Find TJ helpful?
You can help support TJ by donations through Pay Pal.
Activities to develop fine motor skills
You are here: TJ Home >> Early Childhood >> Fine Motor Skills
For a child to write, fine motor skills must be developed.
Here are some activities to help develop fine motor skills, insha Allah.
Try a new activity each day
or make up a monthly schedule, and each week, try a new activity.
Level: Pre-K to K
(Insha Allah, links will be added for resources to go with a particular activity)
Drawing/Scribbling
Making circles and other basis shapes
Point out shapes in the house and try to draw them together
Trace stencils
Squeezing activities:
Examples:
Move water from bowl to bowl with a sponge
Using tongs or clothespins
Play with playdough
Using math manipulatives
Make crayon rubbings
Fold paper
Make simple paper chains
Use short Phillips screwdrivers/screws
Practice spreading at lunch or snacktime
Make hole punch designs
String beads, cereal, paper tubes
Brush teeth
Stamp printing
Trace shapes (use objects, child traces around the shape)
Paint with small brushes
Work puzzles
Use lego blocks/small wood blocks
Follow objects with eyes
Tear paper at random or in shapes
Wash vegetables
Make collages
Use scissors/fringe with scissors
Pour water, sand, rice, etc.
Practice zipping, buttoning, snapping clothes
Trace simple mazes
Tie knots using shoelaces
More Fine Motor Activities
Source: http://www.shrewsbury-ma.gov
-Molding and rolling play dough into balls - using the palms of the hands facing each other and with fingers curled slightly towards the palm.
-Rolling play dough into tiny balls (peas) using only the finger tips.
-Using pegs or toothpicks to make designs in play dough.
-Cutting play dough with a plastic knife or with a pizza wheel by holding the implement in a diagonal volar grasp.
-Tearing newspaper into strips and then crumpling them into balls. Use to stuff scarecrow or other art creation.
-Scrunching up 1 sheet of newspaper in one hand. This is a super strength builder.
-Using a plant sprayer to spray plants, (indoors, outdoors) to spray snow (mix food coloring with water so that the snow can be painted), or melt "monsters". (Draw monster pictures with markers and the colors will run when sprayed.)
-Picking up objects using large tweezers. This can be adapted by picking up Cheerios, small cubes, small marshmallows, pennies, etc., in counting games.
-Shaking dice by cupping the hands together, forming an empty air space between the palms.
-Using small-sized screwdrivers like those found in an erector set.
-Lacing and sewing activities such as stringing beads, Cheerios, macaroni, etc.
-Using eye droppers to "pick up" colored water for color mixing or to make artistic designs on paper.
-Rolling small balls out of tissue paper, then gluing the balls onto construction paper to form pictures or designs.
-Turning over cards, coins, checkers, or buttons, without bringing them to the edge of the table.
-Making pictures using stickers or self-sticking paper reinforcements.
Attach a large piece of drawing paper to the wall. Have the child use a large marker and try the following exercises to develop visual motor skills: Make an outline of a one at a time. Have the child trace over your line from left to right, or from top to bottom. Trace each figure at least 10 times . Then have the child draw the figure next to your model several times.
Play connect the dots. Again make sure the child's strokes connect dots from left to right, and from top to bottom.
Trace around stencils - the non-dominant hand should hold the stencil flat and stable against the paper, while the dominant hand pushes the pencil firmly against the edge of the stencil. The stencil must be held firmly.
Attach a large piece of felt to the wall, or use a felt board. The child can use felt shapes to make pictures. Magnetic boards can be used the same way.
Have the child work on a chalkboard, using chalk instead of a marker. Do the same kinds of tracing and modeling activities as suggested above.
Paint at an easel. Some of the modeling activities as suggested above can be done at the easel.
Magna Doodle- turn it upside down so that the erasing lever is on the top. Experiment making vertical, horizontal, and parallel lines.
This page last updated:
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Links last checked:
Most files for download from TJ are either PDF or PowerPoint.
If you do not have a PDF reader, you can
download Adobe Reader from Adobe for free
If you do not have PowerPoint, you can
download the PowerPoint Viewer from Microsoft for free