Pipe Cleaner Fine Motor Skills

I got this great idea for  fine motor skills practice from No Has More Fun Than the Adams'. She has so many great ideas for activities to do with toddlers. Sweet Girl has so much fun playing with pipe cleaners. I started by just giving her pipe cleaners and an empty water bottle. She got right to work putting the pipe cleaners in, but she got very frustrated when part of the pipe cleaner was still poking out of the top. She tried to push the entire thing inside, but it wasn't working. She ended up throwing it down and walking away for awhile.

While she was gone I started folding the pipe cleaners in half. When she saw what I was doing she came back and started helping me fold them. The she got back to work on pushing them down into the water bottle. So much more fun when the whole thing fits inside. Playing with toddlers is all about adapting.