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FINE MOTOR ACTIVITIES

Fine motor development is essential in getting ready to formally write.  Here are some fun activities that build hand strength, hand-eye coordination, and pincer grasp skills.  Each activity includes a PDF Lesson Card to display at the center station.

Developmental Focus:

For this activity, children use their “Pincher” grasp (meaning to pinch) to manipulate the close pins.  As the child squeezes the close pins to pick up the spiders, muscles in the hand are strengthened. Hand-eye coordination is also developed through the skill of manipulating the close pin through the web to get to the spiders.

Courtesy of Valerie Clark
SPIDER'S WEB

Materials:

Plastic Basket with holes/openings

Yarn

Plastic Spiders or Insects

Close Pins/Plastic Tweezers​
 

  • String yarn across basket to form a web.

  • Place plastic spiders or insects at the bottom of the basket and under or tangled in the web.

  • Children use the close pins to capture spiders and insects.

  • This activity is great for strengthening little hands.

Foamy Fun

Materials:

Shaving Cream

Large slick surface

 

  • Shaving Cream can be found inexpensively at a dollar store.

  • Squirt a large amount of shaving cream onto a flat,

    wipe-able surface.

  • Encourage children to spread out shaving cream across the surface thinly.

  • Children can use their finger to draw and write.  The teacher can call out letters, numbers, and shapes in a whole class lesson and observe what children know.

  • This is a great way to form letters without the worry of mistakes.

  • Children can continue to wipe and create for endless fun.

  • Variation: Use Cool Whip and Food Coloring for edible fun.

Developmental Focus:

For this activity, children use fine motor skills to squish, squeeze, write and draw with their hands and fingers in the shaving cream to strengthen in-hand manipulative development.

Mama Mia!

Materials:

Cooked Spaghetti

Plastic table cover

Tongs, large plastic tweezers, chopsticks

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  • If used in a center, about 2 pounds of cooked spaghetti is sufficient, however, using spaghetti for a whole-class activity, about 8 pounds of spaghetti will work.
  • Cook the spaghetti the night before and store in large plastic zip bags with about a tablespoon of olive oil.
  • Pull out spaghetti and lay it out on a table cover for each group of students if you are using it in a whole-class activity. Add a few more drops of olive oil if the spaghetti becomes sticky.
  • Allow students to feel it and talk about the texture.
  • In the whole group setting, call out letters of the alphabet and model how to form the letters with the spaghetti.  Once each child has "written" the letter with the noodle, they can eat it.
  • Repeat steps including numbers, shapes, and even their own name.
  • Writing can be fun when you get to eat your work!
  • You can even include a lesson on Italy.

The book Strega Nona

By: Tommie de Paola is an excellent literature connection to this activity.

Developmental Focus:

For this activity, children use fine motor skills to manipulate the spaghetti to form letters, numbers, and shapes.

Create with Paint

Materials:

Straws

Washable Tempera Paint

Variety of Brushes

Ice Cube Trays

Wine Corks

Close pins with pom poms

Construction paper pieces

Water Colors

​

  • Use ice cube trays to divide paint colors.

  • Provide several different types of utensils for painting.

  • Encourage name, letter, number, and shape drawings

  • Model the use of pom poms with close pin and instruct the squeezing technique to attach pom pom to close pin and then dipping in the paint.

  • Demonstrate how to use a straw to blow paint around the paper.

  • Use wine corks to stamp out letters or names.

  • This activity has endless possibilities for children to explore with paint.

Developmental Focus:

For this activity, children use fine motor skills to manipulate the different painting instruments.

Gettin' Down To The Nuts & Bolts

Materials:

Plastic Nuts and Bolts Set (teacher store)

Nuts and Bolts (hardware store)

 

  • Two different types of Nut and Bolts can be used for this activity.

  • The Plastic set features large nuts and bolts in different colors and shapes.  Children match the color nut color/shape with the correct bolt color/shape.

  • Real nuts and bolts can be used in addition or separate from the plastic set and offer different sizes and textures for children to explore

  • Children manipulate the nuts and bolts by twisting, matching sizes, and shapes while strengthening little fingers.

Developmental Focus:

For this activity, children use their “pincer” grasp to screw and unscrew the nuts and bolts.  This action promotes hand-eye coordination and develops fine motor development in the hand and fingers as the child twists and untwists the nut from the bolt.

Pony Beads

Materials:

Pony Beads

Pipe Cleaners

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  • Math Activity: Place a number flag on the end of a pipe cleaner. I used a folded label.  Children string the correct number of beads on each pipe cleaner.

  • Patterns: Children can build patterns with beads and pipe cleaners.

  • Sort and Count:  Place beads in a pile and provide an ice cube tray for children to group beads by color.  Add tweezers to strengthen hands and fingers.

  • Bracelets: Children can use pipe cleaners to string beads to make bracelets for dress up fun.

Developmental Focus:

For this activity, children use their pincher grasp when using tweezers to pick up beads and a pincer grasp when picking up beads with their fingers.  These motions help children with coordination of hands and fingers to string beads onto the pipe cleaners. Placing the beads on the pipe cleaner helps with hand-eye coordination.

Silly Sand Trays

Materials:

Colored Sand (craft store)

Shallow metal tray, or cookie sheet

Glitter (craft store)

​

  • Fill the bottom of the tray with colored sand and some sprinkles of glitter.​​

  • Allow children to use their finger to draw and write in the sand.  

  • Children can practice writing numbers, letters, and shapes by including sets of flash cards in this center activity.

  • This form of early writing allows children to use their fingers to write and as a tactile experience with the sand and glitter.  

Developmental Focus:

For this activity, children use the manipulative skills of their hands and fingers as they sift and push through the sand increasing control to write letter-like shapes, scribbles, and experiment with their name.

Developmental Focus:

This activity provides children with an opportunity to build hand strength when kneading, cutting, rolling, and forming enhancing fine motor control.

Roll It Out With Dough

Materials:

Different colors of dough (discount stores or make it)

Dough Tools (teacher store)

Letter Cards (laminated)

Large piece of poster board (laminated)

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  • This open-ended activity can provide a wide variety of opportunities for young children to build motor skills.  There are so many creative ways children can explore with dough.  Here are a few:

  • First: Make the dough with the class.  There are many different recipes online, but here is one I have used for years. 

    • 3 1/2 cups Flour​

    • 1/2 cup of Salt

    • 1 teaspoon Alum

    • 2 Packages of a flavored drink mix

    • 2 cups Boiling Water (I microwave it for classroom use)

    • 3 tablespoons Oil

    • Mix and knead

    • Smells yummy, but not for eating!

  • Provide different dough tools that can be purchased at discount stores or teacher supply stores.  ​​​​

    • Scissors, rolling pins, cookie cutters, letter stampers, textured stamps, letter mats​ and more.

  • As children explore with the dough, they use manipulative skills that increase fine motor strength in their hands and fingers. In addition, they can use their imagination to mold their own creations, form letters, roll out dough to cut and ​tear.  The possibilities are endless.

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