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Activities for Developing
Fine Motor Skills
These are some activities to strengthen small hand muscles. Please try to keep these activities fun and integrate them into your daily routine.
1. Pick up small objects such as coins, beans, marbles, seeds, buttons, nuts and bolts. Sort them into containers of varying sizes.2. Pick up objects (blocks, cotton balls, pom-poms, crumpled balls of paper, counters, etc.) using various sized tongs, tweezers or clothesline hooks
3. Stack objects (i.e. coins, cards, checkers, blocks, etc.)
4. Screw and unscrew objects such as nuts and bolts, caps from jars, etc.
5. String beads onto a shoelace
6. Play with Lite Brite toy
7. Cut straight and curved lines/shapes drawn on paper, cloth, etc., with scissors.
8. Play the piano
9. Type
10. Crumple paper in a small ball and then flick it with the finger (play"soccer" with the paper ball)
11. Shuffle cards, deal cards one by one, turn cards over
12. Roll a pencil between thumb and fingers without dropping it
13. Stick small objects into play dough or Silly Putty for him/her to pull out
14. Wind thread on a spool evenly
15. Put rubber bands around various size containers and objects
16. Move spoonfuls of small objects from one bowl to another
17. Do up buttons, zippers, hooks, etc.
18. Tie shoelaces
19. Manually sharpen pencils
20. Put keys into locks to open door
21. Put paper clips onto paper
22. Place clothespins on the edge of a box or container or on a line
23. Use Wikki Stix to form shapes, letters, numbers, and other designs
24. Color using the flat side of a crayon. Put paper over leaves, stencils, and other objects so that the child gets sensory feedback as he colors.
25. Use sprayer bottles filled with water and sponges to have the child "clean" a desk or table, then squeeze the excess water into a dishpan. This is a great pre-scissor skill activity.
26. Lace various sized beads. Using both hands develops bilateral integration.
27. Play with dough using words like poke, squeeze, pound, press, and knead.
