Mess for Less

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Fine Motor Activity – Fruit Loop Towers

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Yesterday, I was looking for a quick fine motor activity to do with the girls that would not take much time and not require a big cleanup.  I remembered a fine motor activity I had seen on Sugar and Spice that involved play dough, pasta and cheerios.  Doesn’t that sound yummy?  Okay, so you don’t eat the pasta or the play dough, but you can eat the cereal when you are done. I didn’t have cheerios (what kind of mom am I?) but I did have fruit loops and they worked just as well. My kids were so proud of how high they made their fruit loop towers. For more fun ideas check out 18 Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers.
Fine Motor Activity - These fruit loop towers are a simple way to practice fine motor skills with little ones.

Fruit Loop Towers

You will need:

 

fruit loop towers
I gave each girl a ball of play dough and stuck a piece of uncooked linguine in it.  I then filled some cups with fruit loops (we were out of cheerios and you’ll see why fruit loops may be more fun).  My girls think fruit loops are the biggest treats since they rarely have them, so I decided to make their day.
simple fine motor activity
Have your child try and put each loop onto the piece of pasta.  This requires a great deal of concentration and careful fine motor work.  I was so excited that even B, who is a little weaker on the fine motor side, did this with no trouble.
working on fine motor skills
stacking fruit loops
When they were done they were so excited to see the tower of rainbow colors they had made.  See, if you deprive your kid of fruit loops, you just get a beige tower.  The other plus to using fruit loops is this turned into a color identification activity as B went down her fruit loop tower and named each color.  A (middle name should be Not to be Outdone) did the same thing.  They were so proud of themselves.  I did this activity around snack time so when they were done I just had them eat the fruit loops for snack.  Lazy parenting at it’s best!
fine motor fun

If you liked these Fruit Loop Towers and  are looking more fun ways to engage your kids, I highly recommend KiwiCo. As a former teacher, I was really impressed with the quality of materials found in KiwiCo. Some moms have told me that they want to do activities like I do on Mess For Less with their kids, but they just don’t have to the time to go buy all the supplies and prepare them for the activity. KiwiCo is the perfect solution. Every month your KiwiCo will focus on a particular theme like Colors, Dinosaurs or Gardening. KiwiCo offer a variety of projects ranging from crafts, imaginative play, science experiments and more.

If your enjoyed these Fruit Loop Towers, check out quick and easy activities for toddlers and:
    Fun with Pipe Cleaners
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Vicky

Comments

  3. Thanks for the follow. What amazing ideas you have for activities. I will be sure to keep checking in my kids will love the new activities.

    Reply

  7. Hi thanks for following me from the Blog Hop!! How adorable! This is a wonderful idea and I'm going to tell a few relatives with younger children, I know they will enjoy this idea!!

    Reply

  8. Thanks for following me from the blog hop! I love your blog! I only have a fur baby but when I have kids I would love to do these activities. I plan on visiting your blog often, feel free to stop by mine.

    Brittany
    You, Me & Remy

    Reply

  27. following you back – LOVE your creative ideas – so very doable with stuff we have around the house. Glad to have found your blog. :0)

    Reply

  31. Had I thought of this when my boys were young, they would have eaten more than they stacked!

    Thanks for visiting me at A sEason for All Things. I'm your newest follower. ~ Ellen

    Reply

  33. LOL, brilliant! And I love the fact its also a teaching aid, nothing like a treat to get the kids focused :0) You have such original idea. Love it!

    Reply

  35. This is a great idea!! i love that they can practice fine motor, play with their food and then snack…SUPER FUN! I also love the shaving cream art. I had never heard of that and I am definately going to give it a try.

    Following you back.

    – jenny at dapperhouse

    Reply

  45. Adorable! I miss having my girls this age and doing these things with them. This is a super activity!

    Thanks for stopping in today and leaving a back to school comment. I often thought of having the girls hold a sign for the year of school they were in when I took their early photo but never did it! lol

    Have a super week! xoxo SusieQTpies

    Reply

  48. So cute!! Loved the hanging socks idea 🙂

    I can't believe we also felt it in New York, us east coasters are so not used to these kind of things, so it was scary.

    Coming by to return the love and follow back 🙂

    Reply

  49. hello there, thanks for visiting and being a new follower.
    i like your blog, neat and informative :). i'll try some of your tips, my son has ASD and he need a lot of activities to develop his fine motor skills.

    Reply

  60. What a great idea! Not sure many of them would make it on the noodle at my house though before they were all eaten 🙂 I'm a new follower. Thanks for the sweet comment on my blog.

    Reply

  61. That is a great idea!I don't think we have coloured hoops in England but cheerios would work fine.My little one would love to do this!Thanks for sharing

    Reply

  62. Ooh! I love this one! I have two other little ones coming over tomorrow for a play date with my girls and this will be a perfect activity for all of them to do together!

    Thanks for visiting my site yesterday and for letting me know about yours!

    Reply

  69. Hello there. WOW – so many comments on this post. I'm popping by from Adventures At Home, London UK.
    Love the idea of the fruit loop stacks. We've made edible snack-necklaces before (with one end of elastic attached to the floor with masking tape to stop the 'beads' falling off the end. We've used mini pretzels, Hula Hoops, apple rings – that kind of thing.
    Will try the spaghetti trick now – my two kiddos will love it I'm sure.

    Reply

  71. Thanks for this. I used it tonight in my parent/child signing class to reinforce the signs for "cereal" and "more." The mom there loved it. She's looking forward to using it again with her little girl (she has Downs and spent the activity eating her fruit loops instead of stacking them). 🙂

    Reply

  72. Wow, I really like this one! Thanks to Athena from Columbia Basin Signing Academy for introducing us to your site. We'll definitely be visiting here again soon!

    Reply

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