Make threading practice fun with this hands-on Thread the Cow activity!
This resource allows children to colour their own cow before turning it into a lacing activity. The cow is designed with large circles around the outside to show the teacher where to make the holes.
How to use

1. Print the cow on cardstock paper for a stronger, more durable activity.
2. Let students colour and decorate their cow.
3. The teacher uses a hole puncher to make holes in the marked circles around the outside of the cow.
4. Give each child a colourful shoelace and allow them to thread it through the holes.
5. When they finish, they can start again using a different coloured shoelace.
   Learning Benefits
   Threading activities are fantastic for developing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, concentration and bilateral coordination. Children need to carefully guide the shoelace through each hole, helping to strengthen the small muscles in their hands and fingers.
   The activity also provides an opportunity to practice colour recognition and vocabulary. Teachers can ask children to name their lace colour or encourage simple language such as:
   “I have a red lace.”
   “My cow is blue.”
   “I am threading.”
   Try Different Colours!
   Once children have completed the cow with one shoelace, encourage them to thread it again using a different colour. They can experiment with different colours and create their own unique patterns.
   This makes a lovely farm animal, fine motor, early years or ESL classroom activity and can be used as a quiet table activity, centre activity, or small-group task.

Credits & Copyright
© 2026 Sonyja Murphy. All rights reserved.
This educational resource was created by Sonyja Murphy.
Illustrations in this resource were created with the assistance of AI (ChatGPT by OpenAI) and have been edited and arranged as part of this original educational work.