What is a fun fine motor game that will be fun for Halloween and for Thanksgiving?
If you are looking to do a fun activity/craft with your kids and want it to be Halloween themed, this post is the post for you! This paper leaf craft is a great way to practice fine motor skills with your kids is an activity you can keep up even after Halloween is over.
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What you Need
- Empty paper towel tube
- Playdough (for keeping the tube in place)
- Popsicle Sticks
- Fabric Leaves (can also be found at the dollar store)
- Scissors
- White Felt and Permanent Marker (for the Halloween twist)
Instructions
Start by making several slits in the empty paper towel tube that are big enough for a popsicle stick to fit through. Basically you want it to look like tree branches coming out of a tree trunk.
Once you have enough slits for however many branches you want, put the popsicle sticks into the slits so that you have a nice “tree” with empty branches.
Next, cut small slits in the leaves. Make sure the slits are big enough that the leaf will fit onto a popsicle stick.
If you want to play this game with a Halloween twist, cut out a bunch of ghost shapes from white felt and draw a face on with permanent marker. Cut a slit in each ghost so that it can fit on a popsicle stick.
To set up the game, put the paper towel tube into some playdough so that it will stand up and stay in place. Put the leaves (and the ghosts if you made them) in a bowl. Now get your kids and tell them that they will be putting leaves on this bare “tree.” Let your kids put leaves and ghosts on the tree.
Once Halloween is over, you can keep the tree up still but take off all the ghosts. In November you can teach your kids about how leaves fall off trees in the fall, then each day they can take one leaf off of the “tree” and when there are no leaves left, it will be Thanksgiving!
This activity is great because it has a fun Halloween twist, it really gets kids to practice fine motor skills as they put the leaves onto the popsicle sticks, plus it will end up being a countdown to Thanksgiving!