St. Patrick's Day pom pom mats are a lucky, hands-on way to build little hands this March! With the Fine Motor Mats for St. Patrick's Day | Pom Poms, preschool and kindergarten children grab and place pom poms to build pictures like a rainbow, a pot of gold and a leprechaun, then trace words and find beginning sounds.

Developing fine motor skills is important for preschool and kindergarten children. Fine motor skills help children learn to control the hand, fingers and thumb. Activities like these help children develop the skills they need not only to hold a crayon and write with a pencil but to handle everyday life. On each mat, children build a picture by matching pom pom colors using one-to-one correspondence (placing one pom pom in each circle), trace a word and find the images that have the same beginning sound.

With these St. Patrick's Day pom pom mats, you get

• St. Patrick's Day pictures such as a rainbow, gold and a leprechaun to build with pom poms
• Color matching and one-to-one correspondence on every mat
• Word tracing and beginning sound practice on each mat
• Strength building for the index finger and thumb

Print the mats, set out the pom poms and your St. Patrick's Day fine motor center is ready to go.

What's Included

• St. Patrick's Day pom pom mats with color-matching circles to build a picture, such as a rainbow, gold coins above a pot and a leprechaun
• Word tracing on each mat, such as rainbow, gold and leprechaun
• Beginning sound picture choices on each mat
• A grayscale mat option, as shown in the preview images

Why Teachers Love It

• Builds hand strength: Grabbing and placing pom poms strengthens the index finger and thumb.
• Literacy and fine motor together: Every mat pairs the pom pom build with word tracing and beginning sounds.
• Easy to extend: Add tweezers to stretch fine motor skills even further.
• St. Patrick's Day fun: Rainbows, gold and leprechauns keep children excited to finish each mat.
• Flexible: Use the mats for morning work, fine motor activities, literacy centers or rainy day activities.

Skills Students Practice

Primary Academic Skills

• Fine motor strength: Picking up and placing pom poms builds the pincer grasp and pre-writing skills.
• Color matching: Children match each pom pom to the color of the circle on the mat.
• One-to-one correspondence: Children place one pom pom in each circle to build the picture.
• Word tracing: Children trace the St. Patrick's Day word on each mat, such as rainbow or gold.
• Beginning sounds: Children say the picture names and find the images that start with the same sound.

Secondary Life & Learning Skills

• Following directions
• Maintaining attention
• Working independently
• Communicating choices
• Building confidence during group participation

How to Use It

Step 1: Print the St. Patrick's Day mats. Laminate them if you would like to use them again and again.

Step 2: Set out pom poms in the mat colors and model how to place one pom pom in each circle.

Step 3: Children build the picture, trace the word and find the images that have the same beginning sound.

Materials You'll Need

• Pom poms
• Tweezers (optional, to extend fine motor practice)

Easy Differentiation

Children come to fine motor centers with different hand strength and letter sound knowledge. These mats are easy to adjust for each of them.

For Children Who Need More Support

• Hand children one pom pom at a time to place
• Use larger pom poms that are easier to grab
• Name each color together before placing it
• Say the picture names slowly and stretch out the first sound

For On-Level Practice

• Build each picture independently by matching colors
• Trace the word on each mat
• Find the images with the same beginning sound
• Name each color while placing the pom poms

For an Extra Challenge

• Use tweezers to pick up and place every pom pom
• Ask children to name other words that start with the same sound
• Count how many pom poms of each color a picture uses
• Have children say the first letter of the traced word

For Speech, OT, ELL or Special Education Support

• Use the mats in OT sessions for grasp and hand strength practice
• Practice beginning sounds with the picture choices during speech sessions
• Practice color words with a frame such as "I need a ___ pom pom."
• Practice St. Patrick's Day vocabulary such as rainbow, gold and leprechaun
• Give extra processing time before each pom pom is placed

Perfect For

• March fine motor centers
• Morning work
• Literacy centers
• Small groups
• OT sessions
• Homeschool learning
• Rainy day activities

Standards

These St. Patrick's Day pom pom mats support the 2022 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and Virginia's Early Learning and Development Standards (2021), and they build toward kindergarten skills in Common Core, the TEKS (ELAR, adopted 2017) and the Virginia English SOL (2024):

Common Core State Standards

• CCSS RF.K.2.d: Isolate and say the first sound in simple spoken words.
• CCSS L.K.1.a: Print many uppercase and lowercase letters, starting with tracing practice.

Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines

• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.IX.B.1: Show control in tasks that take small-muscle strength, such as grabbing and placing pom poms.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.IX.B.2: Show growing control in tasks that need eye-hand coordination while placing each pom pom in its circle.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.III.B.7: Identify words that begin with the same sound with picture support.

Texas TEKS

• TEKS ELAR K.2.A.ii: Recognize groups of words that begin with the same spoken initial sound.
• TEKS ELAR K.2.E: Form letters accurately while tracing each word.

Virginia Early Learning and Development Standards

• Virginia ELDS HPD3.1: Use eyes and hands together to place each pom pom on the mat.
• Virginia ELDS HPD3.2: Develop small muscle control while picking up and placing pom poms.
• Virginia ELDS CLLD2.3: Notice that spoken words are made of smaller sounds, starting with the first sound.
• Virginia ELDS CLLD3.3: Handle writing tools while tracing each St. Patrick's Day word.

Virginia SOL

• VA SOL English K.FFR.2.C: Isolate the initial sound in spoken words.
• VA SOL English K.FFW.1.B: Print letters with growing accuracy, beginning with traced words.

Kids will love learning with the St. Patrick's Day Fine Motor Pom Pom Mats while they work on literacy skills, fine motor skills and have a LOT of fun! Add them to your cart today and have your March centers ready in minutes.

These mats are also included in the Fine Motor Mega Pack: Check out the Fine Motor Mega Pack here

Download Details

Please note: This is a digital download that will be available to you directly after purchase. Nothing will be mailed to you.

You will receive a link to the download in three places

1. On the 'thank you' page after checkout
2. In your email
3. Login on the site here: https://lifeovercsstore.com/account