Paper plate weaving is a fantastic fine motor challenge. With Earth Day right around the corner, this simple paper plate weaving craft activity is a fun way to spark discussion with your students about stewardship of the earth while encouraging creativity!
Fine Motor Skills at Work
Manipulating the yarn throughout the weave requires a lot of concentration and control, which makes this a great activity for working on hand-eye coordination and developing dexterity.
Activities such as this help students refine the small muscles in their hands that are needed for activities such as dressing themselves or writing.
Note: If your students struggle with using a pincer grasp (finger to thumb) to hold the yarn, this activity can easily be adapted with a popsicle stick. Simply wrap the yarn around the popsicle stick to give students who struggle with this a larger item to grasp.
Earth Day Paper Plate Weaving Craft
To make this fun geography craft you will need:
- Paper plates
- Scissors
- Blue and Green Yarn
Creating a paper plate weave is very simple! Due to the amount of time that this activity can take, I prepare our paper plates before setting out the invitation to create for the kids. If you plan on having your children create their own weaves, make sure to provide appropriate kid scissors that will help build their scissor skills.
Check out this research-based, playful learning unit in our curriculum shop!
Earth Day Bundle
A bundle of 8 of my most popular earth day resources, math, literacy, fine motor, and more! Make learning fun with these hands-on resources!
Paper plates with grooves along the edges work perfectly as a marker when cutting. To do this, space each cut with 2-3 grooves in between them and cut in about 1/4 to 1/2 inch.
Help children wrap the yarn around their weave by wrapping it a star design.
Once the framework for the paper plate weave is created, let kids create!
There is no perfect way to do this. When a child is ready to switch from blue to green yarn, simply help them tie ends of the two colors together.
Once done hang up these gorgeous Earth Day crafts around the room!
BIO: Stephanie is an Early Intervention Specialist turned SAHM. She writes over at Parenting Chaos where she shares sensory play ideas, autism resources, and tips for learning through play.
More Ideas for Earth Day
Alphabet Clean Up (Pre-K Pages) – Earth Day is the perfect time to teach children about the environment and how they can help care for our planet. Today I’m sharing a way you can help your kids learn about the environment and the importance of not littering.
Sensory Play for Earth Day (Pre-K Pages) – Animals are a vital part of planet Earth and it’s a wonderful idea to celebrate them on Earth Day. This sensory play activity for Earth Day is a great way to engage the senses while also talking about creatures that live on Earth.
Homemade Seed Paper (Pre-K Pages) – A great way to celebrate Earth Day for Kids is by making homemade seed paper. It makes a great process art activity for preschoolers, requiring very simple materials. It is also a great fine motor skill challenge and makes for fun sensory play with a little science mixed in, too.
Celebrating Earth Day (Pre-K Pages) – Most preschool and kindergarten teachers teach their students about fire safety and dental health; but teaching students to respect our planet is just as important.
Painting with Recycled Objects (Pre-K Pages) – Earth Day is a time to think about caring for the world we have. Reusing and recycling materials are ways to be responsible. In this art project activity children can recycle materials to use for painting and can explore the letters of the alphabet, too.
Printable Recycling Sorting Cards
Looking for more Earth Day fun? You can get free printable Earth Day Recycling Sensory Bin sorting cards emailed to you, simply fill out the form below.
