My toddler loves to lace beads on a string. Despite his fierce determination, his fine motor skills are not quite ready for little holes and so he screams, “need help!” at me the entire time. He needs a toddler-friendly lacing activity.
I put together this homemade lacing activity for him. I cut up a paper towel roll for the “beads” and used a large ribbon, the ends of which I cut into points using pinking shears (for easier threading). For good measure I fixed a square of cardboard at one end so the “beads” would not slip off.
Just right for little hands with lofty goals.
**I wish I could have gotten a photo of his efforts, but whenever I bring out the camera New Kid stops what he’s doing and yells, “camera, camera!”
For more fun play activities visit my Giant List of Indoor Activities for Kids.
Christy says
Great idea!
Michelle Willow says
Good thinking! 🙂
Raising a Happy Child says
Nice modification for those little hands!
Ellen says
this is SUCH A GOOD IDEA. i'm thoroughly impressed.
aly in va says
Easy, Quick and Cheap. Love it. I'm afraid my little one may try to ball it all up through….I'll try it and link back to you though 🙂
Kristi@Creative Connections for Kids says
This is great! I just wrote a post on lacing/stringing. If it is OK, I will add this link to the bottom of my post to pass along your activity too. Thanks! Kristi
Scott says
Really great idea! Last year on the “No Time for Flash Cards” blog, they used large plastic napkin rings for lacing, too. (http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2010/02/napkin-ring-necklace.html)
Thanks for the idea.
Mom of Toddlers says
Activity like this is a very good alternative to watching cartoon!
HawaiianLibrarian says
Smart easy to replicate idea! Mahalo for sharing.
Zoe says
I like this ideas:)it's good to do for my kids, thank you.
Anonymous says
I did this for my students (2 year olds) but I had them decorate the “beads” with construction paper and glue, we turned them into necklaces to give to their mommies. It was cute and a great idea considering it was raining all day today
-Alyssa, TX
Mom and Kiddo says
That sounds like a nice variation on the activity. Thanks for the suggestion.