Pin-punch Constellation Craft

The kids took a day learning about constellations as part of our week on ancient Greek mathematicians and scientists.  After reading some picture books on stars and constellations, we did this fun little craft...  I found some online printables of various constellations and the girls used sewing pins to punch holes in black construction paper..

Montessori Monday - Counting Corners with Pushpins

My kids love pushpin activities - they provide great fine motor practice for the pincer grip used in writing.  Today I switched things up a little by including some shapes cut out from construction paper and inviting L and E (3.5 years old) to use the pushpins to count the corners..

Montessori Monday: Pin Poking on Foil

My kids (3 years old) have never tried Montessori pin poking, which involves tracing a design onto paper and then cutting it out by making small pin holes close together along the outline of the image.  It's great practice for using the pincer-grip and a good exercise in concentration and precision.  I wasn't sure my kids were ready for it yet, so I thought we'd start out with a variation by poking pin holes into tin foil to make pretty patterns.  Here's how we did it...

Playing with Pushpins

Recently, I purchased some inexpensive corkboards and pushpins for the girls to play with.  Since pushpins (or thumbtacks) are sharp and a major choking hazard, I introduced this as a very special activity for "big kids only", supervised the whole time, and made sure we stayed in one place and put every pin back in the box when we were done.  It was a fun, inexpensive activity in creativity and fine-motor skills...