Make a fall decoration – and improve fine motor skills

Are you looking to help your child improve their fine motor skills? Believe it or not, ripping paper is an easy way to help them build and slim their hand muscles! Join Olivia (4) and Logan (2) as we make a fun fall craft that includes paper tearing. This activity is suitable for all ages as well – my third graders do it every year, and it’s surprising how hard it is to tear the paper into small pieces.

What you will need:

• Sweet corn or pumpkin outline on white card stock
• Construction paper (yellow, white, orange, green, black)
• Glue
• Scissors (to cut the outline at the end)

Not:

1. Print out the outline of a corn or a pumpkin (or both!) You can also draw one for your child on card stock.
2. If your child is making corn candy, give them a piece of yellow, white, and orange construction paper.
3. If your child is making a pumpkin, give them a piece of orange, black, and green construction paper.
4. Model how to tear construction paper into small (but not too small!) Pieces.
5. Show your child how to glue each piece of torn paper around its outline. Glue sticks are less messy to use! Be sure to tell your child to position each piece close to each other so that there are no white spaces in between.
6. Keep gluing the pieces together until each section is filled with the appropriate color. If you choose to make a pumpkin, your child can use the black construction paper to give it a face and make it into a pumpkin lantern!
7. Finally, cut out the outline. What a beautiful craft to display during the fall season!

About the Author

Marissa Will is the mother of two toddlers, Olivia (4) and Logan (2). Writing was her first passion: she is a freelance writer and alumnus of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Will is currently training the future leaders of tomorrow: she has spent the past eight years teaching in third year with a master’s degree in elementary education from Northern Arizona University-Yuma.