Fine Motor
PopularPreschoolersToddlers108 Comments
Make fine motor activities easier and simpler to do with easy materials and activities to boost fine motor skills!
Fine motor activities have been put on a back burner in this house for a bit, about a year. Now we’re back on a big fine motor skills activity kick!
Which is probably a good thing.
Gross motor skills should come before fine motor skills.
Those big muscles help the little muscles!
But wow! What a difference a year makes!
You’ve got to try these cutting activities to build fine motor skills as well as learn to use scissors!
Last year, Henry wouldn’t sit still. He didn’t have any desire to do anything that didn’t involve a lot of running around.
We were really into activities that promoted his gross motor skills at that time.
But recently, Henry’s taken a turn and likes to focus on some of these littler things. He loves to cut especially.
Improve Kids Fine Motor Skills with 30 Materials & Activities
Now that’s he’s interested in these fine motor activities, what can we do?
I’ve gathered up some inspiration.
But, first of all, what are fine motor skills?
According to Understood.org:
"We use fine motor skills to make small movements. These movements come so naturally to most people that we usually don’t think about them. Fine motor skills are complex, however. They involve the coordinated efforts of the brain and muscles, and they’re built on the gross motor skills that allow us to make bigger movements."
What are examples of fine motor skills and activities?
Fine motor skills can include small movements such as:
- holding a pencil
- maneuvering a pencil
- scissor skills
- pushing Lego blocks together (and pulling them apart)
- manipulating play dough
- getting dressed with belts, buttons, zippers and snaps
- using silverware while eating
- opening and closing latches
- technology/mouse manipulation
Why are fine motor skills important for a preschooler?
As you can see, many of these skills are needed in a child’s (and adult’s) everyday tasks.
Without having gained strength in fine motor skills, a child can suffer moving forward. They may not have the ability to do these small tasks, but they also may lack the confidence to do more advanced tasks or projects because of this inability.
You can check out the chart of fine motor development on Kidsense.org.
Are you convinced now that fine motor skills are important to focus on just a bit?
Of course, I still recommend not going crazy about it. Don’t expect your kid to be able to make straight lines and hold their pencil correctly when they’re two years old.
Click here to Download the Fine Motor Week of Activities
But if you notice they are lacking in their fine motor ability, there are tons of fun ways to help improve it.
The big question becomes…
“How can I improve my child’s fine motor skills?”
Let’s have fun with promoting their fine motor skills anytime! No need to wait until they’re behind, right?
These are some supply suggestions that naturally promote fine motor through activities for preschoolers.
Materials that promote fine motor skills… and click the link (or look below) to find fine motor activities to do with them!
By the way, these would be fantastic to put together in a “fine motor kit” to have on hand.
- Pom Poms
in general are small, needing small movements to grasp them, pick them up, and move them. They are fantastic material to work on hand eye coordination. - Buttons are also small items that work great in developing fine motor skills. Picking them up works those small muscles, But the true fine motor skills comes in the act of buttoning something up, that takes some amazing finger strength and hand eye coordination.
- Paper Clips are great for finger movements and manipulation. Being able to slide the clip onto a piece of paper takes a lot of concentration for kids in preschool and kindergarten.
- Clothespins are a fantastic material for building finger strength. We use them a lot in our learning activities that the kids absolutely love.
- Rubber Bands also work on finger strength, but in the opposite way that most materials do. These are a fantastic addition to any fine motor activity!
- Tweezers take a lot of hand eye coordination to be able to operate successfully and move an item from one place to another. Try it!
- Pipe Cleaners can be used as a great tool for fine motor skills. They can be threaded and poked!
- Straws can be used as beads, to thread onto something! But they also work great with play dough too.
- Play Dough is fantastic for building those small muscles! Kneading, pushing and rolling the dough really helps! Find out how to make homemade playdough.
- Knobs and Screws (or Nuts and Bolts), any real tool from Dad’s toolbox is a hit for my kids! These also take incredible hand eye coordination and concentration to be able to tighten and loosen.
- Stickers are amazing! Have your child try to peel the stickers off the sticker sheet! If it’s tricky, you can remove the non-sticker part of the sheet and it’s still an amazing fine motor activity. And then placing the sticker on a paper also takes hand control.
- Hole Punch are hard! Trust me, your child will need to work up to this amount of muscle strength in their hands before they’ll be able to successfully do this. So plan to help out, but give them the chance to try!
- Syringes are so much fun for kids and have the added bonus of working those small muscles in their hands with control so they don’t squirt the liquid out too fast.
- Eye Droppers are a fun way for kids to work on their pincer grasp. Suck it up and let it out!
- Kitchen Tongs can be a great tool for working on hand strength and control. Bring them out during clean up time and I bet your child will be more willing to pick up their toys plus you get the added bonus of working on their fine motor skills.
