I have seen these name recognition wooden plaques all over pinterest at the minute, the idea being the little ones use pincers to transfer the balls to their name, helping to recognise the letters of their name and to aid their fine motor skills. Activities using pincers are great for strengthening the hands and fingers, and helping with their grasp, all in preparation for writing. I though this was a great activity for Lake but you know me, I had to have a go at making one instead. I actually love how it turned out...
What you will need:
Salt Dough (I like white salt dough as apposed to the regular, See My Recipe HERE)
That's all you for the plague, but you are going to want something for your littles to fill it with. I used dried chickpeas (obviously I had to DIY these too), as they are the perfect size to fill and a perfect size for the pincers and scoops!
After you have mixed up the salt dough, make a rectangle roughly 2cm thick, obviously length dependant on how many letters in their name. I tried to round off the edges a bit for a smoother finish.
Then with a knife I scored out Lakes name and scooped the middle with the edge of the knife. It looked a bit messy so I then used my baby finger to push down in the name to make it smoother and more rounded.
Then into the oven. I put this in for a couple of hours on 100. I then left it overnight and it dried really hard and durable.
I spray painted the dried chickpeas in a metallic rose gold. Totally not necessary but I like to be extra and had some spray paint left over from a previous project.
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