Button activities are great ways to engage students while making learning new skills fun. Students can learn how to button and unbutton, sort, build, etc. Aside from learning fine motor skills, kids can do math or make fun crafts.
1. Egg Carton Buttoning Activity
This is a different way to teach young kids about buttoning and unbuttoning. Once the buttons are attached to the egg carton, a variety of items such as ribbon or tissue paper can be used to button and unbutton using the buttons attached to the egg tray carton. This is a great way to practice buttoning skills.
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2. Rainbow Button Collage Canvas Art
The rainbow button collage gives children the opportunity to sort buttons by color and even size. Once buttons are sorted, children can then create a rainbow collage on construction paper with rainbow-colored buttons.
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3. Mother’s Day Button Letters Craft
There are quite a few ways buttons can be used to create these Mother’s Day gifts. Buttons can be sorted by size or color and then glued onto the wooden letters.
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4. Make Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
After printing and creating the Pete the Cat, a few buttons out of cardboard, and adding four pieces of velcro, children can practice sticking buttons on Pete the Cat’s coat. Explore more of our favorite Pete the Cat activities here.
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5. Rainbow Button Sensory Bottle
Using a clear plastic water bottle, the bottle is emptied of water. With help from an adult, children will add in a few buttons and some glitter along with hair gel. This creates a quiet time fun colorful tube as the buttons remain suspended in the gel.
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6. Button Stacking Game for Kids
Sort and match button colors, stack buttons according to color. Try to stack the buttons as high as possible without them falling over.
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7. Snazzy Jazzy Button Bracelets
Cut a piece of ribbon long enough to go around the wrist with enough to tie around the wrist. Have students lay out the designs for their fun button bracelets before either gluing down or sewing.
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8. Making Button Box ABC Creations
Gather a large box of lots of buttons of varying sizes, shapes, and colors. Call out a letter and have students create the letter shape with buttons on their table. This is a perfect activity to celebrate National Button Day.
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9. Flower Button Art Cards
Fold a piece of cardstock in half and attach three green strips of paper for the stems of the flowers and green buttons for the leaves. Children glue buttons above each stem leaving room to create the flower buttons. Have students decorate cards and write a message inside to complete this art activity.
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10. Portable Button Play
Using a jar with a metal lid, poke 6-8 holes into the top. Have children thread a pipe cleaner through the hole, then thread buttons onto the pipe cleaner. Students can also thread beads onto the pipe cleaners for variety. The buttons can be sorted by color or size or counted as they are put one.
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11. Button Bracelet
Cut approximately a foot-long piece of plastic lacing then have the child thread on buttons in their desired pattern. Tie the two ends together to create the bracelet. This activity can be extended to make a button necklace by using a longer piece of plastic lace.
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12. Stacking Button Activity
Using playdough, place a small amount on a desk or table, then add 5-6 pieces of spaghetti so it stands up in the playdough. Thread lots of buttons through the spaghetti in a variety of ways such as color, size, etc. using the holes in buttons.
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13. Felt Button Chain
This awesome button activity is perfect for preschoolers. Cut 8-10 strips of felt and sew a button on one side of each piece of felt. Cut a slit through the felt on the other side so the button can go through. Fasten the two sides together and loop the other pieces through forming a chain.
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14. Button STEM Activity
This fun button STEM activity is done by using the playdough to attach the buttons together to create a tower. Students will attempt to create a button tower as tall as possible.
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15. Button Excavating: A digging sensory activity
Button excavating and sorting are perfect activities for preschoolers. Fill a large rectangular bucket with cornmeal. Please several dozen buttons in the cornmeal and mix. Using small colanders begin digging for buttons similar to panning for gold.
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16. Button Sorting Cups
Purchase 5-6 colorful bowls with lids and cut a slit into the top of the lid. Pair brightly-colored buttons to the corresponding container and have children sort a handful of buttons by color into the cups.
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17. Button Sewing Activity
Using an embroidery hoop, burlap, blunt embroidery needle, and embroidery thread have children sew a handful of bright buttons onto the burlap. Create button arrangements in a variety of ways such as sorting by color or making a picture.
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18. Felt Pizza Button Board
Create a felt pizza and sew buttons on the pizza. Cut pepperoni or vegetables out of felt and cut a slit in the felt, creating a buttonhole. Use the buttons and felt pieces to create a variety of pizzas.
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19. Tic-Tac-Toe Button Board
Create a tic-tac-toe board and sew buttons in the center of each square to make this fun button game. Choose two complimentary items such as pizza and hamburgers or circles and squares and cut out of the felt. Cut a slit into each piece of felt and use items to play tic-tac-toe.
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20. Counting Game with Buttons and Muffin Cups
Write numbers on the bottom of paper muffin tins and place them in a 6-12 cup muffin pan to create this DIY button activity. Use buttons to count up to the number at the bottom of the muffin cup. Numbers can be changed as new numbers are learned.
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21. Button Caterpillar Craft
Using a large craft stick, have children glue colorful buttons one at a time, overlapping button sizes to create a caterpillar. Complete caterpillar by adding googly eyes and pipe cleaner antenna.
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22. Shape Buttons Sorting
Gather a few awesome buttons, such as circles, squares, hearts, stars, etc. for this advanced sorting activity. Trace around the different button patterns that you have placed in the bucket onto a strip of paper. Have children sort all buttons by placing them under the corresponding shape. This is the perfect preschool button activity.
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23. Race Button Clothespin Car
Attach two buttons to a straw, making two axles. Open clothespin and place one set of wheels and then add a dab of glue near the spring and add the second set of wheels. Make sure that the wheels are freely moving and attached to twist time through the straw.
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24. Apple Button Art Project
This easy button project would be perfect for a picture frame. On a canvas or heavy cardstock, children randomly place a green button, a yellow button, and a red button and secure using glue. Using paint or markers, turn each button into an apple.
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25. Glue Dot Art for Toddlers
Children are given a piece of construction paper or colored paper with dots of glue are applied randomly. Children select varying colors of buttons and place them over the glue dots. This is a great way for preschoolers to practice their fine motor skills.
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26. Number Button Sensory Bin
Fill a large bucket with random buttons of varying colors, sizes, and shapes. Create different shapes and number printouts for children to fill in. Children can also run their hands through the buttons.
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