Practicing Buttoning Quiet Toy



The turtle follows the ribbon from one corner to the diagonal corner.



I saw something simular in a sensory magazine and immediately thought how boring it looked although it had a great concept. The point of the product was to help kids learn how to button or to develop fine motor skills. I took that idea and made something simular.



A close up of the turtle bead I used for this project.

 Rather than using a plain bead I used a sea theme and added a turtle and sea printed fabric. I made some squares and made buttonholes large enough for the bead to go through. This keeps the fabric in place. Due to the ribbon sewn into the product I was able to go and make sure that unless it is cut or broke the bead will not fall off.
This product will be going to Little Mr. E who is 5 and still struggles with many daily tasks such as buttoning. I am sure his mother will update later after it is given to her and Little Mr. E plays with it.

Marble Fabric Mazes



This project specifically is about 6" square.



Okay, I finally made one just to try it out and see how well it worked. My son happened to be the guinea pig for this one. Anyhow, this was a very easy sewing project and you can make it as difficult and elaborate as you wish. I started out with a sewn square and a few lines. I made sure I put the marble in the maze while making this lines to make sure I had enough room. Here is one of the ones I made. It has 3 dead ends and I just made it as I went. The only thing I thik I wish I would have done differently on this particular one was make sure the backing is a solid color or make the end and beginning of the maze very clear.



This is my son working on completing the maze. Notice
how he's using two hands. He did figure out he could slide
the ball as well especially if you were going in one direction.

Anyhow, my son loved this project and took it to bed with him. Hey, it's quiet and non-destructive so I am not going to complain too loudly. Here he is using it. He found the marble and now he's just pushing it through the maze. It helps with fine motor skills and hopefully I'll add some more variety to this idea later.

Mr. Buttons the Turtle

One of the tasks some kids have problems with is fine motor skills they need for every day things that most people don't think twice about. One of these important fine motor skills happens to be learning to button. I was inspired by another site and asked one of my friends if one of her sons had issues with this. I decided to try this out to see how well it worked. (Mind you, I had to learn how to do a button hole on my sewing machine so it took a while.)



The Front of Mr. Turtle



The Underside of Mr. Buttons



Anyhow, her son LOVES turtles and so I made this felt turtle that is full of buttons. You must button the arms, legs, head, tail and eyes on as well as his 8 different spotted colors. Each piece is zig-zagged stitched around two pieces of felt. Then I put the button holes on each piece and sewed the buttons in place so the pieces would fit.