If you’re a sped teacher, chances are there are fine motor activities in your classroom. Some of these fine motor activities will probably include put-in tasks. What is a put-in task? A close ended activity where students pick up an object and put it into something. Put-in tasks teach many skills like working independently, fine motor control, completing an activity from start to finish and so much more. Below I’ve listed some of my favorite free or cheap ways to create put-in tasks for your students or children at home.
Takeout containers and bingo coins
Bingo coins are sold at Dollar Tree year round. The next time you have a plastic takeout container, don’t toss it. Give it a good wash, cut a little slot with an Exacto knife, add a little tape to cover any sharp plastic edges and there you have it.
Other possible fillers you can put inside takeout containers:
- cut up index cards
- old gift cards or membership cards
- hair ties
- gold coins (sold at Dollar tree around St Patrick’s day)
- real coins
Spice containers and q-tips
This is probably my favorite one of all time because of how compact it is. It can easily fit inside a small bag and can be discreet if needed. I recently used this with my toddler on a flight and a long car ride and she loved it!
Pom poms and empty food containers
This task is similar to the coin task but slightly different. Putting a circular shaped object into a hole offers a different challenge. Similar to the takeout container, simply give it a good wash and add whatever sized hole you want with an Exacto knife. My favorite containers to use for this are empty yogurt or cottage cheese containers. I find those easiest to cut with an Exacto knife.
Other possible fillers you can put inside food containers:
- Jingle bells
- Jumbo Pom Poms
- Cotton balls
- Ping Pong balls
- Any sort of math manipulatives you already own (bears, cubes, fruit counters)
Plastic straws and coffee creamer containers
This is another easy DIY option and way to recycle a common container! Other good object options for this container would be:
- pipe cleaners
- pencils
- popsicle sticks
Fine motor activities don’t have to be store bought. As you can see, you can often make them with recycled containers and objects from home! I hope this blog post was helpful and gave you a few put-in task ideas to add to your classroom.
Be sure to check out my other fine motor related blog posts here.
Happy teaching!
Sofie
