More Monsters! Fine Motor + Fine Art!

FINE MOTOR LEADS TO FINE ARTS!!

First off the good news: it's FRIDAY! 

Then even MORE good news: 

great ideas ahead in this, Part 34, of my Fine Motor Friday series. 

We've been talking here for a while about MONSTERS. 

I've been searching for monster-work to help launch the digital download of my children's song "Monster Spray" over at TpT. 

Enjoy these third grade projects at Blue Heron Elementary in Colorado, hanging outside the Art room during my Author/Illustrator school visit this week.

It's so much fun to draw monsters. Since they are imaginary, there is no right or wrong answer and everyone's project is awesome! The more 'out there' you can imagine, the more fun the project and its end results. 

The old art teacher in me just LUV LUV LUVs this project!

By third grade some children are having frustrations over their drawings not 'looking like' the subject. The more frustrated a child becomes the less likely they are to want to engage in the creative process. This is a brilliant project to ensure success from every budding artist developing both their fine motor skills and also their creative and artistic efforts. 

Let's shift gears from the artwork of the 3rd grade to the YOUNGER set. 

While being hosted by our Colorado Clement family I got to make classroom visits to the preschool housed in Blue Heron. Ya just gotta LUV a seasonal project that gives golf tees, a hammer and a pumpkin to a young child! What an engaging way to wield growing control over those fine muscle motor skills. What an empowering activity! 

In the same Bluebird preschool classroom I was overjoyed to see these bins of gourds being sorted by color family. 

Happy Harvest indeed. 

Just having a variety of fall produce to handle, explore and categorize is a great sensory activity. 

The color sort is just brilliant. 

I like to conclude my Fine Motor Friday installments with a reminder to have the children see YOUR writing around the room. Just like reading is encouraged by seeing others read, so is writing encouraged by observing all of the times when writing is necessary. 

Here's a super fun reading pocket-style, anchor chart from the kindergarten room..... just in time for trick-or-treating fun next week. I'm such a fan of seeing the sentences in the handwritten format. KUDOS!

Are all of the children in your world gearing up for monster fun? 

What costume dreams are unfolding at your house?

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

I'm always grateful for your helping my efforts by pinning images that you have found helpful. 

-- Debbie -- 

Yes. It's true. 

I opened a 'store' at Teachers Pay Teachers! 

My song entitled "Monster Spray" is in a zipped file in Mp3 format. 

***It will be on sale all weekend... starting tomorrow morning! 

Did you catch these earlier 'monster' articles? 
 My Monster RoundUP is one click away. 
That article has dozens of ideas from bloggers around the world! 


A couple weeks ago I demonstrated a DIY Monster Puppet from upcycling 'trash.' 
Click back here to see that treasure.