Our focus has been on the letter H in our learning unit. We have discussed how H is for Habitat and H is for Helicopter so far in our unit. We also spent some time building our fine motor skills with H is for Hearts.
We worked on a lace-up page full of hearts. My preschooler enjoyed pushing and pulling the needle and thread, as she followed the alphabet around each heart. She enjoyed how each letter H got a little bow. Lacing up three hearts took a bit of time, but she was very proud of herself when she was finished.
Objective: To help children build their fine motor skills necessary for writing.
Materials:
1 sewing needle for each child
1 copy of the printable, H is for Hearts, for each child – have the lace up page printed on cardstock or stiffer paper. The printable contains two pages – the lace up page, and then the handwriting practice page.
18 inches of curling ribbon or other thin ribbon.
Preparation:
Thread each needle, and tie a knot at the end of the ribbon prior to beginning this activity.
Method:
*This activity uses needles, so make sure the children are closely supervised in order to avoid accidents.
Start by making sure each child is working with the lace up page. Show the children where the starting letter – A – is on the largest heart. Have them poke the through the letter A from the back of the paper. This allows the knot to be on the backside of the paper.
After the children have pulled all the ribbon through to the top of the paper, tape the knot in place to further secure the ribbon.
Now, have the children poke the needle from the front of the paper to the back through the letter B.
Have the children continue poking the needle and pulling the ribbon through all the letters in the heart shape. Be sure to help the children to remember to alternate the direction they poke the needle through the paper. It should work something like this: bottom to top, top to bottom, bottom to top, top to bottom, etc.
When the children get to the letter H, tie a bow in the ribbon over the letter. Or, mark the letter in some way so that the letter is highlighted. A small bead could be threaded on to the ribbon or a small sticker placed on the page. This will help the children learn what the letter H looks like and makes the lace up activity a bit more special.
Once the largest heart is laced up, have the children start on the next heart – repeating the process. Starting with the largest heart gives the children the most space in which to manipulate the needle and thread. As each heart decreases in size, the fine motor skills necessary to complete the activity increases in difficulty.
After all the hearts are finished, hand out the handwriting worksheet. Help the students form the letter H a few times, and then let them practice on their own.
