How is the weather by you? On our end it has been all over the place! And on those, not-so-nice days, I’ve needed some engaging indoor activities to keep the kiddos from bouncing off the walls! This, easy to set up, Thanksgiving activity is great for fine motor practice and the possibilities are endless!
Thanksgiving Fine Motor Activity
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Materials
- Paper roll (or a large piece of paper)
- Crayons or markers
- scissors
- tape
Set Up
This activity is super easy to set up. All you need to do is cut the paper to your desired length and tape it to the floor! Now, add crayons or markers and invite the kids to join you.
Lets Get Moving!
Now that you are all set up, it’s time to model what you want your kids to do. Modeling is extremely important for your kids. They don’t know the desired outcome unless you show them, right?!
Here is how to model this activity for your kids:
1 Place your hand on the paper and show them how to trace it. Take this step super slow since it is a difficult task for toddlers.
2 Draw a turkey face on your thumb.
3 Color each finger a different color to represent feathers.
4 Color the rest of your hand brown like a turkey’s body.
5 Add some feet, and that’s it!
Now stand back and let the magic happen! Ok, you might need to do a little bit more than that. At first, I helped my kiddos trace their hands and did a little redirecting when the scribbling started. But then, I just let them have at it.
Related: Check out our most popular fine motor activity here!
Not every activity is going to be Art Wall worthy and that’s ok! This was definitely not one of those activities for us. The purpose of this activity was to practice those fine motor skills. Tracing (especially your own hand) is a very difficult skill and one that some of my Kindergarteners struggled with! Every exposure to holding a crayon (or marker) and using it in a controlled fashion helps. And that was our goal going in!
Making it Thanksgiving themed was definitely a bonus. But even if your kiddos simply practice holding their crayons and scribbling or slowly tracing there hands, consider it a win!
As you can probably see, the Thanksgiving theme didn’t last long in our house 😉 My littles were much more interested in tracing hands and scribbling! And that is totally fine with me! They each received a bit of fine motor practice and we got to talk about Thanksgiving. A total win to me!
Adapt it!
Want to make this activity a bit easier or more challenging for your little? Here is what I suggest:
To modify this activity for your younger toddlers, have all of the hands (your hands that is) pre-traced so they can practice coloring and giving the turkeys faces.
For a bit of a challenge, have your sweetie write a word above each turkey. Such as, Thanksgiving, turkey, or they could even write the names of family members to create a turkey family! So many options here!
Now, enjoy this quick and easy Thanksgiving Fine Motor Activity with your kiddos! What holiday themed activities do you turn to when you are cooped up inside?!
For more Thanksgiving fun, check out our Number Recognition Thanksgiving Turkey activity!
