Easy DIY Geoboard for Toddlers to Make Stars & Simple Shapes

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Make a DIY geoboard with cork hot pads, pushpins and kids rubber hair elastics for some twinkling star making fun with your toddler!

Let the creativity soar with this super simple DIY geoboard that is perfect for toddlers to increase fine motor skills and learn simple shapes like stars.

This little geoboard is super easy to put together and such a great tool for strengthening those fine motor muscles.

Fine motor muscles need lots of practice and working out to get little ones ready for writing.

Make Your Own Stars on a Cork DIY Geoboard

Honestly this is the easiest geoboard idea I’ve ever done. So little prep needed.

To Make this DIY Geoboard Star Activity, You’ll Need:

Cork hot pads, or coasters
Colorful pushpins
Colorful toddler rubber hair elastics (or small colorful rubber bands like loom bands)
Black marker

Supplies needed to make a cork based homemade geoboard for toddlers

The only prep required for this activity is to gather the supplies, and draw some stars on the cork.

I recommend drawing the simple 5 pointed star with the lines.

This will help guide your toddler on where to put the elastics on the homemade geoboard.

Making Stars on Cork Base DIY Geoboard for Toddlers

When I showed my toddler the supplies I made sure to only explain and focus on the first step.

Start by Making Stars with Pushpins

I opened up the pushpins and said we need to make each star it’s own color.

And each point on the star needs one pushpin.

Put one pin at the top of each star point.

Maisie went straight to work!

We also talked about how the tips are pokey, so we need to be gentle with them.

And to make sure we pick any pins up that we drop.

Maisie was super careful and also excited to get to use a tool she isn’t usually allowed to play with.

I find introducing an object my kids are not usually allowed to use like real tools, mommy’s permanent markers, or pushpins brings with it big interest.

Make each star a different color for added color recognition practice

My toddler worked very hard to get the pins to go in the cork right at the very tip of each star.

The concentration she was using with her new DIY geoboard was quite impressive.

I was pleasantly surprised.

Maisie moved easily from color to color until she was down to the very last star on her cork geoboard.

Getting all the pins in place for her stars.

Throughout this whole process we talked a lot about colors.

She spent a lot of time naming the colors and showing me other pins that are in the container that are the same color.

We even pointed out objects in the room that matched the same color.

Start Adding Elastics to Your DIY Cork Geoboard

Now it was time to start adding the rubber hair elastics to our homemade geoboard.

This took a little practice and learning.

We took it one step at a time.

First, stretching them with one finger from each hand.

Next, letting one end of the elastic hook onto one of the target pushpins.

Lastly, follow the marker line and hook the second end over the pin at the other end of the line.

After 3 or 4 elastics with gentle verbal guidance, my toddler mastered it.

Maisie was now off to the races with her new DIY twinkle star geoboard!

And she loved how bouncy her stars were once all the elastics had been put on!

The stars were taking shape and my 2 year old was in the zone.

One star, one color, at a time.

And so proud of herself after each one.

I couldn’t believe how such a simple activity like this DIY cork geoboard was bringing so much learning and joy in my toddler.

Activity win over here!

Make a DIY geoboard for toddlers with cork, push pins and rubber hair ties. Create stars, or other simple shapes you are working on learning.

After getting the 3rd or 4th elastic went on the geoboard we would look closely to see where the marker lines were on the cork that didn’t yet have an elastic over them.

Maisie would look very closely and then count how many rubber bands she had in that color too.

She knew she needed 5 pins and 5 elastics for each star.