Christmas Fine Motor Center

As the holiday season approaches, Christmas fine motor activities become an integral part of our preschool curriculum. One of our favorite Christmas preschool activities is the gift-wrapping preschool center.

Here, our little learners get the chance to master their fine motor skills while immersing themselves in holiday fun. Wrapping gifts engages their tiny fingers as well as teaches them important self-help skills, which is an important part of preschool development.

So, let’s gear up for a season filled with learning, laughter, and lots of beautifully wrapped pretend gifts!

Christmas fine motor center for preschoolers where preschoolers wrap pretend gifts for the holidays | picture of a wooden basket filled with jingle bells. Next to it is a roll of red wrapping paper, tape, and two pairs of scissors.

The holiday season is just around the corner, and we can’t wait to sprinkle a bit of Christmas magic into our preschool curriculum with some extra festive fine motor activities.

We’ve got a whole sleigh-full of fun learning experiences, but one that tops the list is our preschool gift-wrapping center where students get to really work their fine motor muscles and life-skills.

We’ve found the perfect recipe for blending fun and learning, equipping them with essential self-help skills that are so important at this age. My preschoolers jump at the opportunity to be at this fine motor center because they get to use tape and scissors, just like the adults in their lives.

And if you’re using out Fine Motor Task Boxes in your classroom, then you already know how much preschoolers appreciate scissor cutting activities.

As we joyfully count down the days to Christmas, we’re excited about a season brimming with new learning, hearty laughter, and the heartwarming sight of our little ones beaming with pride as they invite a classmate to open their pretend gifts.

Christmas Fine Motor Center

Introducing Christmas fine motor center in our preschool classroom is the perfect blend of holiday cheer and developmental practice. Use wrapping paper and tape from a dollar store to keep the cost down.

Materials

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The Set-Up

Set out the materials in a pleasing manner that is inviting to the children. I placed the Christmas bows in a white ceramic bowl and several sets of jingle bells in a wooden tray. The jingle bells were for the children to wrap up.

Christmas fine motor gift wrapping center | | picture of a wooden basket filled with jingle bells. Next to it is a roll of red wrapping paper, tape, and two pairs of scissors.

How to Introduce the Gift Wrapping Fine Motor Center

I began by modeling for the children how to properly wrap a gift.

We talked about what size box to choose based on how big the bells were.

Christmas gift wrapping center for fine motor practice | Christmas fine motor gift wrapping center | preschoolers putting jingle bells into a box to be wrapped

And the preschoolers quickly learned that the larger bells required larger boxes.

This came about by some trial an error as many of the preschoolers tried stuffing as many bells as possible into a single box only to realize that they couldn’t fit the lid back onto the box.

While this may look like preschoolers just playing, filling a box with an appropriate amount of jingle bells is actually both a measurement and an estimation skill.

If you want to learn more about how to teach measurement to preschoolers, or how to teach estimation and data analysis, then you have to read our Ultimate Guides!

Christmas gift wrapping center for fine motor practice | Christmas fine motor gift wrapping center | preschooler using gift wrap and tape to wrap a pretend gift to work on self help skills and life skills

The children carefully wrapped and taped up their gift boxes full of jingle bells.

As they worked, they played a bit of pretend and share who they were giving their gifts to and what was “actually inside”. It was precious to hear how thoughtful they were.

Christmas fine motor gift wrapping center | fine motor centers for preschoolers | preschooler holding up a gift that was wrapped at the fine motor center for Christmas theme

The students showed off their gifts and left them on the table for the next set of preschoolers to unwrap, another fine motor activity.

The wrapping was not perfect, and I did not correct the children, but only helped when asked.

My purpose for this Christmas fine motor center was not to force the children to produce perfectly wrapped gifts but more for them to practice on their own all the skills associated with gift wrapping.

Finding and matching boxes with lids, cutting long lengths of paper, pulling off and cutting tape, folding paper, taping down the paper folds, and so on and so on.

More Fine Motor Christmas Activities

Fine motor Christmas activities are a fun and engaging way to develop hand strength and finger dexterity in children. These activities, which can range from gift-wrapping stations to dot sticker printable strips, not only enhance fine motor skills but also prepare the hands and fingers for writing, making them perfect for preschoolers and kindergarten students.

Check out these really clever and fun Christmas activities that really work the fine motor skills.