Hellobee

Let your kids enjoy some sensory play and handwriting practice with these DIY figure skater peg dolls!

Ice skating is a classic winter activity, but it’s not always possible to get to an ice rink. And of course, most skaters do well to remain upright, never daring a fancy trick. With the Winter Olympics around the corner, kids are more likely to see figure skaters in sparkling outfits and doing loops, jumps, and turns to impress.

Make a set of peg dolls decorated to look like skaters and then encourage your kids to slide them over the ice. They can make figure 8s, zigzags, and loops, all of which are perfect for pre-writing practice. Not to mention, playing on the frozen ice is a fun sensory element!

There are lots of ways to use this Olympic activity, so let’s get started!

You will need:

Shallow plastic container
Peg doll clothespins
Paint
Paintbrush
Fabric scrap (about 1 x 15 inches)
Embroidery thread and needle
Pompom for hair (optional)
Craft glue

Skating Rink Tracing Patterns PDF

Start by pouring about 1/2 inch of water into the container. For ice that’s a little more clear, use distilled water. Place it in the freezer overnight.

Decide how you want to decorate the peg dolls to look like figure skaters and start painting. You can make these peg dolls for your kids, or let them help with the process. Since ice skating outfits often have some sparkle, I added a coat of glitter paint over the top of mine.

If you’d rather skip the paint, pull out some crayons or markers and your kids can dress up the skaters without the mess!

To make a skirt for one of your skaters, start with a 1 x 15-inch strip of fabric or tulle netting. Thread a needle with a few strands of embroidery floss and tie a large knot about 4 inches from the other end.

Stitch a line of running stitch along one edge of the fabric.

Pull the thread to gather the skirt. Wrap it around the peg doll to determine how much to gather, then tie another knot to hold the gather in place.

Tie the skirt onto your peg doll and add a bit of glue to secure it.

If you want to give your skater a poofy hair bun, glue a pompom to the back of the head. Craft glue will stick, but you do need to hold it in place for a little while as the glue sets up.

Print the skating rink tracing sheets PDF. Pull the ice out of the freezer and place the container on top of one of the tracing sheets.

It’s time for your skaters to take the ice!

Show your child how they can move their figure skater around on the ice, following the lines. Change out the tracing sheet so they can practice other skating routines too!

Of course, all of this ice skating is also working on handwriting movements. For more practice, make your own tracing sheets with your child’s name or letters and numbers they need to work on.

You can also use these sheets and skaters without the ice. Clip them to a clipboard and bring them along for car trips or while sitting in a waiting room.

The sensory part of this activity shows up on the ice. It’s cold and wet, which, for some kids will be delightful while others may not like it at all. And that’s good for both types of kids!

As the figure skaters make their way over the ice, there’s also the sound of the peg dolls scraping the ice. I’ll be honest here, I didn’t love the sound even though it was similar to every other scraping ice noise I’ve heard. That’s just how my own sense of hearing processed it.

If your little one likes the ice, but not the sound of the skating, they could use their fingers to do some quiet skate time too.

After they finish their ice skating, your kids might even want to craft some mini medals for their peg doll Olympians!

Happy crafting!