If you're looking for color learning activities, you could go with the good old classic color wheel clothespin color matching activity where you clip painted clothespins onto a color wheel. I mean it doesn't get much more classic than that.
But what if we did a fun spin on that classic fine motor color matching game? What if we did it on the light table instead? What if we swapped the color matching wheel for some 3D objects to clip to?
Well, the result is this simple fine motor color matching preschool activity for the light table.
Not only does it target fine motor skills as promised in the title, but it works on color vocabulary, recognition, and matching. Plus, it's fun and engaging for toddlers and preschoolers. It's also simple to set up, using materials from the dollar store.
What You'll Need for this Simple Fine Motor Color Matching Light Table Activity
For this fine motor light table activity, we used:
- Translucent colored plastic bins - I found these at the dollar store and they came in red, purple, green, and blue, as well as other colors. You'll want to find containers that match the color of the chip bag clips you have.
- Translucent colored chip bag clips - I also found these at the dollar store and they happened to match the colors of the plastic bins perfectly. They look a bit like these ones, but without the magnets. Really they're just colorful clothespins.
- Light table or light box - My husband and I made our own DIY light table for our boys and it is well loved! It's great for exploring colors like this activity does.
Simply set out all of the materials on the light table. You could clip one or two clips onto the matching bin if you'd like to show that the activity will focus on color matching, but it isn't necessary. Kids can often quickly figure out what to do even without instructions for something like this.
Working on Fine Motor Skills & Color Matching at the Light Table
The clips were a bit challenging for my toddler, K, to open on his own initially. However, after a few minutes of practicing, he quickly mastered opening the clips and was well on his way with this fine motor activity. As you can see, the clips are great for developing fine motor skills. They require a lot of hand and finger strength.
The goal was to match the clips to their corresponding bin in the same color, which K did without prompting from me. It's clear that he's a total pro at color recognition at this point!
But K also had some other ideas for playing with the colorful clips and bins. He shoved his face inside one of the colored bins and looked at himself in the mirrors that we have hanging by our light table. This kid totally cracks me up. He's just such a goofball and I love it! Does this mean that I can count this as a color mixing activity now then? No? Fine...
You could certainly do this fine motor color matching activity without a light table if you wanted. But the materials really pop on the light table though, don't they?
Other Fine Motor Activities for the Light Table that You'll Love
Flower Mandalas Light Table Activity for Kids
Light Table Patterning Activity for Preschool
Fine Motor Light Table Play with Q-Ba-Maze
