Click here to read This Screw Driver Activity is Fine Motor Play for Preschoolers with Real Tools on Hands On As We Grow®
This fine motor screw driver activity is so perfect for little people who love using real tools! They’ll love to screw real screws into styrofoam chunks using a real screwdriver!
I don’t know about you, but it seems that after Christmas and birthday parties we always have big chunks of styrofoam!
I always look at these and think it’s a shame to recycle something that has such a cool sensory texture!
Since my son has been super interested in real tools lately, I figured we could use the soft and pliable texture of styrofoam to do some easy screwing with real tools!
To do this screw driver activity you’ll need:
- Styrofoam chunk or packaging from a toy
- Real screws
- A real screw driver that matches the screws
- Or you can buy the Montessori Screw Driver Set (affiliate link) that has the board, nuts, bolts and screws included.
There is truly no set up required for this activity, but you may want to lay a sheet down on the floor beneath, or take this one outside for easy cleanup.
If your kids are like my preschooler, there is bound to be some breakage and shaving of styrofoam at some point.
Screw into Styrofoam using a Real Screw Driver!
Charlie, my 4 year old boy, was in heaven when we pulled out the real tools!
He couldn’t believe we were giving him real screws.
But he also wasn’t sure he would be strong enough to do it. But boy was he happy when I challenged him to try and he could!
This styrofoam is such a perfect material to use for for this screw driver activity.
It’s easy enough to screw into and at the same time it maintains its structure inside the hole to hold the screw and make it really fun to screw into!
Charlie just loved watching the screws slowly disappear into the styrofoam as he twisted!
The fine motor skills benefit in using the screwdriver and lining it up every time was awesome!
After screwing in about 6 or 7 screws, Charlie decided he was going to line up some for mommy to try!
This time together was so special and boosted my son’s confidence!
I loved watching the proud smiles, accomplished look in his eyes, and listening to the positive phrases coming from his mouth!
Moments like this are priceless.
Finding Other Ways to Use the Screw Driver and Styrofoam to Extend the Activity
As usual when doing an activity with a preschooler, they come up with their own way to have fun with the supplies!
Here are some of the ways my son extended our activity.
First, he decided to see how many screws he could fit into one spot!
Next he poked the styrofoam with the tip of the screwdriver to make shape stamps in the styrofoam.
Then my preschooler decided to poke hole through the styrofoam with the screw driver.
This was actually a great unexpected extension!
Plus, an awesome use of some gross motor muscles in the midst of our activity.
Not to mention, it got a lot of laughs when he would push with all his might and then it would just pop through the other side.
Then, it was time to try pushing a screw into the holes he made.
At this point he came to realize he would either have to twist the screws in…
… or push with all his might!
Next, my creative preschooler decided to try screw driving his screw into the ground with his tool.
But this proved to be much harder than the styrofoam was.
So he moved on to something new.
The final screw driver activity idea my preschooler came up with was to flip the styrofoam over!
First, he tried to push out all the screws he had put in from the other end.
We quickly discovered how tricky that was because the styrofoam held them in very well! Not to mention we now were working with the pointy end.
So instead, Charlie decided to try screwing a few of his screws in from the bottom.
Add a Learning Aspect
After seeing how much fun my preschooler had using real tools in styrofoam, I started to see how versatile this activity could be!
If you want to add an extra learning aspect I had a few ideas I want to try.
So I’ll share them with you!
- NAME: Write their name with permanent marker on the styrofoam first and have them trace it with screws
- LETTERS: Write letters in permanent marker on the styrofoam. Cut out paper squares with the matching letters on them. Have your kids poke the screw through a letter and then screw it into the matching letter on the styrofoam.
- NUMBERS: Write numbers 1-10 on the styrofoam with permanent marker. Have the kids screw the right number of screws into each number to equal that number.
- SHAPES: Cut out large shapes from paper with various numbers of corners. Try a triangle, square, hexagon, and octagon. Have kids screw in each corner and then count how many corners each shape has. Write the name of the shape and number of corners in the middle of the shape afterwards.
We had so much fun with this fine motor screw driver activity with styrofoam.
I really hope you give it a try next time you have a big chunk of styrofoam to recycle.
And that your little ones enjoy the chance to use real tools too!
What are some fun ways you have used styrofoam for activities?
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