ALL ABOARD! Add this simple train craft for kids to your arsenal of fine motor activities to give kids some great practice with grasping and visual motor integration.
The best part? You may just have all the supplies you need right in your pantry!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED: Lasagna noodles (the flat, no-boil kind work best), spaghetti or linguine noodles, rotini noodles, wagon wheel noodles
WHAT TO DO:
First, show your child how to break the lasagna noodles into smaller rectangles for the engine and boxcars. They’ll be a little jagged and irregular, but it will give the project some character! :) Glue these rectangles in a line to make your train and use a couple of smaller pieces to make the smokestack and window on your engine. Next have the child glue the wagon wheel noodles along the bottom of his boxcars and engine. Then, help your child use the linguine or spaghetti noodles to make his train track (he’ll need to break some of the noodles to make the railroad ties). Finally, he’ll glue the rotini above the smokestack of his engine to look like steam!
HOW TO CHANGE IT UP:
-Breaking the noodles into the right sizes and shapes can be hard for smaller kids. You may want to do this ahead of time and place each type of pasta in its own separate bowl for your child to choose from.
-Have your child draw other details on the page – a train station, a city, a bridge, other scenery – get creative!
SKILL AREAS ADDRESSED: Fine motor skills, grasp, visual motor integration, bilateral coordination
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