Looking for fun Valentines fine motor activities? This little game is a super simple way to work on counting while building hand strength!
We are always looking for fun and creative ways to promote hand strength in kids!
Many kids struggle with simple tasks like buttoning their shirts, opening containers and even handwriting. And one of the main issues that contributes to these challenges is a lack of hand strength. This issue is so significant that we wrote a whole handbook and exercise program on it!
Check out the Hand Strengthening Handbook and the Hand Strengthening Exercise Program!
While every child can, undoubtedly, use some work to improve their hand strength, how do you know when it’s a real problem? There are several things you can look for to help identify whether a child has weak hands (download the free printable and keep it on hand!).
Valentines Fine Motor Activities: Punching Hearts Game
We have found that, while there are tons of great hand strengthening toys made specifically for little hands, the things that keep them the most engaged are usually the tools that we use as adults.
For example, a hole punch! No matter if we are working with kids in our school based practices or at our non-profit, The Treehouse, if we pull out a hole punch, the kids come running and want to try it.
This fun Punching Hearts Game will bring out a child’s competitive side and challenge their visual motor skills while strengthening their little hands.
Once kids have played the game a few times, why not work together to create some homemade Valentine cards for classmates?
What You’ll need:
-A traditional hole punch or, if that’s too challenging, try an easier option like a squeeze punch.
-Printable cards (scroll down to download)
-Printable die
-Two paper hearts (one pink and one red)
-Heart Hole Punch Game video demonstration
What to do:
-Cut out each of the 4 playing cards from the printable.
-Cut out and assemble the die.
-Place a red heart and a pink heart in the middle of the playing surface (we used construction paper to make these).
-Provide each child with one of the heart cards and a hole punch.
-Instruct the children that they will take turns rolling the die on either of the hearts (their choice) in the middle of the table and that they will punch holes in the same color heart on their card that correspond to the number they rolled.
For instance, if they choose to roll the die on the pink heart and they roll a 2, they will punch out 2 of the pink hearts on their playing card.
-The first child to complete their playing card by punching all of the hearts WINS!