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Santa Themed Cutting Practice

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Learning to cut lines with scissors is a great fine-motor activity that sets kids up to have the hand control needed for writing.

This Santa-themed cutting line activity from Cinta + Co. is a great seasonal way to practice cutting straight and wavy lines.

It’s really easy to make with materials you already have on hand — you don’t even have to print anything! — and kids will have fun practicing cutting their way up to Santa. (This would also make a cute bookmark if you don’t use it for cutting practice.)

Head to Cinta + Co. for instructions!

[Photo: Cinta + Co.]

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Pumpkin Sensory Activities

When my daughter was younger, she loved to play with the insides of the pumpkin when it was time to carve the jack o’lantern. In the years since she’s decided the inside of a pumpkin smells bad, but playing with pumpkin guts is a classic sensory activity that kids of all ages generally love.

Here are some more fun and easy pumpkin sensory activities to do at home or in the classroom, with real pumpkins or just pumpkin smells and colors.

Let’s start with a collection of pumpkin sensory activities using real pumpkins from Everyday Chaos and Calm. From pumpkin washing to hammering to painting, there are lots of fun ideas here (and this delves into pumpkin STEM activities as well).

If you have a kid who likes to play with pumpkin guts, you can take the slimy sensory factor up even further by making pumpkin slime that includes pumpkin guts. You can even mix it up in a pumpkin! Get the recipe from Little Bins for Little Hands.

If you’d rather have a slime that’s not quite so slimy, you can try this pumpkin spice slime from Sunshine Whispers.

How about pumpkin spice playdough? (I made some of this years ago when my daughter was in her playdough phase, and ti smells so good!) Another recipe is from Natural Beach Living, and this is a sensory activity you can use throughout the fall all the way through Thanksgiving.

And while we’re on the classic sensory substances, why not make some pumpkin scented moon sand, too? This recipe is made with pumpkin puree so it’s actually taste safe for those kiddos who always put everything in their mouths. You can get the recipe from Parenting Chaos.

For a different kind of sensory experience, try this pumpkin sensory matching activity from I Can Teach My Child. Just load fun things into orange balloons and see if kids can touch their way to matches. Or just do different sensory balloons for the classroom without the matching activity.

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