12 Fun Hole Punch Fine Motor Activities
Inside: these hole punch activities include crafts, math and literacy activities, and art projects. All of them are great fine motor skills work for kids!
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Are you looking for an engaging way to help your kids work on their fine motor skills? Many (but not all) hole punches are perfect for strengthening those little hands, and they’re so much fun!
What Kind of Hole Punch Should Kids Use?
Make sure you get a hole punch that is easy enough to squeeze and has a guard to prevent itty bitty fingers from reaching the cutting surface. I have a single-hole punch from Office Depot that is perfectly fine.
You can also get punches that are extra easy to squeeze, which might be a good solution for kids who have trouble with a standard punch. (ad)
If you pick an activity that needs lots of punched holes, you may want to use a 2 or 3-hole punch instead. Of course, then you aren’t working those future writing muscles in the same way.
Hole Punch Fine Motor Activities
All of these activities help young children develop fine motor skills. By using the hole punch, kids can have fun while exploring early math and literacy concepts and using their imaginations.
Let’s get started…
Rainy Day Craft – Perfect for springtime or for a weather unit, this rain craft makes creative use of a hole punch. A class set of these would also make a cute display. You may also want to read some books about weather or seasons when you make this.
Hungry Caterpillar Hole Punching Activity – Preschoolers or kindergartners can follow along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar as they punch all the items the caterpillar in the book eats.
Hole Punch Letter Worksheets – These alphabet worksheets in my store are a hit with hole punch fans! Print out these pages to give students practice recognizing uppercase and lowercase letters and their initial sounds.
More Hole Punch Fine Motor Activities
I’ve also found you some hole-punch activities from talented teachers and homeschoolers around the web. This first group can be used almost any time of year (or adapted for any time of year.)
Left to right by row:
Paper Donut Craft – Kids can add hole punch “sprinkles” to these crafty donuts. Wouldn’t this be fun to make after reading If You Give a Dog a Donut!
Munched Leaves Craft – Here’s another fun activity to do after reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Kinetic Paper Shape Art – Children use paper scraps and a hole punch to create moveable art in this fascinating project based on the work of artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp.
Confetti Collage – Kids who are prolific hole punchers will enjoy this colorful art activity.
Rainbow Bookmarks – These ‘no glue, no mess’ hole punch bookmarks would be fun to make around St. Patrick’s Day. You could also try them with pastel colors for a Mother’s Day gift.
Uppercase Lowercase Letter Matching – Little hands can punch the matching lowercase letters on these free printable strips.
Seasonal Hole Punching Ideas
A few of the ideas above can also be used seasonally, but I’ve separated these out for you.
Hole Punched Hearts – These sweet hearts are a simple hole-punching activity that kids can work on independently. Then, string them up as a pretty Valentine’s Day decoration.
April Showers Craft – I linked to this rainy day craft at the top of this post, but I’m including it again here for your convenience.
Count to 20 Activity – This hands-on math activity would be a fun addition to your fall apples unit.
Christmas Tree Bookmarks – This is another cute seasonal hole punch craft for little book lovers.
Ready to get started? Hole punch activities are an awesome way to keep your little ones engaged while also practicing fine motor skills. Plus, who doesn’t love the satisfying sound of punching a hole in a piece of paper?
