After spending 6 years in Kindergarten, I knew that when I moved to PreK, one thing I wanted to focus on was fine motor skills. I wanted my kids to be able to work these skills while they thought they were playing. So I did some research of my own, checked out Pinterest, and came up with some Exploration Boxes for my kids to utilize. Here are the steps it takes to make your own.
Getting started was the hardest part of the whole project. I began by going around my classroom and looking to see what we already had that we could use in our boxes. Surprisingly I had a lot of things that I could use. I also had a decent amount of half tubs that I could easily fill with goodies. Once I obtained the other items I needed, I gathered up all my supplies, including the 20 shoe boxes, and laid everything out on the floor. Bucket by bucket, I filled them with fine motor activities.
Pattern Blocks: These are a big hit and you can find various templates online to change up the patterns kids have to create. I change ours out monthly.
Easy Stick Blocks: The kids are obsessed with our Easy Stick Blocks. I thought there was going to be a revolt when I took them out of our Free Choice center tubs!
6-Way Puzzle: My mother-in-law gave me this 6-way puzzle. The kids are struggling to actually put it together right now, but they love stacking them up!
Stringing beads on Pipe Cleaners: The kids either make bracelets or patterns. I love using Pipe Cleaners because they are stiffer and easier to lace.
The favorite bin: Play-Doh. I only have two Play-Doh tubs, and kids have to sit at a table to use them. They also have to use the little vacuum after playing with the Play-Doh. I don't want our custodian to hate us!
Pom-Poms: I gave them the Learning Resources ® Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set, buckets and test tubes to go along with the pom-poms. They sort the pom-poms, create patterns and move them from one bucket to the other.
Magnatiles: My kids love these. They frequently beg me to move these to our free choice centers.
ABC Lacing Cards: My kids can't get enough of the lacing cards. I really like that I can throw a little phonics and letter recognition into the exploration tubs.
Buttons, buttons, who's got the buttons: I put lacing string, and Pipe Cleaners in the bucket. They can lace, string or sort buttons to their heart's content. This is another open-ended exploration tub.
Magnetic Letters: I love having the Magnetic Letters and a cookie sheet together. They practice writing their names, their friends names, the few sight words we have learned and some CVC words they can sound out.
Straws and QTips: The kids enjoy lacing the QTips through the cut-up straws.
Giant Letters: My students love making letters with cookie sheets and Learning Resources ® Learning Essentials Giant Magnetic Letter Construction. They also like making up fake letters.
