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Pushpin (or pin poking) activity is one of the popular fine motor activities in the Montessori classroom. I would like to share with you different ways to use pins and pin poking which greatly benefit the child’s development. You will find that pins are often used in activities for different purposes.
how pin activities benefit a child’s development
- help develop deeper concentration
- prepare for writing
- enjoyed by children
- exercise patience and attention to detail
- help perfect fine motor
- strengthen finger muscles
there are many variations of pin poking activities
- The metal inset extension activity – the child pin pokes the shape after tracing a metal inset shape.
- The knob puzzle extension activity – the child pin pokes outline after tracing a shape.
- Pin-poke a picture outline.
Here are a few examples of introducing pin activities to children
PRESCHOOLER
Print a picture outline on regular paper or construction paper and cut cards to match your push pin mat size. Place cards in a box on a tray along with a push pin or the Montessori puncher, corkboard, or wool mat to absorb the pricks of the poking stylus.
Invite the child to punch holes in the line and take him or her to the window to look through the light and make sure the holes are close together. Show them how to gently tear punched shape from the rest of the paper, get a glue stick, and glue it to the construction paper. The child may also like to color the shape first.
As I mentioned earlier children often enjoy pin-poking continents of the world after working with the Montessori Continent Knob Puzzle. However, this can be done with every puzzle that has knobs. Puzzle pieces with knobs make it easier for children to trace outlines.
A video introduction of pin poking activity
Push pinning printables free printables
Photo Credit:
Montessori Nature
South America Preschool Hands-on Activities
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printables.montessorinature.com
Africa Preschool Hands-on Activities
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printables.montessorinature.com
Asia Hands-on Activities
Photo Credit:
printables.montessorinature.com
Europe - Preschool Activity Set
Photo Credit:
printables.montessorinature.com
North America - Preschool Activities
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printables.montessorinature.com
Eco Learning Preschool and Kindergarten Activities
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printables.montessorinature.com
Montessori Winter Pin Punching Cards
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printables.montessorinature.com
Pin Poking - Fine Motor Skills
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printables.montessorinature.com
Insects and Crawling Creatures - Fine Motor, Cutting, Pin Poking, Coloring
Photo Credit:
printables.montessorinature.com
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Very cool! I haven't done much with pin poking at all. I LOVE these ideas!
For some reason kids love these too! I am so glad you were inspired to do more pin poking with your kids! Thank you for stopping by!
These are so cool! We did some tooth pick poking with my daughter's name, she loved it, I'm sure she'll love these ideas too.
Thank you so much, Kyle, for sharing your experience! I love the idea of using tooth picks for poking! I never tried it before!
Oh, I just adore this post! Thanks for the printable, they will be very useful for home and the classroom.
Fab, fab resource. Thank you! Pinned. xo P
Thank you, Janice, I hope you enjoy using these materials!
Many thanks, Pauline!
My four year old loves using push pins to make his own geoboard type thing… he'd love this activity! thanks!
Love this!