Welcome to my next blog in the series, Early Intervention Matters. In this blog I have complied a list of 30 activities that will help children develop their fine motor skills.
Fine motor skills are small movements that are achieved by using the smaller muscles in the hands. Some of these skills include cutting, doing up buttons and handwriting. Highly developed fine motor skills will influence the speed and accuracy of the task performance.
Why are fine motor skills important?
Fine motor skills are very important for children to be able to successfully complete many everyday tasks. These tasks include dressing themselves, opening lunch boxes and writing. Children who have good fine motor skills are generally more confident in their own abilities and have the appropriate independent life skills compared to children who have underdeveloped fine motor skills.
Fine motor skill difficulties can present as:
- Avoidance
- Misbehaviour when it comes to particular tasks
- Inability to use scissors
- No interest in pencil skills
According to “Therapies for Kids”, Occupational Therapists can work with children of all ages and their families, to help enhance skills necessary for their everyday life including playing, getting dressed and handwriting. Occupational therapy may also include making changes to the child’s environment such as their school or home to help the child be more independent.
Below is a list of 30 activities that will help children to develop their fine motor skills. These are all inexpensive activities that only require items that can be found around the home. These activities would be great for children to complete at home or in the classroom.
1. Using a water spray bottle
2. Putting straws in a colander
3. Cutting different patterns
4. Threading fruit loops on pasta
5. Dropping pom poms down tubes
6. Making a felt button chain
7. Using a pipette to drop water on lego holes
8. Balancing lego on the side
9. Putting toothpicks in small holes
10. Pouring from one container to another
11. Sticking beads into play dough and getting them out with a pincer grip
12. Putting elastics on a container
13. Using an eye dropper
14. Picking up objects with pegs
15. Putting paper clips on paper or plastic
16. Balancing marbles on golf tees
17. Putting buttons in a small rectangular hole (also you can put money into a piggybank)
18. Opening padlocks with keys
19. Threading shoelaces and tying them up
20. Putting different lids on bottles and containers
21. Drawing while laying on the ground
22. Feed a tennis ball some food
23. Using a hole puncher
24. Peeling stickers off
25. Cutting up play dough sausages
26. Putting nuts and bolts together
27. Weaving pipe cleaners on a drying rack
28. Threading with nature
29. Name dot painting with cotton buds
30. Mashing play dough
These 30 ideas will help children to be engaged and enthusiastic towards developing their fine motor skills. Fine motor skills are essential for your child to be able to perform everyday tasks. If you have any concerns with your child’s fine motor development seek an opinion from a qualified paediatric occupational therapist.
Please share this blog if you have found it insightful and if you believe it offers practical information that you can implement at home or in the classroom. Remember to email a copy of it to yourself for reference later on.
Until next time … 
Kelly Pisani
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