We made coffee filter hearts recently for an early learning craft project. They are really easy to make and turn out very colorful and look beautiful hung in windows.

You will need to have coffee filters ... paint daubers or markers ... and a spray bottle filled with water. We just used a small individual size bottle.

Children can free cut the hearts but I have also included a heart pattern that can be used as a cutting guide. The pattern can be printed on cardstock paper ... I printed it on color cardstock to make it easier to see. I folder the heart in half and also the coffee filter and then put the coffee filter inside the heart and cut around the heart pattern.

You will need to put something under the coffee filter before painting is started as the paint will soak through the filter. Children dab paint daubers  on the filter and then spray water over the paint. The paint will spread and blend. Let hearts dry before hanging. You can grab the patterns here and see a video of this project below.

I made a Heart Letter Cover for letter recognition and fine motor development. The patterns can be printed on cardstock or regular paper depending how you will be using them.

In this activity children pick a heart and then cover up the same letter on the mat. You can use playdough ... buttons ... or the cover-ups I have included with the mats.

In addition to the letter cover mats I have also include letter dab ... letter color ... and letter tracing sheets. We used round sponge brushes dipped in paint for the letter dab but you can also use bingo daubers. Crayons and colored pencils work great for the letter color and we also used colored pencils for the letter tracing sheets.

You can watch a video of this activity by clicking the image below. This activity is currently located in member's section which is also where I have added heart punch and clip.

We are working on our winter theme and I made a snowman letter tracing activity for letter recognition and fine motor development. I printed the patterns on cardstock and then laminated them for durability.

Children trace the letters with their fingers first and then with a washable marker. If you do not laminate the letter tracers you can use pencils as well as markers. Q-tips that the children dip in paint also work well for the children to trace over the letters.

You can watch a video of this activity by clicking the image below. This activity is currently located in the member's section which is also where I have added Snowman Fine Motor Dots ... Scissor Skills ... and Pre-Writing Cards.

I made Gingerbread Roll and Cover for early learning math skills and fine motor development. I printed the patterns on cardstock paper and then laminated them for durability.

You will need to have a dice and something to use as cover-ups on the mats. We used buttons but you can also use pom poms or playdough. I made three different types of mats ... one with blank circles ... one with numbers 1-6 ...  and another with numbers 2-12.

In this activity children roll the dice and cover up the same number of circles on the mat if using the blank mat. Children continue to roll the dice and cover the circles until all circles have been covered. Once the mat is full children can then roll the dice and remove the same number of cover-ups that is on the dice. 

For the numbered mats children roll the dice and cover up the same number on the mats. For the mat with numbers 2-12 children roll two dice and add the two together and then cover up the number on the mat.

​You watch video of this activity by clicking the image below. As of 2022 this activity can be found in the member's section.

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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I made Turkey Number Punch Cards for number recognition and fine motor development. I printed the patterns on cardstock paper and cut them out. I then laminated them for durability.

The patterns come in both black and white as well as color. Children use a hole punch and punch the dot under the correct number that matches the number on the turkey.

You can also clip clothespins on the turkey cards. We use mini clothespins but the activity still works the same with regular sized ones. Another things you can do is apply glue to the correct dot and place a sequin on that dot.

The cards also make great poke cards. Simply punch a hole on all three dots and flip the card over and make a circle around the correct dot. Children use a poker (we use a golf tee) an put it through the hole they think is a match and then they flip the card over to see if they are correct.

Using the cards with hots dots is also a favorite activity. Apply the cold dots to the incorrect matches and the hot dot to the correct one. Children then use a hot dots pen and press the tip to the hot dot.

You can watch a video of this activity by clicking on the image below. ​As of 2022 this activity can be found in the member's section.