House of Burke: Crayon and Playdough Color Sort

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Happy Fine Motor Friday! Summer is almost over, and everyone is prepping for back to school! We are super busy over here getting ready to start our first official year of preschool homeschool. I can't think of a better way to jump into the new school year than with a fine motor activity, and our book: 99 Fine Motor Ideas for Ages 1-5 which is on sale today for only $2.99!! There are so many amazing ideas in it, you will be set for the year!

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In honor of our sale event, we put together a super fun back to school fine motor activity perfect for your preschooler! I had Kingston choose three colors. He chose green. blue, and yellow. I set out balls of playdough , a rolling pin, and a pile of matching crayons.

He used the rolling pin and his hands to squish the playdough balls flat. Then he went to work sorting the different colored crayons into the playdough.

I love how into it he became. He was incredibly focused, and surprised me by turning it into a pretend play activity. I just love child-led learning! He told me wild stories about how he was making a forest, and how there was a volcano that was going to erupt. He pretended that the lava was coming and knocked the crayons all down. We flattened out the holes together, and he began sorting again.

He went on to pretend that the crayons were stuck in the ocean, as well as the grass. The crayons were cows, then they were sharks, or towers. It certainly sparked his imagination, and stories were flying out. While he worked his fine motor skills, he also used critical thinking skills and exercised his imagination.

When he was done sorting, we talked about how yellow and blue make green. When he chose those colors, I was excited that it could inspire a color mixing discussion! This activity was simple to set up, and a huge hit with him. When he was finished, we practiced cleaning up the play dough and putting the crayons away. This would be a fabulous activity for the first week of preschool to encourage your little ones to learn the rules of the "classroom" or "homeschool room" or just the home in general!