St. Patrick's Day snap cube mats bring a pot of fine motor fun to your March centers! With the Fine Motor Mats for St. Patrick's Day | Snap Cubes, preschool and kindergarten children grab and connect snap cubes to build pictures like a rainbow, a pot of gold, a hat and a clover.

Developing fine motor skills is important for preschool and kindergarten children. Fine motor skills help children learn to control the hand, fingers and thumb, which they need not only to hold a crayon and write with a pencil but to handle everyday life. Snap cubes are small plastic cubes that click together. On each mat, children build a picture with matching colors using one-to-one correspondence (one cube for each space), trace letters and read a simple sentence.

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

• St. Patrick's Day pictures such as a rainbow, a pot of gold, a hat and a clover to build with snap cubes
• Color matching and one-to-one correspondence on every mat
• Uppercase and lowercase letter tracing with beginning sound practice
• A simple sentence to read on each mat

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

What's Included

• St. Patrick's Day snap cube mats with colored building grids, such as a rainbow, a pot of gold, a hat and a clover
• Color matching to build each picture with snap cubes
• Letter tracing on each mat, such as r for rainbow and g for gold
• A simple sentence to read on each mat
• Spaces to count the cubes by color

Why Teachers Love It

• Builds hand strength: Grabbing and connecting snap cubes strengthens the index finger and thumb.
• Literacy and fine motor together: Every mat pairs the cube build with letter tracing, beginning sounds and a simple sentence.
• Uses materials you already have: The snap cubes from your math shelf get a festive new job.
• Seasonal and fun: Rainbows, gold and clovers keep children excited all through March.
• 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: Pressing cubes together builds finger strength and the pincer grasp.
• Color matching: Children match each cube to the color shown on the grid.
• One-to-one correspondence: Children place one cube in each space to build the picture.
• Letter tracing: Children trace uppercase and lowercase letters on each mat.
• Beginning sounds: Each letter connects to the first sound of the picture, such as r for rainbow.
• Early reading: Children read a simple sentence about the picture.

Secondary Life & Learning Skills

• Following directions
• Maintaining attention
• Working independently
• Using mathematical language
• Building confidence during group participation

How to Use It

Step 1: Print the St. Patrick's Day mats and laminate them for durability so children can trace with a dry erase marker.

Step 2: Set out snap cubes in the colors children need. Model how to place one cube on each space of the grid.

Step 3: Children build the picture, trace the letters and read the simple sentence.

Materials You'll Need

• Snap cubes

Easy Differentiation

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

For Children Who Need More Support

• Provide only the cube colors needed for the picture
• Cover part of the mat so children build one section at a time
• Name each color together before placing it
• Read the sentence aloud together while pointing to each word

For On-Level Practice

• Build each picture independently with matching colors
• Trace the letters on each mat
• Say the beginning sound of each picture
• Read the simple sentence

For an Extra Challenge

• Build the picture beside the mat by copying the design
• Count how many cubes of each color the picture uses
• Name another word that starts with the same sound
• Write a new sentence about the picture

For Speech, OT, ELL or Special Education Support

• Use the mats in OT sessions for finger strength and bilateral coordination (using both hands together)
• Practice St. Patrick's Day vocabulary such as rainbow, gold, hat and clover
• Practice color words with a frame such as "I need a ___ cube."
• Practice target sounds with the beginning letters on each mat
• Give extra processing time before each cube is placed

Perfect For

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

Standards

These St. Patrick's Day snap cube 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.1.d: Recognize and name uppercase and lowercase letters.
• CCSS RF.K.2.d: Isolate and say the first sound in simple spoken words, such as rainbow and gold.
• 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 pressing snap cubes together.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.IX.B.2: Show growing control in tasks that need eye-hand coordination while placing each cube on the grid.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.III.C.1: Recognize and name letters while tracing them on each mat.

Texas TEKS

• TEKS ELAR K.2.D.v: Identify uppercase and lowercase letters.
• TEKS ELAR K.2.E: Form letters accurately while tracing them.

Virginia Early Learning and Development Standards

• Virginia ELDS HPD3.1: Use eyes and hands together to place each cube on the picture.
• Virginia ELDS HPD3.2: Develop small muscle control while connecting snap cubes.
• Virginia ELDS CLLD3.3: Handle writing tools while tracing letters.

Virginia SOL

• VA SOL English K.FFR.3.A: Identify capital and lowercase letters of the alphabet.
• VA SOL English K.FFW.1.B: Print letters with growing accuracy, beginning with traced letters.

Kids will love learning with the St. Patrick's Day Fine Motor Snap Cube 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