Free Printable - Pairing Fine Motor With Pegs Thankful Animals

Fine motor skills are essential for children’s development. They help children perform everyday activities such as grasping a pencil, using utensils, and tying shoelaces. Enhancing fine motor skills with pegs is an engaging and fun way to help children develop their hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and fine motor skills. This Thankful Animals Free Thanksgiving Printable combines gratitude and art with a focus on developing children’s fine motor skills. Utilizing pegs, kids will enjoy exploring and creating while practicing essential developmental skills. Simple to set up and perfect for the holiday season, this activity is an excellent way to encourage mindfulness and creativity while learning and having fun.

As Thanksgiving approaches, it is the perfect time to introduce preschool children to the concept of gratitude and thankfulness. A great way to do this is through hands-on activities that combine fine motor skills with the theme of gratitude. One such activity is using pegs to create thankful animals.

Montessori Inspired Thanksgiving activities for children

Gratitude Jar: Create a gratitude jar where children can write down things they are thankful for and put them in the jar. This can be a daily activity leading up to Thanksgiving.

animals that hibernate montessori nature free printables pegs cards tracing print fall winter

Turkey Counting: Using feathers or leaf cutouts, have children practice counting by making turkeys with different amounts of feathers/leaves.

Sensory Bin: Create a sensory bin with fall-themed items like pumpkins, gourds, corn, and leaves. Encourage children to explore and describe the different textures and colors.

Pumpkin Exploration: Allow children to explore the inside of a pumpkin by scooping out the seeds and flesh. This can lead to discussions about how pumpkins grow and how they are used in recipes.

Harvest Sorting: Using pictures or actual items, have children sort fruits and vegetables that are harvested in the fall.

Leaf Rubbing: Place a leaf under a piece of paper and use crayons or colored pencils to create a rubbing of the leaf. This can lead to discussions about the different types of leaves and trees.

Making Butter: Have children take turns shaking cream in a jar until it turns into butter. This can lead to discussions about where butter comes from and how it is made.

Gratitude Tree: Create a paper tree and have children write things they are thankful for on leaves that can be attached to the tree.

Cooking: Involve children in the cooking and baking process leading up to Thanksgiving. This can include making simple recipes like pumpkin bread or apple crisp.

Thankful Meditation: Lead a guided meditation where children focus on things they are grateful for. This can be done as a group or individually.

Thankful Animals – Free Printable

Pairing fine motor skills with pegs is an excellent activity for young children. Pegs are perfect for developing hand-eye coordination, finger dexterity, and hand strength. And when combined with a Thanksgiving theme, it can help preschoolers understand the concept of being thankful and appreciative of the things they have. The children can be encouraged also ponder and name what and whom they are grateful for.

Combining fine motor skills with a Thanksgiving theme is an excellent way to teach preschool children the importance of gratitude and thankfulness. Using pegs and thankful animal printables creates a fun and engaging activity that children will enjoy while learning a valuable lesson. It is the perfect way to celebrate Thanksgiving with your little ones, and the thankful animals they create can serve as a reminder to be grateful all year round.

This whimsical printable is for young students and preschool children aged 3 – 5. This fall-themed resource contains images of animals and corresponding objects for logical thinking.

It’s a gentle way to get children engaged in a conversation about thankfulness and gratitude.

Here is what’s included

clip on poster
round cards (color) x 10
self-check poster
clip on round poster line art
round cards line art for coloring and cutting x 10
self-check poster with labels line art

Age: Preschool ages 2.5 – 5 years

Subjects and uses in the classroom: Thanksgiving, Autumn, Nature Table, Science Centers, Fine motor, Prewriting

How to use this resource:

The printable contains a round poster clip-on card, two sets of matching cards, a master poster with labels, and a line art coloring version.

Print the pages on cardstock. Gather pegs and a glue gun. Cut round cards (color or black and white) and mount them on the edge of the pegs using a glue gun.

Name all the objects presented and invite the children to clip the animals on the corresponding objects, identify and pair animals with things that they are thankful for.

Use the labeled poster card for students to self-correct.

Blackline printable – print on regular printing paper. Supply coloring pencils and a writing pencil. Invite the child to trace the words, color corresponding images, and cut and glue pairs to make flip cards.