Room On The Broom Inspired Fine Motor Craft
We picked up Room On The Broom at the bookstore on a whim around Halloween a few years ago. It quickly became one of our favorites to pull out each fall. Today I’m sharing a very simple fine motor craft for young learns that is inspired by Room On The Broom. Read on to learn more about the book, and the fun project that accompanies it.
READING ROOM ON THE BROOM
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Room On The Broom is a lively tale about a witch who meets a cast of characters while out on her broom. As the poor witch keeps dropping things mid-flight, helpful animals return her belongings in exchange for a spot on the broom. Eventually, the broom is too full and breaks. The witch and her friends face a fierce dragon when they land, and must work together to escape him. The story is told in rhyming verses, which keep kids listening and engaged. Rhythmic stories like this can also help children to guess what word may end a verse, based on rhyme pattern. The illustrations are bright, and the characters’ faces are filled with personality and wide, expressive eyes.
ROOM ON THe bROOM FINE MOTOR
Materials:
- Brown pipe cleaners.
- I used 2 pipe cleaners to create 1 broom.
- Assorted beads.
- Pony beads or similar size work well.
- Center hole should be large enough to thread onto doubled pipe cleaner.
- Shears- to snip pipe cleaners.
- Small rubber band.
- 1 band for each broom.
How To Assemble A Broom:
For young children, I advise assembling the brooms ahead of time. Older children may enjoy helping to assemble their brooms, but adults should always snip the pipe cleaners for safety.
- Take 1 brown pipe cleaner and fold it in half.
- Take a second brown pipe cleaner and fold it into quarters.
- Use shears to snip the ends open at one side of quartered pipe cleaner.
- Hold quartered pipe cleaner at the bottom of the halved piped cleaner.
- Free, ‘snipped’ ends of both pipe cleaners should be together at the bottom.
- Use the rubber band to attach the quartered pipe cleaner (essentially, whisks of the broom) to the bottom of the halved pipe cleaner (essentially, the handle of the broom).
- Wrap the rubber band around the bundle of pipe cleaners many times. The broom should be secure and snug when assembled.
Is There Room On The Broom?
Set out a bowl of beads and encourage children to thread the beads onto the ‘broom handle’. Explain to them that the beads represent the witch and the animal passengers on her broom. How many beads can they fit onto their broom? If there are assorted bead sizes, does that number change depending on which beads they choose? You might encourage children to create patterns of beads on their broom. The fine motor and hand-eye coordination needed for threading the beads is excellent practice for pre-writers. Counting and patterning ads some math skills to the learning activity as well.
Have you done any fine motor play with your little ones? Which activities were their favorites? Let me know in the comments below!
Some essentials you may need…
Indrani
Very well illustrated. I like the colorful creations.
Useful book for kids.
Kate
The illustrations in the book are definitely very charming!
placeinthisworld247
Wow! Sounds like a fun book and activity too! I think kids would absolutely LOVE this book and activity that comes with it! 🙂
Kate
Thank you so much!
Dipika
Such a cool idea for crafts.
Kate
Thank you, Dipika!
DailyLifeofDenley
Oh my gosh, this is so fun! I love doing crafts with my niece, I’ll have to share this with my sister! 🙂
Kate
Thank you so much!
Rose
We have not read this book yet.I love holiday books. We are in the middle of reading some Halloween and fall books.
Kate
This one is very cute. Hope you get a chance to check it out!
LaShell
So fun and easy to make! My nieces and nephews may enjoy this book as well. Although we dont have Autumn here. Hehe.
Kate
The book is great for our autumn, but certainly not only for autumn! Thanks LaShell!
Sarah Fleming
This is such a cute and simple idea! I love adding a craft tailored to a book reading.
Kate
Sometimes, keeping it simple is best. Thanks Sarah!
thelittlestfunk
Room on the Broom is one of our favorites! What a fun activity!
Kate
Thank you! We love it too!
Kendra
This is great, my daughter has this book as well. I think she would love to try this activity.
Kate
I hope you guys have a ton of fun with it!
AdventuresWithLuda
Love the theme of this book, fall is my favorite season – plus, that activity looks super fun, I’ll have to try it with my nephew 🙂
Kate
It’s such a fun book- I hope you and your nephew are able to check it out!
Faith B
This is a wonderful idea! Your tutorial is so well-made and clear, I might feel confident to try it! Thank you so much for sharing, and Happy Fall!
Kate
Thanks so much Faith- happy autumn to you too!
Kelly
I love this! My son has been watching this show on Netflix recently and he loves it! I need to do this craft with him he would love it! Thank you
Kate
I didn’t even know this was on Netflix! I’ve got to check it out for my kiddos- thanks for sharing that with me, Kelly!
Angel
Thanks! I was looking for newfine motor skill activities
Kate
Glad I could share an idea with you!
Shanika @ Orchids + Sweet Tea
This looks like a really great book! I would definitely buy this. It’s perfect for Halloween! I haven’t done a lot of fine motor skills with my little guy yet, however we’ve began painting (a little bit) and he enjoys coloring and tracing his hands and feet. As he gets older, I plan to delve into more complicated fine motor activities. Thanks so much for sharing!
Kate
Fine motor tasks definitely progress in complexity as kids grow and become more skilled. Hope you guys enjoy the book!
Corinne
What a cool activity! I bet my nephew would love to do this with me next week 🙂
Kate
I hope you guys try it, and enjoy it!
Flossie McCowald | SuperMomHacks
This is such a cute idea! Honestly, most of our fine motor play at this age came at mealtime…nothing like watching a kiddo play with Cheerios, peas, etc. 🙂
Kate
We do Cheerios and that sort of stuff too, but sometimes we like to switch it up with stuff he’s not going to scarf down immediately, hahaha! Thanks Flossie!
Amber @ xoxo, Am
That looks like a cute book! I can’t wait to do crafts with my niece and nephew when they get older!
Kate
Crafting with little ones is a lot of fun- I know you’re going to love it Amber!
Claire
This book looks adorable and my kids would love the craft! Thanks for sharing!!
Kate
Hope you guys enjoy it Claire! Thanks!
momtasticworld
My toddler loves reading books and I am sure this DIY will make the experience more interesting. Thank you for sharing this.
Kate
I hope your little one has a lot of fun with it!
Tavia
First, We LOVE halloween and all of the books, decorations, shirts, etc!! This looks SO FUN!! I feel like my babies would really love this. Thanks for sharing!
Kate
We’re big fans of Halloween too! Enjoy the season!
Shannon Peterson
Oh my gosh, this is such a fun craft idea! My boys would love it!
Kate
I hope they have a ton of fun with it, Shannon!