Color Cut Glue Shark Freebie – Just in Time for Shark Week!

All right, I admit it… I definitely get sucked into the whole shark week thing.  And super ashamed to say that I will be tuning into to see if Michael Phelps beats the shark.  It is all such ridiculous and mindless television but I do enjoy to zone out once in awhile.  Last night, I decided since everyone LOVED the free Spring and Summer Color Cut and Glue projects why not create a shark.  Download your free copy at the end of the post.

This is a simple one page black and white activity to practice coloring, cutting out simple shapes, planning out where to glue the pieces (the trickiest part) and then paste the shapes together to create the shark.  Just print and it is all set to go.

This activity encourages:

• scissor skills practice
• eye hand coordination
• bilateral coordination
• motor planning
• sequencing

So look at that – all in the name of Shark Week and you can have fun practicing those skills.  Haha!  Remember to get your free copy by signing up for our newsletter at the bottom of the post.

Looking for more scissor activities?  Here is a collection of three activity downloads for scissor practice.

If you need more specific information on the development of scissor skills, check out The Scissor Skills Book.  This digital download is a huge resource for anyone who works on scissor skills with children. Written by the Functional Skills for Kids (FSFK) team of 10 pediatric physical and occupational therapists with years of experience in the field, The Scissor Skills Book is the ultimate resource for tips, strategies, suggestions, and information to support scissor skill development in children.

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Homemade Play Dough Recipes and Activity Ideas

Pediatric therapists, parents and teachers use homemade play dough recipes daily. Here is a collection of fun ones from the Internet to explore.

1. Recipes for Sensory Fun: This is a nice 5 page download created by a therapy company to hand out to parents.

2. Nuture Store – Let’s Play with Dough – includes three recipes, suggestions to add to your dough play time and learning activities with play dough.  This would make a great parent handout.

3. Gluten Free Dough Recipes: Anyone who works with or has children on a gluten free diet here is lots of suggested products and recipes.

Need some suggestions and activity ideas to use the clay or play dough? Check out:

1. Creative Clay Activities – Includes the following activities: Animal Charade Cards, Food/ Drink Charade Cards, Snowy Clay, Rainy Clay, Steamroller Clay, Snake in the Woods, Clay Patterns, Clay Scavenger Hunt, Four In A Row and 26 Letter Sheets to promote tactile kinesthetic awareness of letters.

2. Clay Play Mats – This is a collection of 6 clay play mats that encourage: muscle strengthening of the hands, fine motor skills, visual memory,
counting and number identification.

3.  Clay Faces – Free download to create clay faces on templates.

4.  Hedgehog Clay game – directions and pictures to play this fun fine motor game.

5.  Copy the Clay Monsters – Copy these clay monster cards to encourage finger and hand strengthening, visual spatial skills and fine motor skills.

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