Paperclip Counting & Pattern Making

What you'll need:

Color Paperclips (Local grocery or office supply store)
CMS Paperclip Shape Worksheet
Paper

Getting Started:

Easy to throw in your shopping cart on your next trip to the grocery, below are several activities that allow your preschooler to practice multi-tier learning with colored paperclips.

CAUTION: Paperclips are a choking hazard. You should assess your child's readiness to use this medium of learning, and small children should be supervised.

Activity One: Counting and Shape Recognition
Using our shape worksheet, your or your child can cut out each shape. You can then guide them through:
- Color and shape recognition
- Counting the number of sides and fastening one paperclip per side to help cement the concept (Match the color of paperclip to the shape color)
- Turn the shapes over to hide the title in order to practice shape recognition

Activity Two: Sorting and Pattern Making

- Sort paperclips by color and count how many of each were in the container
- Create paperclip chains practicing counting and pattern making.

Activity Three:
Practice letter and number forms be either having your child place paperclips over a handwritten letter/number, or (for those children who are already comfortable with letter and number forms) create the shapes independently.

What it teaches:

Fine Motor Skills: Grasping & In-hand Manipulation Skills
Shape Recognition
Pattern Recognition
Color Recognition
Early Math Skills