As a mother, I am constantly looking for creative ways to support my children’s development, especially in areas such as fine motor skills and creativity. I went to the store the other day and picked up a box of Cheerios to make some homemade trail mix for the kids and thought “I can use this for Tami’s learning!”. I used cheerios in the classroom when I was a teacher and it is an effective tool to help little ones hone their fine motor skills and unleash their creativity.
Lately, I’ve been working on name identification with Tami. One of the pages in her morning menu is a name trace but, for young kids, it’s so important to find multiple ways to teach the same skill or concept so that they don’t get bored. I figured incorporating Cheerios was a great way for her to continue to work on her name and other skills.
In this blog post, we will explore the numerous benefits of using Cheerios for tracing activities with toddlers. If you’re looking for a creative and engaging activity for your toddler, here are some reasons you should head to store and pick up a box of Cheerios!
Benefit 1: Fine Motor Skills Development
Fine motor skills are crucial for everyday tasks such as buttoning clothes, tying shoelaces, and writing. Cheerios tracing provides a hands-on activity that encourages your toddler to pick up and place Cheerios along lines or shapes, promoting fine motor skills development. This activity requires precise hand movements and coordination, helping your toddler improve their dexterity, finger strength, and hand-eye coordination.
Benefit 2: Hand-Eye Coordination Enhancement
Hand-eye coordination is the ability to coordinate the movements of the hands and eyes together. Cheerios tracing requires your toddler to visually track the lines or shapes while using their hands to place the Cheerios along the lines. This helps to improve their hand-eye coordination as they learn to align the Cheerios with the lines or shapes on the paper or cardstock. Hand-eye coordination is a fundamental skill that supports various activities in a child’s daily life, such as playing sports, writing, and even self-feeding.
Benefit 3: Cognitive Development
Cognitive development refers to the mental processes and abilities that children use to think, learn, and problem-solve. Cheerios tracing can provide a cognitive workout for your toddler as they engage in activities such as recognizing letters, shapes, and patterns. As your child traces the lines or shapes with Cheerios, they are also reinforcing their letter or shape recognition skills, and building their cognitive abilities. Without prompting, as Tami was covering each letter of her name with Cheerios would say either the letter name or the letter sound. She may not have even realized she was learning in that moment–and play is the best way to learn for toddlers!
Benefit 4: Sensory Play
Sensory play is a vital aspect of early childhood development as it engages the senses and promotes sensory exploration. Cheerios tracing can be a sensory-rich activity as your toddler touches and manipulates the Cheerios with their fingers or child-friendly tweezers. They can feel the texture of the Cheerios and experience the sensation of placing them along the lines or shapes on the paper or cardstock. Sensory play can help your child develop their sensory processing skills, enhance their tactile sensitivity, and promote sensory integration.
Benefit 5: Creativity and Imagination
Cheerios tracing can also be a wonderful activity to spark your toddler’s creativity and imagination. They can use different colors of Cheerios to create patterns or designs, and experiment with different arrangements along the lines or shapes. Cheerios tracing allows for open-ended creativity, where your child can use their imagination to come up with unique designs or patterns. This can foster their creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills as they explore different ways to place the Cheerios on the paper or cardstock.
Benefit 6: Bonding
Lastly, Cheerios tracing can be a great opportunity for you to bond with your child. This activity allows you to spend quality time with each other while helping them develop their fine motor skills, creativity, and cognitive abilities. You can sit together and trace the lines or shapes with your child, and encourage them to share their thoughts and ideas. This can help strengthen your relationship with your child and create meaningful memories that you both can cherish.
I hope this gave you an idea of a fun and engaging activity to do with your toddlers. I know my daughter enjoys Cheerios tracing and I hope your child will as well.
GET THE NAME TRACING TEMPLATE
If you’re ready to have some Cheerios tracing fun with your toddler go ahead and download my Canva template here. Just edit it with your child’s name, get some Cherrios, and let the fun begin!
