Last week I described the very fun and engaging Fine Motor DIY Ornament Station that provided some great fine motor practice. It was the first step to this year’s homemade Christmas ornaments.   Each holiday season, we love to make keepsake ornaments for our tree as well as for gifts for grandparents and close friends.

This year we decided to make penguins- one of my son’s favorite animals (and we had already done snowmen, reindeer, Santas, and Christmas light ornaments in previous years).

My kids loved filling the ornaments with pompom balls for this project. We used a variety of hollow plastic bulbs that can be found at most craft stores, super centers or online here.

To complete the ornaments, we used white paint for finger prints. Some ornaments hand only a couple prints, some as many as four. Finger prints and finger painting provided for some fun tactile exploration. Some of the fingerprints smeared a bit, but that’s ok! The beauty of homemade ornaments is that each on is different and unique.

It was quite easy to turn the prints into penguins: just a couple eyes, a beak, a black outline, little wings, and orange feet.

Some of the ornaments we left as is, others we added snowflakes, hats, scarves, and/or earmuffs.

These turned out super cute, let me know how it goes if you decide to try them too!

*Disclaimer: The information presented in the blog is intended for information purposes only. Please consult your physician with any medical concerns and/or for medical advice. The information presented is not intended to be used in place of individualized therapy services, please contact your health care team for skilled therapy if you think it is necessary. Please supervise your children (or friends, spouses, etc)  if you decide to try any of the activities or ideas presented as the author or this blog does not claim liability for possible injury or negative consequences related to the activities and ideas presented here.
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