4 Itsy Bitsy Spider Lacing Cards (Fine Motor Threading Activity)

Here’s another nursery rhyme printable for your little ones – a pack of 4 Itsy Bitsy Spider lacing cards.

Lacing cards like this are a super way to practice and develop fine motor skills like hand-eye coordination, finger strength and dexterity.

And the great thing is, this nursery rhyme fine motor activity need only a little prep and a few resources to use.

What Skills Can Your Little Ones Learn And Develop?

These Itsy Bitsy Spider threading cards are designed to help your children practice and develop some fine motor skills, such as:

• Hand-eye coordination – to be able to understand what they are seeing and get their hands to go where they want them to
• Finger strength – to be able to hold the lace and push it through the holes
• Hand dominance – developing and strengthening the skill of one of their hands
• Finger dexterity – the ability to move fingers in different ways and use different fingers for different tasks
• Bilateral coordination – one hand holds the card steady while the other threads.
• Sequencing and storytelling – children can practice ordering events and recalling the hyme.

They can also help children practice patience and concentration as they may find it tricky at first and offer a great chance to talk about the different holidays we celebrate.

How To Prepare These Nursery Rhyme Lacing Cards

First you’re going to want to download the threading cards by clicking on download button at the bottom of the page.

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Then print them off onto paper or card.

You’ll probably want to laminate them to make them stronger. 

Then use a hole punch to punch out the holes around the edges.

You can make the threading cards easier by punching fewer holes, or more difficult by adding a few more.

That’s pretty much it, just grab some long laces, or yarn and let your little learners practice their fine motor skills in a fun way.

If you are using yarn, you may want to toughen the ends by dipping in some PVA glue and leaving to dry first.

Get Even More Out of These Itsy Bitsy Spider Lacing Cards

This set is more versatile than it looks – here are some fun ways to get even more mileage out of it.

Order the Rhyme

Once all four cards are threaded, lay them out in order on the floor or table and use them to retell the rhyme from start to finish. Mix them up and ask your little learner to put them back in the right sequence. It’s a lovely visual prompt for storytelling and it pairs beautifully with the full set of Itsy Bitsy Spider ordering cards if you want to take it further.

Itsy Bitsy Small World

Set the threaded cards up as a tiny scene – the waterspout standing up, the spider at the bottom, the cloud and sun above. Let your little learner act out the rhyme over and over with the spider card “climbing” up the spout, the cloud “raining” down, the sun “drying” everything up. Some imaginative play and a brilliant way to embed the rhyme.

Pattern Threading Challenge

Ready to bump up the difficulty? Try threading in a specific pattern – skip every other hole, or alternating two colors of yarn. This is a sneaky way to introduce early patterns.

Spider Web Hunt

Take the spider card outside on a dry morning and go hunting for real spider webs. Gardens, fences and quiet corners of the playground are usually good spots. Compare the threading on the card to the threads of a real web (without disturbing the spider, of course).

However you use these Itsy Bitsy Spider lacing cards, I hope you and your little ones have a wonderful time with them.

Enjoy and let’s nurture those neurons!