A fun way to strengthen hands and fingers is by introducing a fine motor threading activity to your preschoolers. I’ve shared how we’ve threaded macaroni to make a rainbow necklace, and how we’ve introduced a plastic sewing needle when threading small pasta. However, some young children’s fingers might not be strong enough for those threading activities, so we like to start with pipe cleaner threading. We came up with an easy way to make your own simple threading board!
Fine Motor Threading Activity
What you will need: A piece of styrofoam (Since I am not a fan of styrofoam, I would never purchase it just for an activity. I only use recycled styrofoam that was part of packaging, that I would have needed to recycle anyways.) Chenille Stems Anything you want to thread onto the pipe cleaners Assembling the fine motor board: Cut the chenille stems to desired length and poke into the styrofoam. Yes, it’s that easy.
As we started exploring our new threading board, we helped them by holding onto the chenille stem while they threaded the beads.
Then, we showed them how to use their helper hand (non-dominant) to hold the chenille stem while their work hand (dominant) pushed the beads through the chenille stem.
Variations: For younger children, use larger items to thread. We had some larger pieces from a stacking toy that we used. Find items that can be threaded through pipe cleaners. Here is my Privacy Policy
