Fine motor development
A toddler practices putting large buttons into the hole of a button box.
Be Prepared: Use large buttons only for this activity option. Place the large buttons inside the round box and put on the lid. The activity description calls the openings (slots) in the box lid buttonholes. This activity option uses one buttonhole and does not draw attention to button shapes or colors. The focus is on fine motor skills in manipulating large buttons. Commercially available button boxes specify use with children ages 12 months and older.
[Invite a toddler to play with the button box with you. Sit facing the toddler. Place the box between you and the toddler.]
This little box has buttons inside.
[Shake the box so you and the toddler hear the buttons.]
Would you like to take the buttons out of the box?
[Encourage the toddler to open the lid and pour out the buttons. Help the toddler remove the lid if needed. Encourage the toddler to touch or hold some buttons. Point to the lid and to the buttonhole when you name each.]
We have different kinds of buttons. The buttons are different colors and different shapes.
I am going to put the lid back on our box. Then you can put each button through the hole on the lid of our box.
[Describe your actions with the lid. Example: ”I pushed the lid down so it fits on the box.”
Position the box in front of the toddler so the larger hole is horizontal to the toddler.]
Here is a hole in the lid for our box. Let’s feel the hole. You can put buttons through this hole. There are other holes in the lid. This is the hole we can use now.
[Place the box in front of the toddler with a large buttonhole in a horizontal position facing the toddler. Point to the hole in front of the toddler, demonstrate moving your finger across the hole several times, and encourage the toddler to do the same.
Demonstrate and describe putting a button into the hole. Example: “I am holding one button with my fingers. Now I am putting the button over the hole. I will let go of the button and the button will fall into our box.”]
Would you like to drop a button into the box?
[Offer encouragement, if appropriate. If a toddler holds a button in a manner that makes it difficult to place into the buttonhole, provide another demonstration with brief descriptions or offer verbal guidance. Example: “Open your fingers to let the button drop into the box.”]
[Briefly describe the toddler’s experience with the button box. Example: “You used your fingers to put some buttons into a buttonhole. We could not see the buttons after you put them into the buttonhole. You said the buttons are ‘all gone.’”]
Dropping small items through holes is often a favorite toddler activity. This activity includes a more refined fine motor skill than handling balls or small toys. Most toddlers will need your specific guidance about how to hold and drop a button. Look for opportunities to demonstrate and describe how to (1) hold a button with fingers (some may initially grasp a button with one hand), and (2) align the edge of the button to the buttonhole. Provide hands-on assistance with aligning the button and buttonhole only after a repeated demonstration and specific verbal support have been offered.
Generally, it will be easier for a toddler to drop a button into a buttonhole that appears horizontal to him/her. This provision in the activity description will likely determine the way a toddler holds his/her hand.
Toddlers are not expected to learn shapes and shape names. Some toddlers may notice shape (and color) similarities and differences with the buttons. Respond to their interest by emphasizing how some buttons are the same and some are different. This approach is in keeping with other ELM activities, including the Self-Regulation activities in the current block.
Respond promptly to signs of frustration with the task. If a toddler is not able to put a button into the buttonhole after several attempts, remove the lid and change the activity to a game of dropping buttons into the box.
Toddlers may maintain interest for a few minutes and come back to the button box later to try it again.
Extra support
Enrichment
Fine motor development
A toddler practices putting big and small buttons into big and small holes of a button box.
Be Prepared: This activity is for a toddler who readily put large buttons into a buttonhole in Option 1 or a related activity. Use large and small buttons for the current activity. Place the buttons inside the round box and put on the lid. The activity description calls the openings (slots) in the box lid buttonholes. Commercially available button boxes specify use with children ages 12 months and older.
Invite a toddler to play with a button box with you. Sit across from the toddler and place the button box between you and the toddler. Shake the box and explain there are buttons inside. Encourage the toddler to remove the lid and pour out the buttons. Provide assistance with lid removal, if necessary.
Point out that some buttons are small and some buttons are big. Encourage the toddler to feel with his/her fingers a big button and then a small button. Keep the buttons in front of the toddler.
Put the lid on top of the box, place the box with a large buttonhole horizontal to the toddler, and draw attention to the buttonholes. Point to and describe how two openings are big and two openings are small. Move your finger across each hole several times. Encourage the toddler to do the same as you emphasize one hole is smaller than the other.
Demonstrate holding a big button with your fingers and then putting it into a big buttonhole. Describe your actions and emphasize how you used a big hole for a big button.
Invite the toddler to put buttons into the button box. Provide quiet time for the toddler to explore the challenge of locating the appropriate-size hole. Comment on the toddler’s discovery without telling him/her what to do. Example: “Your big button would not fit into this small buttonhole.” Pause for the toddler’s reaction. If the toddler needs guidance, point to a large (or small) buttonhole and offer a suggestion. Example: “Try this buttonhole. It looks big (or small).”
The task of turning a hand to put a button into a vertical buttonhole may need your demonstration and verbal support. As appropriate, demonstrate how to hold the button and turn your hand. When the toddler is holding a button for a vertical hole, suggest he/she turn his/her hand. If necessary, gently move the child’s hand. Acknowledge that the task is challenging.
Conclude the activity by describing the toddler’s efforts. Emphasize how the toddler worked hard to find holes for big and small buttons and had to turn some buttons so they would go into a hole.
This activity option offers more challenge than Option 1 by providing buttons of two different sizes and using both horizontal and vertical buttonholes. To place a button into a vertical buttonhole, a toddler must rotate his/her wrist to change the angle of the button. Paying attention to differences in button sizes supports cognitive development (object inquiry). The use of both vertical and horizontal buttonholes promotes fine motor skills.
Teaching shape names is not appropriate at this age, but some toddlers may be interested in finding buttons that are the same size or sorting small and big buttons.
Respond promptly to signs of frustration. If putting a button in a vertical hole is a source of frustration, turn the box so the hole is horizontal to the toddler. If the entire activity is frustrating, change to a game that uses some of the materials, such as feeding the buttons to a puppet. You could offer suggestions that emphasize big and small. Example: “Now our puppet would like a big button.”
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: builders, peg puzzles, scoops and cups, sensory table with water or dry materials, books of different sizes, simple clothes on dolls and soft animals, toy pans with lids, toddler-size vehicle toys, blocks, toy dump truck, foam blocks or connecting toys, ping-pong-size balls, clean egg carton
Provide the materials listed above to foster toddlers’ fine motor skills, such as builders that fit together and come apart, peg puzzles, scoops and cups in a sensory table with water or dry materials. Arrange books of different sizes for toddlers to open. Put simple clothes on dolls and soft animals so the toddlers can practice taking them off. Add toy pans with lids to the dramatic play area. On another day, place toddler-size vehicle toys on a low surface with blocks. Provide materials toddlers can put into a toy dump truck and dump out, such as foam blocks or connecting toys. Toddlers will enjoy placing ping-pong-size balls into an egg carton.
Materials Needed: stacking rings, building bricks, small blocks, snap-link beads, bunny builders
Each child in your care may wish to explore different materials that support fine motor skills. Infants will enjoy holding and dropping toys. Toddlers who have little experience with fine motor toys may enjoy stacking rings. Preschool-age and older children will enjoy building bricks and small blocks. Play materials that fit together and come apart are appropriate for toddlers and preschool-age children. Observe each child’s existing fine motor skill and offer materials that will help refine the skill. Example: If a child is pulling pop beads apart, offer fit-together builders that require the same or a similar action, such as the bunny builders shown in the adjacent picture.
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