Rescue the Bugs! Fine Motor Activity

This rescue the bugs activity is perfect for developing those fine motor skills. Little ones need to use tweezers to free the bugs from under the web! Develop hand and finger muscles and hand-eye coordination in this early years activity.

I love this activity! It has so many development benefits and the children get so much enjoyment out of it, too. It’s also really simple to set up with resources you likely have lying around the house.

Supplies

• Tray or container – I used a tuff tray, but any sort of baking tray or round shallow container would work too.
• We used a kinetic sand base – you could also use regular sand, grass or mud! Really any sort of base works for this.
• Tweezers – I used some tweezers from an old Play-Doh set and from a colour sorting game we have. Learning Resources do fab ones if you are looking to buy – https://www.learningresources.co.uk/jumbo-tweezers-set-of-12?srsltid=AfmBOoo4iLxozSEIW6Uh7mYQoyTZxpdl2vAAU3ChVPqqYXGU7sBEy_MI
• Small bowls to place the rescued bugs in
• Plastic bugs or mini beasts. This set was £3.99 from Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Realistic-Children-Education-Halloween-Birthday/dp/B0BZS3BPZP/ref=sr_1_5?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kTD0VFy8aABRtLCNeRZw4Ssi9H66py9o8Am9V0QQYCH41ElF6YdxeJX0oWeDSMUry4fcBIocsE8xZMk7Zn4L0sZz4CCDtPmnOddohhkS0gd47rfsY7AqnvyDjSJC2iFHXpWla7grVjJmBbXbFD4GOCDqvsmhXaESe4zSDJtnq-WwLCzX7GTlVg2dERxIxrVEJ_VMpJOKI64QIGJ03-3zkbhtnNW2ziTg20S83l1B7pFBT0B8u_CB9DI0utj3SDf_1KP-IXjfm-8ePxcm3KhkBZCm9Z0UL2G0InL0C3HC9Gw.eeWQekmmWAyL3A75pNhESfBfTUZ3jv3hJ26rsBAb-4g&dib_tag=se&keywords=plastic%2Bbugs&qid=1724671613&sr=8-5&th=1
• Twine for the web – Alternatively you could use tape or wool.
• Scissors & sellotape – to tape the web in place!

Simple add the sand to the base of your tray or container and add some bugs, bowls and tweezers. Tape the twine in a criss cross way across the top to create the web. You can vary the difficulty level here dependent on your child’s age/ability by making the gaps smaller or larger.

Both my 9 and 2 year old had a go at rescuing the bugs! My 2 year old used the tweezers but found it a little tricky and started to use her fingers. It’s important to allow the child to engage with the activity how they wish, it’s about playing and having fun! She then began to role play with the bugs being trapped in the web – the other bugs had to help rescue them from the spider. Towards the end, my 2 year old began to ‘hide’ the bugs under the sand.

How this supports development

Physical – Fine Motor Skills and Hand-Eye Coordination – Children have to use their pincer grasp to work the tweezers, avoiding the spider’s web. They use their hands and fingers to grasp the bugs, keeping hold of them and transferring to a bowl.

Communication and language – Through role playing with the trapped bugs and spider.

Understanding the world – Play supports real life scenarios, such as bugs being trapped by spiders sticky webs. What happens to the bugs if the spider catches them?

Mathematics – Bugs can be colour sorted and counted as they are rescued and transferred to bowls. How many bugs can they rescue?

Let me know if you have a go at this activity – how did your child engage and interact? If you liked this activity, you may also like this maths based colour sort https://theeducatormum.co.uk/early-years-colour-sort-activity/.