While stickers are great for fine motor skills, they are not the most efficient tool that meets this need. Let’s be honest, when my son decides all the Avengers stickers that are 1 inch big should be placed all over my wood floor, I am not applauding his fine motor skills. However, there are some quick and easy ways to organize stickers into fun educational activities.
The primary reason I wrote this post is that after attending so many birthday parties and receiving letters from pen pals, we were inundated with stickers. It’s not as though I can easily throw them out because I like to maximize tools (this is my nice way of saying I can be cheap) but also because my kids inventory all their toys with a fine tuned accuracy that the IRS would envy. Here are some quick and easy activities that use up those sticker sheets that float around.
Mommy University Presents
Five Uses For Stickers
Make a Letter
Our preschool gave the assignment to make a letter “W” in any way the child would like to make it. While my son could have drawn and colored it in, we decided to use our massive piles of stickers instead. First, I traced the letter on color paper. Next, I provided four sheets of stickers which made no dent in our collection. Last, I instructed my son to fill in the letter using the stickers. The only rule was that the stickers be placed within the lines to form the shape of the letter.
Behavior Charts
Stickers are a perfect tool to use when creating reward and behavior charts. Whether it is for potty training, homework completion or chores, using stickers can help modify and encourage positive behavior. To start, create behavior or activity charts that address your desired outcome. Then use stickers to mark the completion of each task. If a child earns a specified amount of stickers, he/she can earn a prize. For some, the sticker even suffices as the prize.
Sorting
Sorting is a wonderful activity that helps build important cognitive skills. You can have your children begin to organize the stickers by size or by color or whatever grouping you may want to explore with them. Set up a piece of paper with area for the different groups and a sample if you want to help jumpstart the project.
Cutting Practice
After children have placed stickers on a blank piece of paper, provide them with a pair of scissors and have them cut around the different shapes of the stickers. You could also invite them to then glue their cut-outs onto another sheet of paper which could create a design or pattern.
Make an Art Prompt
Stickers are great for prompting creative thinking. Ask children to select a few stickers and then place them on a sheet of paper. Invite them to draw a picture around the stickers. The stickers function as an art prompt. They can also draw their own stories.
Bonus: Tinker Tray
We love the idea of open-ended art projects, thus a Tinker Tray is an invitation to play. At the center of the table, provide the children with stickers, markers, pencils, glue, scissors and other material where they can explore on their own what they would like to create.
I cut up some leftover stickers in the center of this tinker tray.
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