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July 18, 2019

Organizing Fine Motor Activities

Ok, so have you seen the infamous rolling metal cart floating around social media? I know, I know…I said I wasn’t going to do it, but I just couldn’t resist! They are so good and can be used for so many different things.  Today, I’m going to show you how I’m using mine from Oriental Trading as a Fine Motor Cart.

post contains affiliate links

Before I get carried away I want to show you where everything on the cart is from.

A La Cart (Oriental Trading) // labels and numbers (free download) // gold bins (Dollar Tree), I spray painted them gold to match the wheels on the cart – you can find a tutorial on how to do that HERE // magnetic succulents (Target in the home decor area) // pocket organizer on the side (Oriental Trading) // A La Cart Divider (Oriental Trading) // A La Cart Hooks (Oriental Trading) 

A La Cart Large Storage Cup (Oriental Trading) // magnetic storage pocket (Oriental Trading) 

I am so excited to use this for fine motor organization as well as a management system.

Here’s my plan: Each day during our fine motor time, my little guy will spin the spinner on the Fine Motor Spin and Play (free download here) to see which activity bin he will work on.  

If I were using this system in a classroom, then I would use a pocket chart system to show students which number activity bin they will work in along with who their partner would be. Here’s an example:

The pocket chart numbers are a free download here.

Ok, so let’s take a look at what type of fine motor activities are in the different bins.

Let’s say my little guy spins the spinner and lands on 1, then he will grab bin number 1 and complete the building block letter mats inside. Everything he needs to complete that particular fine motor activity is all housed inside the bin. For example, this one focuses on building with blocks.

Again, if you’re using this in the classroom with multiple students then the students find their name on the chart and grab the bin number that matches the number beside their name.

You can find several other fine motor mats here. You definitely don’t have to use fine motor mat activities all the time inside of your bins. Here are a few other things we will be incorporating into the bins, too: cutting and busy boards

For cutting, place straws of different sizes in the bin and play dough. Kids can cut the straws to practice cutting skills (and hand strengthening) and roll the play dough in a worm shape and practice cutting that way, too. The busy boards are great for coordination and hand strengthening. I found the top busy board here and the lock one is Melissa and Doug from Target.

I hope this post helps give you and idea of how to use the A La Cart for fine motor organizing!

Filed Under: fine motor

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