Fine Motor Skills Halloween Game

I loathe bugs. Seriously, anything creepy or crawly just gives me the willies. My good friend Erin, who writes at Love So Munch, says it's a good thing I have girly girls, because a bug-loving boy would be too much for me. There are some bugs I can tolerate though, like toy bugs. I found some great spiders, bugs and snakes last Halloween at the dollar store and the kids love playing with them. I have come up with a number of ways to use them such as in this Spider Invasion Game and this Halloween Invitation to Play. Today I used them in this Fine Motor Skills Halloween Game which is a great exercise for little hands and a fun activity leading up to Halloween.

 

This fine motor skills game requires just a few minutes to set up. Pour a few packages of lentils or other beans into a container. Hide the creepy crawlies in the beans and give your child a clothespin. I showed my daughter how to open and close the clothespin and challenged her to find and pick up all of the bugs.

If your child struggles with fine motor skills this activity will prove challenging for them, but it will be a great way to strengthen those skills. It took my daughter a few tries before she was able to pick up the items using just the clothespin and no hands.

She quickly got the hang of it!

Your child will experiment with whatever clothespin method works best for them. After a while my daughter got tired of just using two fingers and starting using both hands to open and close the clothespin.

I adapted this game for my 6 year old by adding a timer to it. Her fine motor skills are more advanced so she loved the challenge of trying to get all the bugs out in the shortest amount of time.

If you have a bug fan in the house, this fine motor skills game will entertain them while working on important skills. As a bonus, the bugs are fake so the bug averse like me will enjoy it too!

For more Halloween activities check out:

                 Halloween Gak                                             Halloween Math