Here’s one of our favorite valentine-themed activities for toddlers! Not only did my toddler have lots of fun with this heart activity, but he also had the opportunity to practice fine motor skills too.
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We are having so much fun with our heart shaped pasta! Who knew we’d get so many uses from it. I had put some in our valentine sensory box along with some little straws, and Theo had been having a blast putting the straws through the pasta. So why not make him his own little fine motor skill practice using the same materials! (This post contains affiliate links.)
Toddler Activities: Heart Themed Fine Motor Activity
Setting Up the Activity
1. Find a flat surface that’s accessible to your toddler for the activity. I used a cutting board for our flat surface.
2. Add a few small piles of playdough to your flat surface. (We had some pink homemade playdough in our art cabinet so we used that.)
3. Stick one straw straight up in each pile of playdough. (We had found some really cute straws with hearts to use at our local store.)
4. Place some heart-shaped pasta into a small container next to the straws. (If you can’t find heart-shaped pasta, any kind of tubular pasta will work.)
Playing with the Fine Motor Activity
Theo stacked and unstacked the pasta for quite a while! He also enjoyed taking it all apart and rebuilding it over and over.
So much fun for little hands and great fine motor practice too!
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Tracey@We-Made-That says
February 7, 2013 at 4:27 amReally great idea! My little one would love this. She just loves putting lids on and taking them off and this would be so much more fun than that. Thanks so much for sharing on We Made That!
Katie @ Gift of Curiosity says
February 7, 2013 at 8:26 amWow, where did you get that cute heart-shaped pasta? Looks like you guys are having fun with it!
Chelsey Marashian says
February 7, 2013 at 8:47 amWe found it at Cost Plus. (I love that place!) I may need to head back for more!
Nicole says
February 7, 2013 at 3:48 pmWhat a wonderful idea, now I will be on the lookout for heart shaped pasta… Thanks for sharing! Hope you have a wonderful week!!
Mary Catherine says
February 7, 2013 at 7:53 pmLOVE THIS! A few of the little ones I watch would adore this activity. Thanks so much for sharing the idea. Need to pin it now. 🙂
Amie @ Triple T Mum says
February 9, 2013 at 12:20 amI love that heart shaped pasta. I’ve never seen it here in Australia 🙁 but your idea will be great with some other shapes we have available. Popping in from Crafty Moms Share.
Adina says
February 10, 2013 at 2:34 amWhat a great idea, I love it!
chelle says
February 10, 2013 at 3:03 pmThat’s a great fine motor activity! Love the heart shaped pasta…I need to keep an eye our for it!
Thanks for sharing at Sharing Saturday!
Jenna@mumcentral.co.uk says
February 11, 2013 at 3:44 pmThis is such a sweet activity for little ones and I love the heart pasta 🙂 Going to pin now !!
Jill says
February 12, 2013 at 2:36 pmHow sweet! I love this fine motor skill activity that you have created. Where did you find those super sweet straws? Thank you for linking up this week to the Hearts for Home Blog Hop!
Kirstylee says
February 13, 2013 at 12:14 pmThat pasta is so cool! We did an activity like this with my toddler, but we used cut paper towel rolls instead. I wish we had had some heart shaped pasta, though, it’s so cute.
Childventures says
February 5, 2014 at 12:10 pmThis is a great idea for seasonal sensory learning! I really love the heart shaped pasta to go with the Valentine’s Day theme.
Jill says
February 9, 2014 at 7:10 pmI love the heart shaped pasta!! This would be a lot of fun for the kids!
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