Top 10 Fine Motor Activities for Family Travel
It is easy to get restless and irratable when you are stuck in a car or on a plane for long hours. The way to survive this is to have carefully chosen activities to keep your hands, bodies, and minds busy. The trouble is that there are so many options.
You have to pack things that are small so you can fit more and not be weighted down by a million toys.
You have to consider what your child’s interests are and what keeps them occupied the longest.
You have to come up with new things so they are fresh and exciting…
Is it just me or did some of the fun of trip planning just fly out the window? Hang in there. Help is on its way.
One of my kids is a huge fine motor person. They love puzzles and drawing and tinker toys. When we travel, I pack things that will keep his hands busy.
For the fine motor fans though, this is your list! Pick a few and give them a try on your next road trip or flight.
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Top 10 Fine Motor Ideas for Travel
1. Cross Stitch
We got this adorable book to review and we are IN LOVE. On our trip to Wisconsin earlier this month this kept my fidgety children happy for most of the flight. All you need is the Stichables book, some lightweight yarn, needles, and small scissors (note: needs to be under 4 inches to carry onto plane) for hours of fun!
2. Nesting Materials
There are plenty of variations on this material – the most simple and compact that we have used is a colorful set of curlers that our Minnesota pen pals sent us. I continue to be amazed with how many different ways my kids have used this basic material. We have colorful ones like these.
3. DIY Toddler Buckle Toy
This gorgeous busy bag is from Swoodson Says. This is such a fun way to keep little toddler hands busy and teach them important self-help skills at the same time. Find the directions here.
Also Read: 7 Tips for Surviving Lines at Disney with Little Kids
4. No Sew Button Snake
My kids loved this when they were toddlers. It’s another example of working on fine motor and self help skills. These are super simple to put together too. Twitchetts has great instructions!
5. Wikki Sticks
These things are awesome. These colorful little sticks can be bent and stuck together to form pretty much whatever you can imagine, but then they can also be re-straighted and made into something else. We love these for planes and restaurants. You can find a set here.
6. Map Drawing Activity
Maps and travel go perfectly together and this is such a fun way to get kids interacting with maps. You can learn more at Little Bins for Little Hands but I will be printing off a map for our next Road Trip and making one of these kits for sure!
7. DIY Foam Lacing Cards
My mind was kind of blown when I saw this post on Powerful Mothering. My kids loved lacing cards when they were toddlers and preschoolers but it never crossed my mind to make my own. Check out her brilliantly simple directions and then start investing in foam.
8. LEGO travel kit
If your kid likes to build and play with their hands, then one of these is a must. They make transporting Legos easy and give you a spot to build when you don’t have a table or floor. You can find a few different colors here.
9. Mini-Paper Airplanes Guide
Compact and simple, but a complete how-to guide for paper airplanes. Throw this little book and the short list of supplies into a bag and you have an easy activity to take anywhere. The directions are straightforward enough for a beginner, but there is enough variety to engage a more seasoned paper airplane maker as well. We enjoyed that they include a rating for each airplane’s speed, airtime, distance, acrobatics, and uniqueness. It was fun to test them all and see how they compared for us. Obviously your child can’t use this on a plane or in the car, but it is great for stops. We had our kids make a plane or two right before a stop and then when we had space to run they could test them out. This encouraged running around which was a great way to let off some steam. FIND ONLINE
Also Read: QUALITY, ENGAGING, AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY BOOKS TO BRING ON FAMILY TRIPS
10. Paint with Water
For anyone nervous about handing their kids markers or crayons on a plane or in the car, this is a fun alternative. My kids love, love, loved these ones from Melissa and Doug when they were toddlers.
