Fine Motor Play: Pompom Bin

After a long winter we're craving colour. Here's a bright and cheery fine motor activity for toddlers or preschoolers. Perfect for those chilly March days while we wait for colour to return outside our windows.

For this pompom bin I raided my craft stash for as many pom poms as I could find. Then I took a quick look around my kitchen for tools and containers that would either allow for transferring and sorting or that would provide a fine motor challenge for the kids (age 3). I chose measuring spoons, small kitchen tongs, an ice cube tray, a tea strainer and a coffee creamer container.

There are many playful ways to learn with this simple activity. Toddlers can work on colour recognition and preschoolers can sort the pomspoms by size and or colour, create patterns, and practice the concept of one-to-one correspondence, all the while strengthening their hands and fingers and developing dexterity.

We've had our pompom bin out for a week and the kids have returned to it for a few minutes here and there on a daily basis. Not bad for only a minute of preparation on my part!