One Item Activity: Clothespins

One Item Activity: Clothespins

by | Aug 27, 2014 | activities | 8 comments

 No prep, one item activity for kids using clothespins! Fine motor skills, creativity, engineering exploration for preschoolers and school age kids shared at The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide.

Need an a activity for preschoolers and school aged kids that involves no prep? This is one that will work. One item activity with clothespins will get the fine motor skills working and the creativity flowing.

Jamie at hands on: as we grow inspired me to think up a whole list of one item activities that require zero prep time when she shared a clever fine motor activity using paper clips. It is genius!

I decided to give the kids my clothespins to explore. Yep, clothespins! This is my first installment in a new group of activities I am calling the “One Item Activity” Series. They are created using items or locations that we all have access to, and require minimal to no preparation time.

Clothespin activity for preschoolers and school age kids.

One Item Activity with Clothespins

I set out my coffee can of wooden clothespins (the kind with the spring in the middle) that I have had since my days teaching. My 6 year old asked, “What can we do with these?” I responded, “What ideas can you think of?” Here is what they came up with for the clothespins.

My oldest boy decided to clip the clothespins around the plastic lid of the coffee can. He placed them all around and then said he made a cake. From that point, my 6 year old and 3 year old made a “chain” of clothespins clipping them together to make the chain as long as they could.

Creative Activities with Clothespins

We counted the clothespins as they clipped them together. They made shapes with them as well. All-in-all, my son and daughter spent about 30 minutes exploring, pinching, and connecting the clothespins. You can always add other craft or play items into the activity as well so extend-construction paper, pieces of ribbon, an empty egg carton. There are always more possibilities!

After this, my two oldest were back to playing with our set of DIY jumbo building blocks. I guess those count as a “One Item” Activity too! Of course there are so many ways to use clothespins in learning activities. I have quite a few pinned to my Preschool Activities board on Pinterest.

Do you have any one item activity ideas that have been interesting to your children? 

Share them below so we can all try them!Photo of clothespins text reads One Item Activity Series Clothespins. Multiple activities for kids using only clothespins as the supply in the one item activity series.

Subscribe to the Survival Guide newsletter to receive weekly updates plus snippets of mom motivation via email. Join with me and other moms over on Facebook.

Looking to connect with other Stay-at-Home Moms for support and connection? Join our private Facebook group.

You may also like

8 Comments

    • Jaimi
      Jaimi on September 9, 2014 at 3:20 am

      Thanks so much for sharing!

      Reply
  2. maryanne @ mama smiles
    maryanne @ mama smiles on September 4, 2014 at 2:59 am

    My kids do fun stuff with clothespins, too! I love the creative ideas kids come up with!

    Reply
    • Jaimi
      Jaimi on September 7, 2014 at 3:36 am

      Kids really are so clever. It's always fun to see what they will think up next.

      Reply
  3. Emma @ P is for Preschooler
    Emma @ P is for Preschooler on August 30, 2014 at 7:53 am

    It's so fun to see what kids will come up with – they're creative little people! 😉 I look forward to more in this series!

    Reply
    • Jaimi
      Jaimi on August 30, 2014 at 10:22 pm

      It is so fun. They never fail to amaze me with their ability to see possibilities. Thanks, Emma!

      Reply
  4. Bumblebees R Us Day Care Center
    Bumblebees R Us Day Care Center on August 30, 2014 at 6:52 am

    With kids, you will really never run out of creative ideas. For some people, it may appear nothing more than just a clothespin. But certainly, creative minds see more than that!

    Reply
    • Jaimi
      Jaimi on August 30, 2014 at 10:22 pm

      You are so right! Kids have such an interesting way that they approach the simple supplies. I just love observing and being part of it.

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.