fine motor skills

I was trying to read up more on how to encourage the development of fine motor skills in toddlers, as I had tried almost all the activities I had short-listed in my previous read about six months ago...

...when coincidentally Tharini had posted a list of rainy day activities, and I zeroed in on the first one she had listed there.

Ana already does a lot of dressing and undressing of her dolls. She loves to scribble and color with her crayons - just chicken scratches basically, but, she likes to hold the crayons and markers and pretend to draw in her notebook, loves to play with her home-made play dough...and, at her daycare, they do a lot of fill-and-dump, stack-the-blocks and such activities..

Plus I made a little toy snake of sorts to help her learn the basic fastening techniques of zipper, velcro™, buttons, lace and snaps as a birthday present.

This toy is not an original idea, obviously, but, D was keen on getting something like this for her and instead of store-bought (and sturdy, child-safe) one, I figured this snake toy would be my gift for Ana's first birthday... Besides, D and I are of DIY stock (Do-It-Yourself)... And, this snake toy has lasted a whole year now and it is still holding up well and keeping Ana interested :-)



But, the cut-out sewing activity that Tharini had listed caught my attention and was itching my crafting skin badly, so, I decided to make a couple at home just as a trial.

I used simple craft foam sheets, permanent markers and single-hole punch. Rather than perfection, I was going for a rustic look. (OK, I admit it, my drawing skills are not as good as my cooking skills). So here it is...



The needle I am using is the standard yarn needle which is blunt and has a large eye. I also have plastic yarn needle but am sure the little baby of mine is strong enough to break it - she bites into plastic spoons and breaks them, so, I decided to stay with metal blunt yarn needle which is large as well... and not that I am planning to leave her unsupervised with it either.

I haven't managed to get a picture of Ana trying to "sew" the pig and the fish, but, when I do, I would love to update this post...