Veronika is just starting to love dress-up, especially adorning herself with ribbons, beaded bracelets, and other accessories. She’s also at the perfect age to hone the fine motor skills needed for threading. So this activity combined the two perfectly!

To start, I set out a tray with colorful paper straws and her safety scissors. She wasn’t strong enough to cut through the straws, but she loved trying! Meanwhile, I worked alongside her and snipped each straw into several smaller pieces.

Give your toddler a shoelace or craft lace, and show him or her how to poke the tip into each piece of straw, then pull all the way through.

Veronika was delighted when she could do this alone, working with such concentration on her face. It was harder for her to pull the lace all the way through, but a little mommy assistance did the trick.

She loved deciding which color straw piece we should add next! Once the lace was full, I tied it into a knot so she could wear it as a necklace.

My little fashionista! She had so much fun that we made a second one for mommy to wear, too.