Ocean Themed Fine Motor Activity for Preschoolers

Those of you who have been around awhile know that I strive to the Queen of Simple. Activities that are easy to put together, accomplish lots of skills  at once, do the laundry for me… A girl can wish, right? So maybe I haven’t found a magic way to get my laundry done, but I do have a new easy-prep activity for you! This ocean themed fine motor activity for coloring sorting and threading practice is SO easy to put together. I mean, 30 seconds and it’s ready kind of easy. I kind of feel weird writing a post about something so easy…

Materials needed for Ocean Themed Fine-Motor Activities:

Ocean beads

Pipe cleaners in colors to match the beads

Tray

Zip top bag

How do you prep it:

Put the beads and pipe cleaners on the tray.

Hand to your child.

Seriously, that’s it. 

And when you are done, use the zip top bag to keep it all together for another day.

Ok, so what is the benefit of an activity that is so easy to put together?

For mom:

It’s a sanity saver. I have been known to put one of these in my purse and give Shiloh one pipe cleaner and hand her one bead at a time to get her to sit still for more than 2 minutes during church.

You can also use it to keep a little one busy while you do school with the older kids. (Of course, they still need supervision. This activity is not good for kids who still put things in their mouths.)

For the child:

Great for teaching the pincer grasp. It builds vital muscle coordination that is necessary for writing.

Hand-eye coordination. Let’s be honest, it’s hard work for a little one to get the pipe cleaner into those holes! That’s a big skill for them!

You can also use it to match & sort colors. Have your child put all of one color on a matching pipe cleaner.

Build patterns, demonstrate an ABAB pattern by alternating colors.

Sort by type of bead. Put each animal on a separate pipe cleaner.

Lots of great skills to build with an activity that you can definitely put together even when life is super crazy!

Planning for an Ocean Theme? We’ve done all the work for you!

We now have interactive thematic lesson plans for toddlers (18-35 months) AND preschoolers (3-5 years)! Get ready for fun and learning with unit lesson plans for your OCEAN THEME. Explore a variety of themed hands-on activities! Easy to follow lesson plans include activity modifications and adaptations to meet the needs of all learners. For more information, click on the graphics below:

Get some free ocean themed puzzles for making 10 here: