Kinetic Sand Rainbow Activity for Preschoolers

Looking for rainbow fine motor activities? Try this kinetic sand rainbow activity. It's perfect for toddlers and preschoolers!

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If you've been searching for a simple preschool rainbow activity, then you've got to give this kinetic sand rainbow idea a try. It's quick and simple to set up, but it also checks a lot of boxes when it comes to different skills.

For instance, it's a great activity for toddlers and preschoolers to work on fine motor skills. It also targets color names, as well as the order of the colors of the rainbow. This activity also provides some sensory input between the sand and the fluffy pipe cleaners.

So let's take a closer look at what you'll need for this kinetic sand rainbow activity and get building a rainbow!

What You'll Need for this Preschool Rainbow Activity

Similar to other kinetic sand activities that you can find on my blog, you won't need much in terms of materials. So this fine motor rainbow activity is a simple low prep activity. You can set it up for your toddlers or preschoolers in just mere minutes.

I set this kinetic sand activity up for three year old K using:

• Kinetic sand - Rolled and compacted into two medium sized balls.

• Pipe cleaners - One for each color of the rainbow.

I placed the two balls of kinetic sand about 4-6 inches apart with the pipe cleaners in between, like so:

This Kinetic Sand Rainbow Activity for Preschoolers is Great for Building Fine Motor Skills

Like I mentioned earlier, not only is this activity great for working on fine motor skills, but it's a great way to work on the order of the colors of the rainbow. I mean it is a rainbow activity after all!

So I was curious if my three year old, K, would put the pipe cleaners in rainbow color order or not. 

Well, he certainly did! With no prompting or help from me, K assembled a perfect little rainbow, naming the colors as he pushed the pipe cleaners into the kinetic sand.

"Orange..."

"Green..."

"Blue..."

And the rainbow is complete!

It was so pretty while it lasted because shortly after this picture was taken, K smashed this rainbow to pieces (in typical little kid fashion)...But hey, it was educational while it lasted I guess. And he was having fun with the materials as he saw fit so I call it a win.

Anyway, this kinetic sand rainbow activity is part of the Fine Motor Series and includes these other fun fine motor activities:

Silly Simple Cutting Practice Activity from Lalymom

Shape Sorting Sensory Invitation to Play from Stir the Wonder

Valentine's Day Fine Motor Activity

A simple Valentine's fine motor activity for toddlers and preschoolers.

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For as long as I can remember, my youngest son has been interested in tools that encourage fine motor development, namely scissors, wooden clothespins, and paper punches.

As a young toddler, he would spend countless hours just cutting and punching out paper. Or clipping clothespins to different objects.

Now, as a four year old, he still loves scissors, clothespins, and paper punches.

Well, this Valentine's Day fine motor activity is a great way to play and learn using his beloved clothespins. Plus, it's low prep for you, making it a quick boredom buster for cold winter days.

What You'll Need for this Valentines Day Fine Motor Activity

Like I mentioned, this Valentine's Day heart activity is low prep. All you need are a couple of items from the dollar store (items that you can reuse for lots of other activities, by the way!). Here's what we used:

• Large felt hearts - I found these at Dollarama, but you could substitute large foam hearts or even cut out your own heart shapes from felt or paper.

• String, yarn, or ribbon - Use whatever you have on hand.

• Wooden clothespins - You'll notice that ours have numbers on them due to another recent activity we've done.

The only clothespins that I could locate in my house recently were labeled with the numbers 1-10 (just write on them with permanent marker). So, I set out the numbered clothespins and ten hearts. Then I tied a piece of string to a chair and a railing to create a clothesline. Feel free to tie them to two chairs instead. And that's it for set up.

Working on Fine Motor Skills with Numbered Clothespins

Since our clothespins are numbered, the hearts could be hung in numerical order like below, making it a great math activity as well.

Practicing Fine Motor Skills with Hearts & Clothespins

However, my four year old preferred to hang his hearts up in a random order, which is perfectly fine, since the main objective of this activity is to work on fine motor skills.

Yet, he still worked on some number skills on his own. For instance, as he picked up the clothespins, he would identify the number and count out loud to that number. Then he would pin the hearts to the string.

He also liked to hang the hearts upside down.

You could adapt this activity further by exploring patterning with the hearts. Simply alternate the colors of the hearts as you clip them to the string. Then once you're done with this activity, you can reuse the felt hearts for some fun gross motor games.

Overall, this Valentine's Day fine motor activity was a huge hit for my son. He had a lot of fun using the clothespins. Much like I expected he would!

This activity is part of the Fine Motor Fridays series, where me and my co-hosts share some fun fine motor activities for kids. Here are other ideas from this week's roundup:

Snowball & Craft Stick Process Art Sculptures from Stir the Wonder

Heart Flower Cards from Powerful Mothering

Fine Motor Snowflake Sensory Bin for Kids

Need winter sensory bin ideas? Well, this snowflake sensory bin is a perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. Your kids will love this peppermint scented winter sensory bin!

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We have fallen in love with simple water sensory play or "sensory soups." They are so easy to put together and they encourage lots of fine motor practice.

Now I know playing with water might seem more like a summer sensory bin activity, but my kids love playing with water, regardless of the temperatures outside.

This winter sensory bin is a perfect way to work on fine motor skills while providing tactile and olfactory sensory input too!

Snowflake Sensory Bin for Kids: What You'll Need

As with most of the sensory bins I have made for my kids, I like to keep it simple with a dump and play kind of approach. Simply dump all the materials into a large plastic container and then it's ready for play time!

For this peppermint scented snowflake sensory bin, I used:

• Water

• Peppermint essential oil - Use peppermint extract instead for really little kids.

• Metallic pearl white liquid watercolor - I use a brand from Michaels.

• Foam snowflakes

• Silver snowflakes - I cut up a cheap snowflake garland for these.

• Kitchen utensils - We like to use a whisk, a ladle, a large spoon, and a plastic bowl. The boys eventually added some measuring cups and an ice cream container to extend the play.

I used a generous amount of metallic pearl white liquid watercolor to achieve this shiny white water. It hid the silver snowflakes perfectly as these snowflakes don't float. They just sit on the bottom of the sensory bin. The foam snowflakes, in blues and white, float perfectly on top of the water.

I also put in two drops of the peppermint essential oil for two reasons. First, we were all recovering from being sick with colds so we were all still a bit stuffed up. Second, I just associate peppermint with winter and Christmas time. Please note that peppermint extract may be used instead and is actually preferred for really small kids. Peppermint essential oil is not recommended for use with small children, but we have used small doses of it with my children with no ill effects.

Winter Sensory Bin: Time to Play!

The boys loved to scoop and pour the shiny snow-colored water and the different snowflakes.

Fun fact: K thinks snowflakes look like the maple leaf he sees on the Canadian flag so he kept saying, "Oh! A Canada flag!" every time he picked up a snowflake. I have tried correcting him, but he still insists that they're little Canada flags. Ha!

Other Sensory Bin Ideas You'll Love

Easy Winter Sensory Bin

35+ Winter Sensory Bins

Free Snowflake I Spy Game Printable

Don't forget to check out these other Christmas and winter themed fine motor activities from my Fine Motor Fridays co-hosts!

Candy Cane Pipe Cleaner Garland from Craftulate

Cute Mini Christmas Trees from Powerful Mothering

Invitation to Create: Christmas Ornaments from P is for Preschooler

Color Matching Reindeer Clothespin Activity from School Time Snippets

Pouch Cap Wreath Craft from House of Burke

Christmas Scissor Skills and Craft from Little Bins for Little Hands

Christmas Lights on the Light Table from Still Playing School

3 Fine Motor Christmas Activities Using Coffee Sleeves from Lalymom

DIY Fine Motor Kit from Stir the Wonder

Simple Fine Motor Math Activity

Looking for fine motor math or number activities for toddlers and preschoolers? Try this super simple counting tray idea!

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Of all the toys that I have made for the boys, these jumbo foam numbers have probably been the most popular. They have been great for lots of math activities in the past, but this particular fine motor math tray was inspired by my then preschooler's love for clothespins. 

This math activity for toddlers and preschool aged kids is a great way to work on fine motor skills while practicing number recognition and counting.

A Simple Math Activity for Toddlers & Preschoolers that Develops Fine Motor Skills Too!

This math tray required no prep (unless of course you have to make the foam numbers first, which I didn't). I simply grabbed our homemade foam numbers and some wooden clothespins and placed it on a tray. Boom, instant math tray!

The task is quite simple too. Simply clip on the correct number of clothespins onto the foam numbers. Clip and count. Easy, peasy!

Need Math Ideas for Toddlers or Preschool Aged Kids? Try this!

This math tray was the perfect activity for my youngest when he was three years old. He had been a pro-star at counting for a long time, just like his older brother, but he loved the added challenge of using clothespins. Opening and closing those clothespins is quite the fine motor workout!

Want more more fine motor fun? Be sure to check out these other Fine Motor Fridays posts:

Fine Motor Pumpkin Patch from House of Burke

Salt Painting from Powerful Mothering

Googly Eye Pumpkins from Craftulate

Lion's Mane Cutting Activity from School Time Snippets

Spidery Fine Motor Activities from Little Bins for Little Hands

Jack-O-Lantern Geoboard from Still Playing School

Fine Motor Fridays Classics to Celebrate Our Anniversary! from Lalymom

Fall Leaf Color Sort Felt Mat from Stir the Wonder

Building Emotions LEGO Activity

We've been working on emotions at our house with a variety of activities, mostly with a LEGO theme. For instance, the kids recently drew emotions on 3D LEGO heads and played this printable LEGO I spy game. As another way to use LEGO to explore emotions, I set up this simple fine motor activity for my youngest son.

This fine motor LEGO activity for kids encourages kids to explore, build, and recreate some common emotions.

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LEGO Activity for Kids to Build & Explore Emotions

For this activity, I used:

• LEGO bricks: green base plate, yellow bricks, single black dots, black dots connected with strings, two black lever type pieces (clearly using the official names for the pieces here...haha)
• LEGO head emotion cards from this free printable Today I Feel LEGO chart

Before presenting this fine motor LEGO activity to five year old K, I built a LEGO head out of yellow bricks on a small green base plate. I then placed the finished LEGO head and the LEGO emotion cards on a tray. You could either present the activity with an emotion already built (like below) or leave the LEGO head blank.

The idea is to recreate the emotions on the cards by building them on the LEGO head. It's a great way to work on social-emotional development, while encouraging fine motor skills practice. K wanted to start with happy.

Then he worked his way through the other emotions, pausing only occasionally to show off his creations on the LEGO head.

Then K explored a variety of other emotions not available on the printable emotion cards and experimented with making his own creations. He was quite proud of this little guy!

Other Fine Motor Ideas You'll Love

LEGO Emotion Drawing Activity

Pumpkin Collage from Powerful Mothering

10 Black Dots Fine Motor Math Activity from School Time Snippets

Name Bracelet Fine Motor Activity from Stir the Wonder

Cutting Spiderwebs Halloween Fine Motor Activity from Little Bins for Little Hands

St. Patrick's Day Fine Motor Tray

St. Patrick's Day fine motor and scissor skills activity for toddlers and preschoolers.

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My youngest loves to cut things. 

Always has. 

He was quite little (maybe like 18 months even - can't remember for sure) when he first started exploring with scissors and cutting paper and he would happily cut paper for fairly long periods of time. And he still does today.

So I created this St. Patrick's Day fine motor tray for him to continue refining his fine motor skills. 

St. Patrick's Day Fine Motor Activity Tray for Kids

For this fine motor activity, I used:

• Green cardstock, cut into strips

• Foam shamrocks

• Green flexible mesh tubing

• Scissors & circle paper punch

I originally only included scissors for this fine motor tray, but four year old K asked for the circle punch. So I added it as he loves using it and it's such a good way to build hand strength and fine motor skills. He could seriously sit and punch out circles all day long.

Then he arranged all the circles into a happy face! How can you not smile at that?

Other Fine Motor Ideas You'll Love

St. Patrick's Day Activities & Crafts

St. Patrick's Day Sensory Soup

Easter Cutting Practice Worksheets from Craftulate

50+ Fine Motor Math Activities for Kids

We love math around here. Yes, we really, truly do!

So in celebration of our brand new book 100 Fine Motor Ideas for Parents, Teachers, & Therapists, I've put together this massive list of 50+ fine motor math activities for kids! From counting to patterning to more advanced skills like multiplication and tally marks, this list will certainly inspire your kids to love math!

Save $2 on the eBook 100 Fine Motor Ideas with discount code 100fm until March 7. Learn more here >>

Ways to Learn Math with LEGO

LEGO is great for building fine motor skills, but it also makes a wonderful math manipulative. Check out all of these creative ways to explore math with LEGO:

1. Integers LEGO Math Tray
2. Roman Numerals LEGO Math Tray
3. Counting & Measuring with LEGO from The Imagination Tree
4. LEGO Stamped Roman Numerals Art
5. Simple LEGO Addition Tray from Mama. Papa. Bubba. (pictured)
6. Learning about Fractions with LEGO
7. Roll a DUPLO Tower Math Game from Stir the Wonder
8. Preschool Roll & Count from Frugal Fun for Boys

More Advanced Math Activities for Kids

If your kids are ready to move beyond counting, addition, and shapes, then these more advanced math activities are for them! These activities work on tally marks, multiplication, skip counting, fractions, telling time, and Roman numerals.

1. Tally Marks Math Busy Bag (pictured)
2. Roman Numerals Fine Motor Math Tray (pictured)
3. Skip Counting Lacing Plates from 123 Homeschool 4 Me
4. Roman Numerals Fine Motor Craft
5. Hickory Dickory Dock Telling Time Activity & Clock Craft from Still Playing School (pictured)
6. Tally Marks Math with Magna-Tiles
7. Learning Multiplication with Magna-Tiles
8. Clothespin Fractions from love2learn2day
9. Roman Numerals on the Light Table
10. Tally Marks Math on the Light Table
11. Measuring with Magna-Tiles
12. Tally Marks Math Tray

Math Patterning Activities for Kids

You can work on fine motor skills while exploring patterning with these simple and colorful ideas:

1. Math Patterns on a Clear Geoboard
2. Creating Math Patterns with Golf Tees from Buggy & Buddy
3. Salt Tray Gem Pattern Making from The Imagination Tree

RELATED: GET 100 FINE MOTOR IDEAS THE BOOK TODAY!

Shape Activities for Kids

Love all of these fun fine motor math activities that explore shapes from sorting them to building them!

1. Making Shapes on Light Bright Geoboard
2. Shape Building Challenge on the Light Table
3. Shape Necklace Craft from Buggy & Buddy
4. Clothespin Geometry from KC Edventures (pictured)
5. Recreating Shapes on the Light Table
6. Shape Sorting Fine Motor Sensory Bin from Stir the Wonder
7. Building 3D Shapes on Windows

Sensory Math Activities for Kids

You can encourage your kids to explore mathematical concepts through sensory play. Try one of these ideas:

1. Kinetic Sand Number Hunt
2. Play Dough Subtraction Smash form Mama. Papa. Bubba. (pictured)
3. Kinetic Sand Math Activity
4. Kinetic Sand & Cups
5. Cinnamon Number Salt Tray from Adventures of Adam
6. Counting Ants Fine Motor Sensory Game from Stir the Wonder

Counting & One-to-One Correspondence Math Activities for Kids

There are lots of fun ways to practice counting and one-to-one correspondence with kids! Try some of these simple and fun fine motor math ideas:

1. Simple Fine Motor Counting Math Tray (pictured)
2. Counting & Addition Activity Tray from The Imagination Tree
3. Learning One-to-One Correspondence on the Light Table
4. Fine Motor Leaf Counting from The Mud Kitchen (pictured)
5. Fine Motor One-to-One Correspondence on the Light Table
6. Fine Motor Number Activity for Preschoolers from Fun-A-Day! (pictured)
7. Guitar String Counting Game
8. Math Activities Using Mega Bloks
9. Garden Fence Counting String from Adventures of Adam
10. Counting Flowers Fine Motor Math Tray from The Imagination Tree
11. Counting with Beads & Pipe Cleaners from The Imagination Tree
12. Fine Motor Math Game from Pre-K Pages
13. Shower Curtain Ring Counting
14. Ladybug Math Clip & Count {Free Printable} from Natural Beach Living
15. Pumpkin Hammering Math Game from There's Just One Mommy
16. Feed the Robin Fine Motor Counting Busy Bag from Sugar Aunts

RELATED: GET 100 FINE MOTOR IDEAS THE BOOK TODAY!

Homemade Math Manipulatives

Get your kids learning about math with these awesome homemade math manipulatives that also encourage fine motor skills.

1. DIY Nesting Math Eggs
2. Homemade Base 10 Manipulatives from There's Just One Mommy
3. DIY Clothespin Number Line from Fantastic Fun and Learning
4. Using Beads as Math Manipulatives from Life Over Cs

Other Fine Motor Ideas You'll Love

The team behind Fine Motor Fridays is dedicated to bringing you the absolute best fine motor ideas. Here's even more fine motor ideas to check out.

Fine Motor Color Learning Ideas from Powerful Mothering
Fine Motor Alphabet Ideas from Stir the Wonder
Storybook Inspired Fine Motor Activities from School Time Snippets
Ultimate Collection of 45+ Scissor Skills Activities from Craftulate
Fine Motor Painting Activities from House of Burke
Color Sorting Fine Motor Ideas from Still Playing School
Fine Motor Art Ideas from Our Whimsical Days
Pincer Grasp Activities from Lalymom
Favorite Fine Motor Tools for Science Activities from Little Bins for Little Hands

Scarf Weaving Fine Motor Activity for Kids

Sometimes when the weather is cold or the kids are feeling a bit sick, I pull out simple random goodies from around the house for a quick boredom buster activity. 

On this particular day, six year old J was at school and K was constantly pulling at my scarf (I like to wear scarves most days...it makes me feel all fancy). So I took it off and let him play with it. He was having such a blast with the one scarf that I decided to bring down my entire collection for him to play with, which lead to this simple scarf weaving fine motor activity.

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Scarf Weaving: Simple Fine Motor Boredom Buster for Kids

For this activity, we used:

• A variety of scarves - play silks, stretchy or woven wraps (if you have those kicking around) would work well too!
• Banister or railing

Grab a variety of scarves from around the house and try to use a variety of textures for a nice added tactile sensory component. You could use winter scarves, everyday casual scarves, or even play silks or baby wraps, in a pinch. We elected for my everyday casual scarf collection because...well...I have a lot! There's a variety of textures, colors, and prints to explore too so that's why we went with those scarves.

Simply weave the scarves in and out of the banister poles, like below.

Then loop back and forth until you run out of scarf. Then repeat with additional scarves.

I think a stretchy or woven baby wrap would be ideal for this because of the sheer length of fabric used to make one of those wraps. Of course, I thought of that idea after we did this and K no longer wanted to decorate my railings. Regardless, my railings have never looked so beautiful and colorful.

Other Fine Motor Ideas You'll Love

Simple Fine Motor Counting Math Tray

Muffin Tin Geoboard

Fine Motor Nuts & Bolts Activity Board from Craftulate

Rainbow Mirror Art from Powerful Mothering