After 15 years I'm not ashamed to say that sometimes I get into a "rut" when thinking of fun and engaging activities to do with my students...and address their goals at the same time. Today we worked on creating flowers. I had 2 different activities depending on the grade and fine motor level of the student.
Kindergarten students: I gave each student a white paper plate (the cheap kind). Each student colored the inside circle (I darkened the outline for them) with a color of their choice. Then they colored the outside of the plate (the bumpy part) with a color of their choice. I made sure to instruct them to keep their elbows down and try to just use their wrist and fingers to promote good finger dexterity. I also told them that it kind of felt like "brushing their teeth" when coloring the bumpy part. In my picture to the right I colored each section instead of the entire thing the same color. Then I drew dark short black lines on the outside part of the plate. They cut each line while working on their scissor skills. Then I gave them a piece of clear packaging tape and they taped a green popsicle stick with leaves to the back of the plate (glue just wasn't sticking). I had them stick googly eye stickers on the center circle and draw a nose and mouth. On the back of the plate they wrote their first and last name inside dark blacked lines that I drew. They received a small reward if they stayed inside the lines to bump up the excitement!
1st and 2nd grade students (picture left): I drew a simple picture of a flower for each student on white paper. I asked them to think of words that started with certain letters. Eventually the first letters would correspond with the first letter of colors. So for example, I asked them to think of "g" words and write each one on the leaves and stem of the flower. I asked to think of "y" words and had them write these words in the center circle of the flower and the parts of the sun. I had them write various other words starting with letters r, o, p, and b. They worked on letter formation and fitting the words into the selected space for spatial awareness. Then when they were done writing I gave them a green crayon and told them to find all of the words that started with g and color that shape with the green crayon. Then find the "r" words and color it's shape in with the red crayon, etc. See picture.
After each craft activity they were given the opportunity to ride back to class in the hallway with the roller racer or scooters. If they finished earlier I had them take turns climbing the ladder swing or jump on the trampoline.
Have fun!