This activity could be accomplished a lot quicker with a scissors. So why use a push pin or thumbtack to cut out the shape?

There are a few reasons!

1. Holding a push pin with thumb and forefinger helps a child develop fine motor control, coordination and hand muscles. It’s known as the pincer grip!

2. Going slow and steady requires a lot of focus. Children have amazing potential to focus if we provide them with the appropriate activities. This is just such an activity!

3. While a child is slowly etching out a shape, they become intimate with the characteristics of that particular shape. Children will be able to recall the differences between a square, circle or rectangle by having worked with it in such a deliberate way!

Give this push pin activity a try by tracing a few different shapes on printer paper, then placing the shape on a soft material like cork or foam board. Show your child how to poke tiny holes in the paper along the traced line, then let them get to work!

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