If you've ever left your wallet or purse unattended and in reach of your toddler, you've probably had the experience of having to put every card, receipt and slip of paper back into its proper place. You then followed up by hunting around for that last missing (and very important) credit card or driver's license.
It probably does not assuage your irritation to know that the 15 minutes your toddler spent in the act of emptying your wallet contents was good for their fine motor skills. You'd probably have preferred they'd practiced their fine motor skills with one of these clothespin activities.
However, I can offer you a solution.
A toy wallet.
If you don't already have an old wallet in the back of your closet, you can find very inexpensive wallets at the dollar store or thrift store.
Keep expired membership cards, discount cards, old coupons and similar items to stock the toy wallet.
You may also find kid oriented trading cards. Our toddler loves his Thomas the Train trading cards and they made a great addition to the toy wallet.
In order to pull the cards out of the toy wallet, your child will engage and strengthen those all important fine motor skills. Putting the cards back in the wallet will be more challenging, but toddlers are nothing if not persistent!
MORE: Lacing activities for fine motor practice
As your toddler starts to engage in imaginative play, they will start to use their toy wallet during pretend playtime, whether it's buying groceries at an imaginary store, or trying to bribe mom to let him skip the day's nap.
The most important thing is that the toy wallet keeps the little one entertained.
That and, I no longer wonder what happened to my driver's license.
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