This activity requires only two items and it’s very straightforward. Pom pom play will help your child develop fine motor skills using the pincer grip. It’s a fun challenge for those tiny fingers.
The setup will take only one or two minutes and they can have a nice independent play. These are well-known fine motor activities for babies.
Supplies for Pom Pom Whisk Activity
All you need is:
- Whisk
- Pom poms in a different color
Both plastic and bendable silicone whisks are fine. My whisk was a wire one.
Alternative Objects for Montessori Pom Pom Activity
The downside of pom poms is that they are mentioned to be a choking hazard.
Baby pom pom tasting can be very tricky when they put them in their mouth but always watch your little ones closely during this activity. Stop if they get too excited about tasting pom poms.
Babies are curious about everything and like to explore. They can be more amused about everyday items than toys.
What to Use Instead in Pom Pom Activities for Toddlers and Babies?
Teether crackers or mini rice cakes can be a very good alternative since they are both edible.
Sponge pieces are larger, and you can decide how large to cut up the sponges.
Ribbons that are cut on longer strips.
You can even use baby socks that are already available at home. There will be no extra cost.
Instructions for Pom Pom Fine Motor Activity
Playing with pompoms is a fun way to improve the dexterity of your children.
- Fill the whisk with pom poms.
- Show your child how to get the pom poms out of between the wires. They will learn to use a pincer grasp while grabbing one pompom at a time.
- Put the pom poms in a small bowl.
Demonstrate each step first. They are great learning opportunities for a toddler in this activity. You can add so much more to this play like counting and pom pom sorting by colors or size.
Skills That Are Strengthened Through This Sensory Activity
Fine Motor Skills
Strengthening the coordination and control of the muscles in their hands by using a pincer grip to pull pompoms out by using their thumbs and pointing finger.
Distributing precision in bilateral coordination by combining one hand over the other to use both hands to perform various tasks requires holding the whisk with one hand while performing actions with the other to pull out the pom poms.
They can learn how to control their movements and muscles more accurately.
Logical Thinking
Little kids need plenty of opportunities to engage in play. This includes both structured and unstructured playtime.
One type of play that is particularly beneficial for a baby’s brain development is logical thinking games, so this baby pom pom activity is perfect for them.
These games help stimulate the part of the brain responsible for solving problems, reasoning, and decision making.
Problem Solving Skills
Problem solving skills are essential in everyday life. They can be used to figure out a way to fix something or to come up with a new solution to a problem.
One effective way to improve these skills is by playing games that require thinking outside the box. This is actually challenging at first for little kids.
In these activities with pom poms, children must figure out how to get all the pom poms out of the whisk.
This involves looking at the problem closely, trying different strategies, and persevering until they find a solution or simply copying the demonstrated steps.
Sensory
The pom pom whisk is a simple tool that can provide long entertainment and sensory exploration for a toddler or a baby. By providing opportunities for children to explore textures and colors, the pom pom whisk play can help boost their development in a variety of ways.
For one, sensory play helps a child develop their senses. When they explore different textures their brains are processing information and learning how to interpret it. This is important for future learning, as they will need to be able to understand what they are seeing.
Sensory play can also help improve fine motor skills.
Vocabulary
It’s important for them to hear us explaining different objects and concepts. Speak about what you are doing. Playtime is one of the best approaches in the province to assist babies and toddlers excel in learning. Encourage your child, even if they can’t speak yet. Their brain will soak up this information.
Ways to Help in Vocabulary and Cognition
When playing with kids cognition and language should be built into the activity. Discussing steps of the play will bring an increase in the child’s knowledge and familiarity with new words and concepts through repetition.
Name the objects you are using during the play. Toddlers might already know some of these words.
Count the pom poms, to learn the numbers.
Say the color of the pom pom and ask them to point to, or grab a certain color.
Introduce concepts and actions (pull, in, out).
Ways to Help with Fine Motor Skills in Pom Pom Activities for Preschoolers
Fine motor abilities are using subtle muscles in our hands, fingers, and wrists are related to our ability to hold, manipulate, turn, twist, and redirect objects.
When pulling out the pom poms make them use a pincer grasp. It is pinching the pom pom with the index finger and thumb.
Bilateral coordination is also important and goes hand in hand with fine motor abilities. This involves using both hands together to complete a task.
Having the whisk in one hand and pinching the pom poms whit the other is a great learning activity: exercise and toddler fine motor practice.
It prepares the child for cutting with scissors. Bilateral coordination is used to hold the scissors with one hand and cut with the other. Bilateral coordination also helps with hand-eye coordination.
