Play Learning Tuesday: 3 nimble fingers Halloween play activities

For this month's first Play Learning Tuesday, AA is the star. I've put together three play activities for little nimble fingers, meant to help him in his motor skills. The activities have a little touch of creepy orange or black or green, to keep with the spirit of Halloween.

Toilet roll cactus

First up, a toilet roll cactus. The materials are awefully simple.

Toilet rolls

Straws, cut into different lengths

Orange crayon or paint

Cut holes randomly in the toilet rolls, then colour it orange.

Ok, so cactus is not exactly Halloween material, but it's coloured orange so it counts, doesn't it? Well, it made no difference to AA. He tackled the activity with a feistiness that told me 'mum, I'm good at this.', and yes, he was. It made him work on his focus and concentration, as he had to aim the straws to fit into the holes.

Feed the pumpkin

Now this is more Halloween, featuring a pumpkin. Here, the materials needed are:

Plastic bowl with lid (I used a takeaway bowl)

Recycled cardboard or orange paper, cut into a circle

Orange crayon or paint to colour the cardboard

Black marker

Glue

Coloured pom poms

I recycled a cardboard from an old cereal box, then colored it orange and used a black marker to draw the eyes. I also cut out a mouth from the cardboard, and a similarly-sized one from the plastic lid. Then I pasted the cardboard on the lid, making sure the mouths match. If you are using paper, it's just a matter of cutting, no colouring is needed.

Gather some coloured pom poms - I chose Halloween colours of orange, green, black and white - and this nimble finger activity is ready to be played. See how determined AA is with 'feeding' the pumpkin? He really likes it, saying 'again, again' after each round.

Egg carton black worm

This creepy crawly is made using:

Recycled egg cartons

Green string or yarn (I used a green shoe lace. White string or yarn can also be painted green)

Black paint

Hole puncher

First punch holes on opposite sides of each egg carton, then paint them black. After that, it's just a matter of stringing them together using the green yarn, to practice 'threading'. A knot can be tied to one end of the yarn and google eyes added to the other end to transform simple egg cartons into a wriggly worm that can be dragged around.

Have a happy Halloween!!

*****

What is Play Learning Tuesday?

Play Learning Tuesday is a bi-weekly linky hosted by Toddly Mummy where bloggers are invited to share their child-friendly play, learning and craft activities. Taking part for the first time? You might like to read the guidelines here first.