I made some rainbow mats that are great for fine motor activities. Depending how you will use them you can print them out on cardstock paper and laminate them or leave them unlaminated. ​

I've also created a color guide that the children can use to show the order of the rainbow colors. The do not have to use the guide and can just put what colors they want to use on the rainbow mats.

One of the ways we use the mat is with playdough. It's a good idea to laminated the mat so it can be re-used. The children roll out playdough and place it on the rainbow. They can also fill the clouds in.

We also do tissue paper scrunching by applying glue to the rainbow with a q-tip and then putting squares of scrunched tissue paper on. ​

We used the full color mat and put pony beads the same colors of the rainbow for a matching activity.

The children also did q-tip painting by dipping a q-tip in paint and pressing it on the rainbow. All of the ways we used the mats are excellent for fine motor development and the children really enjoyed these activities.

You can see a video of the fine motor rainbow activities by clicking the image below. You can also download the rainbow mat patterns here.

The free membership printable this week is Pot Of Gold Number Cover for number recognition fine motor development. The patterns can be printed on cardstock and laminated depending upon what you will be using for the cover-ups.

I have included circle cover-ups that can be printed out on cardstock paper and laminated. I attach a self-adhesive magnet to the back of the circles to add more weight which prevents the pieces from sliding around too much.

You can also use items such as buttons ... playdough ... paint daubers ... and stickers to cover the numbers with. Make sure to watch the video that I have linked below to see how we use them.

If you do not have paint or bingo daubers you can use paint and round sponge tip brushes. The children seem to like use the brushes more than the paint daubers as they seem to have better control holding them.

You can see a video of this activity by clicking the image above. This activity is currently located in member's section which is also where I have added the pot of gold alphabet cover.

I have made some shamrock fine motor skills learning sheets that include tracing ... pre-writing ... scissor skills ... and coloring. These sheets can be printed out but can also be put on an iPad in programs such as goodnotes ... one note ... note shelf ... and procreate.

The patterns which come in black and white as well as color can be printed on regular paper or cardstock paper. You can use markers ... crayons ...or colored pencils for the tracing and pre-writing.

The app shown here is called procreate which now allows .pdf files to be imported. The other app I use is goodnotes which is the one I prefer because it is easier to use. 

Even though I like goodnotes for tracing and pre-writing procreate is the better app for coloring because it allows children to pick a color and then drag the color into a specific part of the coloring sheet.

You can see a video of the fine motor sheets and how I use them by clicking the image below. You can also download the patterns here.

I made some cute number learning friends for number recognition and review. We use them on bulletin boards ... at group time and as individual learning activities. The patterns can be printed on cardstock and laminated. 

The number learning friends include numbers 0-30 and come in both black and white as well as color. We do a match and clip activity by printing two copies and then having children find the two learning friends with the same number and clip them together.

Another thing we do is attach the learning friends to jumbo craft sticks and have the children do number sequencing with them. We also use them at group time and have a child come up and pick a learning friend and show it to the rest of the group who then say what the number is.

You can make ring books by punching a hole in each learning friend and attaching a book ring. The learning friends can be put in order or out of order and children flip through them and identify the numbers.

You can see a video of these activities by clicking the image above. This activity is currently located in member's section which is also where I have added the alphabet learning friends.

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.