Story-Inspired Glue Dot Activity

Inside: a glue dot worksheet to give kids practice controlling their glue bottles. Glue practice is also great for strengthening little hands and improving fine motor skills in general. Here we’re sharing a special, story-inspired glue practice activity.

glue practice sheet

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As a fifth grade teacher, you assume your students will already be skilled at using glue.

Yet, some kids don’t get glue practice in kindergarten, so even in fifth grade you’ll find yourself dealing with soggy worksheets drowned in glue, running out of glue before the winter break because of overzealous gluers, and rescuing at least one child who somehow managed to glue their shorts to their seat.

This is why glue practice is so essential in the earlier grades.

Related: Hungry Caterpillar Hole Punching Activity

Books for Glue Dot Practice

The entertaining story Too Much Glue (affiliate) by Jason Lefebvre, with lively illustrations by Zac Retz, is popular for introducing younger students to glue use. It’s about a boy who squeezes out “a gluey lake” and makes a huge, hilarious mess. It makes for an engaging opening to a lesson on how to use glue.

When it’s time for additional practice, though, I have a fresh story suggestion.

We love the classic early reader Put Me in the Zoo (affiliate) by Robert Lopshire. It’s about an animal with magical spots. He sees how well the animals in the zoo are treated, and wants to be put there too.

He shows off all the fanciful things he can do with his spots – change their colors, juggle them, and even “make them fly.”

glue-dot-practice-activity-preschool-kindergarten

Glue Dot Worksheet

To go with the story, we made a cute printable glue dot worksheet that kids can add glue dots to. You can use regular glue, colored glue, or have fun with glitter glue. The idea is to get those little hands working the glue bottles well.

  1. Read the story and remind the students how to glue with “just a dot.”
  2. Have the kids put a dot of glue on all the dots printed on the worksheet.
  3. Let dry. You may like to point out how the smaller dots dry faster.

My testers here at home gave this activity a big, glue-free thumbs up. They’re going to be pros even before school starts.

Download the Glue Worksheet

Ready for the free glue practice worksheet that goes with the story Put Me in the Zoo?

To get your very own copy, you can sign up right here:

I’ll add you to my weekly-ish newsletter too – it’s full of ideas and more free printables. Of course, you can unsubscribe at any time.

More Glue Dot Practice

If you love this glue activity page, you may also want to buy a set of our Glue Dot Letter Worksheets. The printable pack includes all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase), plus 4 pre-primer sight words. You can click on the link or picture to purchase it from my Teacher’s Pay Teachers store.

glue dot letter worksheets

Want to save these glue dot worksheets for later? Here’s an image that’s perfect for Pinterest:

glue-practice-activity-put-me-in-the-zoo

3 Comments

  1. Hi, Heather! Absolutely LOVE this idea for the fine motor AND literacy connection. If you print this out on yellow paper or construction paper and use GLITTER glue in the various colors, the kids will get their spotted Put Me in the Zoo craft!

    Best,
    Carla

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