Hellobee

Developing fine motor skills in preschool aged children is so important. Fine motor skills are critical for writing, drawing, and cutting, as well as for other simpler tasks like buttoning buttons or playing with small Legos. While fine motor skills certainly develop naturally any time you use the small muscles in your hands and fingers, there is no harm in adding in a little extra practice, especially when it’s fun!

One of my favorite activities to help young children develop and strengthen fine motor skills is creating pudding bags! They’re super easy to make/do and always a hit with the little ones.

Here’s what you’ll need:

*a gallon-sized zipper bag
*some pudding (any flavor will do!)
*some painters tape

Step 1 – Pour the pudding into the bag. We had pudding cups and one cup was plenty. I’d say it was about 3/4 of an actual measured cup of pudding.

Step 2 – Squeeze out as much air as you can, tape the bag down with painters tape and smush the pudding around to give you a “work space.”

Step 3 – “Draw” on the bag! The more pressure you apply, the better for your muscles and the better to see your work! We started out with letters and shapes and then just moved on to drawing. I believe Lil’ CB is working on a portrait of me in that last snap.

Here’s the best part. Once your little one is finished drawing, you can squeeze out the pudding and eat it up! YUM!

For other variations, you can also make bags with paint or hair gel — just don’t eat it. And for extra festive bags, add glitter! Again, just don’t eat it.