Do your kids love snap cubes? I don’t know what it is about these little squares of plastic, but the excitement that fills the room when I bring them out is like no other. We have used snap cubes to help with alphabet, numbers, and even CVC words! No matter what the activity, they are a hit every time. The cubes themselves make what we are learning exciting and that alone is motivating for kids! These Valentine’s Day Snap Cube Mats are helpful for motivating kids to strengthen fine motor skills, counting and more.
Learning About Fine Motor Skills
Valentine activities for preschoolers
Providing little fingers opportunities to move and flex prepares them for writing, tying shoes, and cutting with scissors. These Valentine’s day fine motor activities give our kiddos an adorable and hands on way to work those little digits.
Fine motor skills are important to coordinate the little muscles in their fingers and wrists with eye coordination. Practicing these skills will help hands and fingers do daily tasks that are expected of most children.
Along with moving little fingers, these valentines fine motor activities also help develop counting, sorting and phonics skills.
These lovely Valentine’s day activities for preschool can be used in a math center, in small group instruction, and one-on-one with your little love bug.
In addition to learning about fine motor skills for preschool here are some more ideas for what you can teach with the Valentine Snap Cube Mats :
- Identifying letters and letter sounds
- Sorting and classifying colors
- Counting
- More and less
Valentine Snap Cube Picture Mats
What Can Preschoolers Learn Counting?
Valentines day craft math activity
Having preschoolers count and sort are necessary skills for further development. Some great questions you can ask your child when working on the Valentine’s day Snap Cube Mats include:
- Which color cube has the most?
- Which color cube has the least?
- Do any of the cubes have the same number of colors?
- How can we figure out how many cubes there are in all?
Why Is It Important For Kids To Do _______?
Besides the fact that kids love arts and crafts projects, there are so many other reasons you should do art and craft activities with your child.
Page Turners
As a mom I am always reading that SAME book to my children night after night. They know exactly when to turn the page to continue the story. Practicing fine motor skills is essential in being able to turn pages in their favorite book.
Let’s Eat!
We know how much our kiddos love snacks! Crackers, cheese, cookies, apples, you name it! Fine motor skills gives your child the ability to pick up those snacks and enjoy them. These skills are also necessary for holding utensils.
Dressing Up and Down
Zippers, buttons, snaps, and ties. Your little one will need to advance their fine motors skills in order to properly dress, and undress themselves.
Writing All Around
Once your child knows how to write their name, they will want to write it ALL the time! Give them the skills they need to grasp a pencil or crayon by utilizing fine motor practice activities such as the Valentine’s day snap cube mats.
More Crafting Inspiration:
Create a full maker space for these awesome crafts!
Keep your craft supplies stocked and these inspirational books and craft kits on hand for that moment when inspiration hits!
Easy Product Displays Products herePlease note: These mats do require 2 sets of snap cubes because some mats use 20 of a color.
Materials needed for Valentine’s Fine Motor Snap Cube Mats:
Get the Supplies Here:
Don’t worry about making a special trip to the store. You can get all the supplies for this activity right here.
- Paper
- Laminator
- Laminating Sheets
- Dry Erase Pouches
- Snap Cubes or Math Link Cubes
Expo 80078 Low Odor Dry Erase Markers, Chisel Tip, Assorted Colors, 1 Pack with 8 Markers, Total of 8 MarkersClipco Dry Erase Pocket Sleeves Assorted Colors (6-Pack)
Learning Resources Snap Cubes
How To Use The Valentine’s Day Snap Cube Mats
vALENTINES dAY FINE MOTOR ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS
This is another one of my favorite types of activities. Once you prep it once, you are prepped for life. You can use it over and over. On demand even!
The first step to getting this activity ready is to print out each of the mats. There are ten all together. The designs are all Valentine’s Day related including a chocolate dipped strawberry, diamond ring, various hearts, flower and more! What a great way to celebrate Valentine’s day!
These can be printed back to back if you are prepping for your home. If you are prepping for a classroom, I would suggest doing each one on a separate page. These are the perfect preschool valentine fine motor activities.
The next step is to protect the sheets. Depending on the activity, I either laminate or use a dry erase pouch. If you plan to use these mats over and over, laminating might be the best idea. If you aren’t sure, dry erase pouches are my favorite.
Grab your snap cubes and get ready to play!
The first step to playing can be to trace the letter with a dry erase marker.
The letter on each mat is the first letter of the word written and the picture.
The next step is to fill in the picture by snapping together the cubes. If you are using the Math Link Cubes, you can have children place them on the corresponding colored square. The squares of the picture are color coordinated. Use the cubes to create the picture.
When the picture is formed, the next step is to sort or count the colors. An easier way to sort and count is to pull the snap cubes off of the picture. Sort them by color, then count each cube for the first color. Write that on the space provided on the bottom of the mat. Move on to the next color and so on.
A more challenging way would be to count the cubes of each color while on the mat and write them in the designated areas.
Repeat the process with each picture and mat.
Other Ways To Use The Fine Motor Activity For Valentine’s Day:
Tweeze It!
Fill a bowl with the plastic snap cubes and have students use tweezers for an additional finger workout.
Going Off The Grid
Have the children create the picture using the cubes OFF of the mats. This will create quite a challenge!
Play Dough Letters
Instead of using a dry erase marker to trace the letter, give your child playdough to create lines and shapes to make the letter.
Our Favorite Valentine Books For Preschool:
We can’t live without these!
Once your child’s creativity is sparked with this fun activity, take it a step further with these engaging resources:
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This Is Not a Valentine: (Valentines Day Gift for Kids, Children’s Holiday Books)
Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink (Gilbert the Opossum)Little Blue Truck’s ValentineThe Dinosaurs Valentine’s Day: Picture Book For Preschoolers & Toddlers. Ideal for ages 2-6.Amelia Bedelia’s First ValentinePete the Cat: Valentine’s Day Is CoolLittle Critter: Happy Valentine’s Day, Little Critter!I’ll Love You Till the Cows Come HomeI Love You and Cheese Pizza: A story about the meaning of love (Pig In Jeans)The Berenstain Bears’ Valentine Blessings (Berenstain Bears/Living Lights: A Faith Story)Valentine’s Day Jitters (The Jitters Book 6)The Invisible String (The Invisible String, 1)How Many Do I Love You? A Valentine Counting Padded Picture Board Book, Ages 1-5 (Padded Picture Book)There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose!Love, Splat (Splat the Cat)Love MonsterA Little SPOT of Love on Valentine’s Day
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