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.

We made tissue paper hearts which is a really great craft project for working on fine motor and scissor skills.  You will need the heart pattern ... tissue paper ... scissors ... glue ... and sequins.

The first step is to print the pattern on cardstock paper and cut it out. Next cut or tear tissue paper into small squares.  Apply glue drops to the inside of the heart and press on the tissue paper squares.

If some of the tissue paper hangs over the heart you can cut off the extra. The last part is to apply glue drops on the tissue paper and press on the sequins. You do not have to add sequins but they are wonderful for fine motor development and also add a nice sparkle to the hearts.
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I made penguin cutting strips for scissor skills and fine motor development. I printed the patterns on cardstock paper but you can also use regular paper. There are two cutting strips per page.

The patterns come in both black and white as well as color. They also include solid lines and dashed lines. There are straight lines ... curved lines ... and jagged lines.

In this activity children pick a cutting strips and cut along the lines. You can download the patterns below:

penguin cutting strips pattern

I made a Penguin Match and Munch for letter and number recognition. I printed the penguin and fish patterns on cardstock paper and the recording sheets on regular paper. I have included both letter and number bones and recording sheets.

I used an exacto knife to cut out the rectangle from the penguin's body. I placed cardboard under the penguin to protect my work surface. I then took an empty box of tissues (I used the long box) and cut the opening to the width of the penguin's rectangle.

​I put self-adhesive velcro dots on the back of the penguin and then put the other half of the velcro set on top of the first set making sure the sticky side was facing up. I then pressed the penguin on the box where it aligned with the opening.

In this activity children pick a letter or number fish and cover up the same letter or number on the recording sheet and then place the fish in the penguin box. If you are not using the recording sheet children would just pick a fish and verbally say the letter or number on the fish before putting it into the penguin box.

This activity is currently located in the member's section which is also where I have added a penguin color match.

You can check out video shorts for both of the penguin activities:

I made a mitten shape matching activity for fine motor skills and shape identification. I printed the patterns on cardstock paper ... cut them out and then laminated them for durability.

I separated the mittens into right hand and left hand piles and then mixed the mittens up in each pile. The patterns include both black and white as well as color and come with single shapes ... double same and double different shapes.

In this activity the children picked a mitten and then found the mitten with the same shape on it. They then clipped the two mittens together with mini clothespins. You don't have to do this as a clipping activity ... the children can just place the matching mittens on top of each other.

You can download the patterns below for free.

​mitten shape match and clip patterns

I made a Snowman Color Matching activity which is great for color identification and fine motor skills development. I printed the patterns on cardstock paper ... cut them out and then laminated them.

There are twelve colors for the children to match and the patterns come in black and white ... part color ... and full color. You also have a choice of the snowman with or without color words on them.

You can use a variety of items the color matching objects such as pom poms ... playdough ... or the included color squares. We used one inch buttons that worked perfectly for this activity because they came in all the colors I needed. You can find the buttons I used here. No matter what items you use please remember to use close supervision with children three while using small objects.

This activity is currently located in the member's section which is also where I have added the snowman pick and cover mats.