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Lacing provides a great opportunity for fine motor skills and makes for a wonderful busy bag. I recently saw a pack in the toy store in the city and thought my 4 year old would love to give that a try.
Unfortunately as an imported toy (we live in Ecuador) the price was a bit too much for my liking. So we made our own!
How to make Foam Lacing Shapes
To make your own foam lacing shapes you will need:
- Sheet of foam in various colors (cardboard also works if you are in a pinch!)
- Laces – Either a shoe lace or special lacing pack with the ends in plastic for easy threading.
- Shapes of your choice or you can freehand it.
- Pen, scissors and a hole punch.
- Optional assistant and / or cuppa hot stuff 😉
Select a shape and trace it on your foam. I turned the cookie cutter over to maximize the size.
Make as many shapes as you want and cut them out.
Use your hole punch to make holes for the laces around the edges. Try not to get too close to the edge because your foam will tear with the force of lacing if you do.
I also made some large shapes for the kids to lace. At fist the lacing might look like these below, but the more practice the better 🙂
There are many ways the kids can lace once they get over the initial randomness.
These also make for great gifts!
Amazon also has tons of lacing shapes that you can buy. Check them out here.
Check out what my co-hosts have been up to with fine motor skills this week!
- Valentines Day Sweet Treat Fine Motor Skills Activities from Little Bins for Little Hands
- Transportation Connect the Dots with Numbers from Craftulate
- Foam Heart Sticker Mosaic from School Time Snippets
- Painting Olympic Figures from Stir the Wonder
- 50 COOL DIY Toys for Fine Motor Skills from Lalymom
- Cooking with Kids: Developing Fine Motor Skills in the Kitchen from Still Playing School
- Fine Motor Valentine’s Playdough Play from House of Burke
Linda says
I was looking for things to put in our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and happily came across this! What width will fit through a hole made by a standard punch? If it was mentioned, I’m sorry but I didn’t see it. This is indeed a wonderful idea for 2-4 yr olds!
Ashley says
Hello Linda, the size of the hole does vary from place to place. If you are in the US, the width is 6 to 8 millimeters (1/4 inch to 4/16 inch). Europe is slightly different and I am not sure the sizing there. Hope that helps!
Thank you for also being a part of the community!
Kate says
What a great idea! I was just looking for some good laces for a bead-lacing product. This looks perfect. And now I have another idea to work on 🙂 Thanks so much!
Nic says
Brilliant idea thank you for sharing!!
Susen says
Using the shapes to trace is great!
Christy Garrett @ Uplifting Families says
Great idea, thank you for sharing.
Kristina says
Very creative! We have purchased several sets, but never thought to make our own from foam!
Nicolette Roux says
Thank you! We are really enjoying them.
Tiffiny says
What a great idea! I made one on a whim with one of the foam hearts I got from the Target $1 bin, but I didn’t even think about making my own with other shapes. Genius! Thanks for sharing.
Melissa D says
Why didn’t I ever think of using our cookie (Playdoh) cutters as stencils? This is BRILLIANT! 🙂
Georgina @ Craftulate says
Oooh we have those cookie cutters! What a great idea to use them as stencils. We haven’t started lacing yet but as it’s a perfect fine motor activity I think we’ll be starting soon!
Anna says
I have some square star foam pieces with holes, test tubes come in them, we are trying to find something to do or make with them, please help out I’m lost.
Nicolette Roux says
how about posting buttons or bottle caps through them?
Krissy of B-Inspired Mama says
Such an awesome idea!!
Still Playing School says
A great tutorial! Thank you!
Samantha @ Stir the Wonder says
Great idea! I love using cookie cutters as stencils! And I bet you could make much more variety than you could buy!
Emma @ P is for Preschooler says
Not only are these great for fine motor skills, they would be good to take to an appointment or somewhere children have to wait. A few foam shapes and a shoelace and you’d have (hopefully!) an entertained child! 🙂