11/18/2025
🦃 GOBBLE GOBBLE! THANKSGIVING FINE MOTOR FUN! 🦃
What You’ll Need:
•An empty box (Amazon, Cheez-Its, Cereal, etc.)
•Brown construction paper
•Colored pipe cleaners
•Colored beads (that match the pipe cleaners)
•Markers
•Small Containers
How To:
•Cover your box in brown construction paper
•Poke the corresponding number of holes in the top to the number of pipe cleaners that you have
•Draw a turkey face on the front of the box
•Put one pipe cleaner into each hole
Ways to Play:
1. Sort colored beads by color into individual containers. Then, have child use pincer grasp to place beads onto pipe cleaners one at a time, using one hand to stabilize pipe cleaner, and one hand to put the bead on.
**works on pincer grasp, counting, color matching, bilateral coordination**
2. Put all beads into a bowl together. Have child sort beads into individual containers by color. Then, have them use pincer grasp to pick up one at a time and place onto pipe cleaners.
**works on raking grasp, pincer grasp, color matching, bilateral coordination, and counting.**
✨Add in a dice to either of the above activities to add an extra component for your child to work on with number identifying and counting.
✨Have your child pick up one bead at a time, hold in palm, pick up another bead, transfer to palm, and continue for 3-5 repetitions. Then have them use fine motor skills to “walk” out one bead at a time to their finger tips from their palm to then place on matching pipe cleaner. This will add additional fine motor components of supination and pronation of forearm, and finger to palm and palm to finger translation, as well as shifting across fingertips.
✨Do this seated at a table, on their belly, in side sitting, bending down to pick up bead and then back up to table to place on pipe cleaner to provide change in positioning, etc.
✨If you are using activity with multiple children, could have a “race” to see who can put their beads on their designated pipe cleaner the fastest.
A fun activity for before bed, during Thanksgiving break, or even to break out at the Thanksgiving gatherings! Enjoy! Let me know if you have any questions.