scarecrow number match

We are working on fine motor turkey activities this week and I wanted to share them with you. You can use the patterns to trace around on construction paper or cardstock paper. You can also free cut the turkey pieces and glue them together.

Both buttons and pony beads are excellent to use for this activity. Children can place them on the matching color turkey feathers. Because of their size pony beads provide a little more of a challenge for the children to pick up and hold which really helps those fine motor skills.

We also use mini clothespins that the children attach to the turkey feathers. I would recommend laminating the turkey for durability when using buttons ... clothespins ... or the pony beads.

These turkeys also make the cutest fine motor craft projects. We put glue in a small container along with qtips. The children dab glue onto the feathers and then press the sequins on the glue dots.

Children can also cut or tear tissue paper into small squares and scrunch them. They then glue the tissue paper on to the feathers.

You can see a video of all the activities along with how I made the turkey by clicking the image below. The patterns are also located below.

fine motor turkey pattern

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As a thank you to my newsletter subscribes I made turkey puzzles that are available on the newsletter download page. I have sent an email out to subscribers with the link so be sure to check your spam and junk folders if you did not get it. If you are not a newsletter subscriber you can become one here and download exclusive newsletter printables. 

The puzzles come in four ... six ... and eight pieces. I have also included puzzle mats and guides that can be used with them and as usual I have made the puzzles in both black and white and color.

We often use velcro on the back of the puzzle pieces and on the puzzle mats so that they do not slide around. Self-adhesive magnets also work great when doing the puzzles on a metal tray.

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