Buttons

The educational benefits of buttons include fine motor development.

Learning experiences

Use loose parts for maths play

Sort beads and buttons by size, colour and shape. Practice counting and group them in sets of two, five and ten. Arrange them in patterns and use them as counters for homemade board games.

Experiment with buttons

Encourage children to manipulate buttons and similar fasteners, like press studs and toggles. Children can observe how they attach to different fabrics (e.g. by thread) and investigate how they can be used to fasten two pieces of fabric.

Children can experiment with buttons in other ways. They can mix buttons with paint for stamping or test how different materials react to buttons being pressed into them (e.g. playdough).