Fine Motor Skills Activities for Kids

As many of you know, Finlee my 5 year old has started prep this year and it’s been identified by his teacher, that his fine motor skills are poor and that as a family we need to support Finlee in developing these skills by offering an array of activities. I know other parents who have also been advised that their child needs to work on fine motor skill development and as a result, I thought I’d put a quick blog post together explaining fine motor skills and also some easy and wonderful activities you can do with your child.

What Are Fine Motor Skills?

Fine motor skills development is so important for the over all development of children and begins from birth onwards. The term fine motor skills simply means “small muscles” and children achieve fine motor skills by using the muscles in their fingers, hands and wrists. There are numerous ways that children can use their fine motor skills such as but not limited to: using scissors, turning the pages in a book, eating, playing on a keyboard, writing etc. It’s essential for your child to continue to improve on his/her fine motor skills, so I’ve put together some fun activities to try at home, at grandma’s house or even in the classroom.

Fine Motor Skills Activities

These fine motor skills activities that I’ve put together over the years, have been and will continue to be a wonderful help for developing Finlee’s and Chole’s writing. The core component to my activities has been to focus on fine motor skills however, many times my activities also assist with working on colour recognition, sequencing/patterns, hand-eye coordination and so much more.

• Playdough – Playdough is an easily assessable resource for all ages, not to mention a wonderful way to work on exercising the muscles in the hand for fine motor skills. I love a good homemade playdough for kids (check out recipe) as it smells delicious compared to that strong smell that store bought playdough has and it will last forever. Finlee and Chloe use a variety of playdough resources such as: cookie cutters, rolling pins, cupcake holders and basically anything they find in the house that allows their little imaginations to be creative. Sit back and watch them roll, manipulate, pinch, dig, poke etc to the playdough which is helping to assist in making their fine motor skills that much stronger.

• Wooden Lacing Beads – The art of lacing has been around for years and is a common fine motor skills activity. Little fingers have to work really hard by manipulating the string in and out of the holes of the beads. This wooden lacing beads set assists with not only working on hand-eye coordination, the pincer grasp, but also works on colour recognition and sequencing/patterns.

• Wooden Coloured Cups and Balls Set – This wooden coloured cups and balls set can be used to increase fine motor skills by having your child transfer the balls from the bowl to the different coloured cups. In addition, it can be used to work on numeracy by counting the small coloured balls and colour recognition.

• Tap Tap Set for Kids – Kids love to use a hammer and this set is awesome for encouraging fine motor skills. Have your little one choose one of the many designs provided, or have them use their imagination and then use the hammer to create a master piece. This Tap Tap Set for Kids resource is also great for working on colour recognition, shapes and imagination.

• Colouring – who doesn’t love to colour? Colouring is great fun because you can colour at home, in the car, at the doctor’s office, on the plane, outside and so many other places. Colouring is particularly good for fine motor skills in kids because they have to work on their pincer grasp (index finger and thumb). These drawing sets for kids are the perfect resource to get your little ones colouring up a storm. Also the drawing sets are so compact that they will fit in a purse, nappy bag, carry on bag and more so you don’t have to go around lugging kids toys while you’re out and about.

• Kinetic Sand – Kinetic Sand is a magnificent way to further develop fine motor skills for children. Kinetic sand is quite pliable and is a brilliant resource for children to work on forming shapes with the sand, cutting the sand with plastic cutlery; they can also learn to write their letters in the sand and so much more. I should also note that Kinetic Sand also provides a sensory experience for children with the softness and flexibility of the Kinetic Sand. (Inspiration for this creative play is from Anna at The Imagination Tree.)

• Montessori Inspired Coloured Square – Crucial to fine motor skill development is the pincer grasp (index finger and thumb) and this Montessori Inspired Coloured Square has a key focus on working the pincer grasp.  This wonderful resource also works on visual perception and colour recognition.

• Painting – painting is another simple activity that kids could spend hours using their imagination to create beautiful pieces of art. In addition, painting helps to strengthen your child’s visual perception, fine motor skills and also hand-eye coordination. Head to Finlee and Me Arts and Craft Section for a collection of great resources.

• Wooden Block Sets for Kids – Wooden Block Sets for Kids are a fundamental must have resource when growing up. The creations that can be made through the the eyes of a child is breath taking to watch. Different blocks can have different features for example, some will have magnets, other blocks will make noise, but at the end of the day all wooden block sets for kids will assist in further developing a child’s fine motor skills.

• Peek-a-Boo Wooden Rainbow Family – Watch your little one as they learn colours, size big to little, role play family members, play peek a boo and so much more. This Peek-a-Boo Wooden Rainbow Family Set is sure to delight your child for hours of creative and natural play and also developing their fine motor skills.

These are just a few of the fine motor skills activities that we use in our home. The wonderful Anna from The Imagination Tree has over 40 more wonderful fine motor skills activities, so hop on over to her site and have a look for yourself.

Lastly, if education, sensory play, imaginary play, outdoor play etc are important to your family then be sure to check out the other 1300+ products from Finlee & Me.