- Toothpicks are small and take a good pincer grasp to be able to hold it.
Fine Motor Skills Activity Ideas
Now that you have some materials to grab and have on hand to work on fine motor skill, put them to use with some of the activities that promote them!
These activities can be done with a great variety of materials, so don’t just limit yourself to what’s above. Instead, use our suggestions as inspiration!
If you’re struggling for younger kids to work on their fine motor skills, you may want to look into our fine motor activities for toddlers suggestions.
Below are some great fine motor activities for preschoolers to get started with.
- Sewing
- Weaving
- Lacing
- Beading
- Balancing
- Spooning
- Painting
- Tracing
- Pinching
- Threading
- Make things small
- Cutting
- Sorting
- Poking
- Buttoning
Get a quick print of these materials and what to do with them here, or click the image below. Put this printout in a fine motor kit to have on hand with the supplies listed to use and you’ll be set!
Check out our 32 activities that focus in on objects that help strengthen a child’s hand grip.
Like I said, stock up on these fine motor materials and keep them handy. Here are some handy affiliate links to get you started: Plastic Sewing Needles for Kids, Colorful Buttons, Eye Droppers, Fiskars Pointed Scissors, Marbles, Beads.
However, keep in mind that before really you really focus in on fine motor skills, kids need to get moving and using their gross motor skills first to build up their big muscles which in turn will help support the little muscles used in fine motor activities!
- 30 moving activities for excess energy
- 26 gross motor activities for preschoolers
- 20 physical activities for toddlers
- 32 scavenger hunts for kids
What are your best tips and tricks to make fine motor activities super fun?
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Maria says
Good afternoon. This is a fascinating article. Thanks for these ideas. Usually, my son and I take preschool worksheets from here https://wunderkiddy.com/template/paper-tulip. But now I’ll try your ideas. I think my son will really like it.
Izna khanna says
You have compiled a wonderful list of fine motor skills activities that are not only fun for kids but also beneficial for their overall development. From simple household items to creative crafts, there is something for every child to enjoy while improving their hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and control. These activities are a great way to engage children in a meaningful and productive way while promoting their physical and cognitive growth.
Mary says
his site is really useful for parents. children need to develop fine motor skills and there are many websites for this.
one of them is: https://wunderkiddy.com /
I am a mother myself and used this site together with my child. the result was already visible in a month and a half. also on the site there is a preparation for school. they taught my kid simple mathematical examples there. in general, I advise everyone
Graham P says
Some lovely ideas here for me to try with my daughter.
Robbin says
Great post. Thanks for sharing!
Jurrien Collins says
I am doing some early childhood graduate work with 2s and 3s…looking forward to incorporating many of these ideas…especially the twigs or birthday candles into dough activities! Thank you for these.
Suvarna says
It is very helpful and interesting.s
johnsonsophia016 says
very cool post. thanks for sharing.
Jeanette says
Thats very interesting activities .something that I surely want to try with my children.
Kirsty says
Love all the ideas you have gathered here and how super easy they are to do at home. It really is amazing how all these little activities help to make such a difference to children’s skills. I especially notice the difference between children that have done these sorts of activities and those that haven’t when they start school.
Tillie Clapp says
Can you put these together in a book?
Rachel says
Thank you! Here are some ebooks currently available: https://room.handsonaswegrow.com/shop/?_ga=2.81849686.1143596184.1514920466-514156227.1474654125 Enjoy!
Beth Bishop says
This list is great! I am always searching for new books for my kids and it is so hard trying to find things in their age groups that they are also interested in.. My 11 year old actually just finished the first Harry Potter book(yea she started a little late with those, I won’t let her see the movies until she reads the books… I’m mean like that) but I have the hardest time finding stuff for my 9 year old. She is picky and hasn’t found a favorite genre yet.
Ambreen naveed says
Awesome plz keep updating me on my email thank u
Renilda says
Tnq for your idea’s…..its really nice
Renilda says
Its really very nice ideas……tnq fr ur sharing
Han-Son says
Love this. Those fine motor skills are so important to develop even at a young age. We’ve just profiled how you can do it with some Play Doh and Twigs too if that’s of interest? http://daddilife.com/daddilifeforce-re-imagining-new-uses/
Mary says
This list is seriously amazing and gave me so many ideas as an art teacher trying to help young ones strengthen their fine motor skills for writing! Thank you so much!
Jamie Reimer says
You are very welcome!
Amarjit kaur says
These are wonderful activities wl do with my grand dauggter
Jessika Arellano says
thanks for good information is important when we are want increase this motor ability is more help for me
ShishuWorld says
What a wonderful set of ideas! Thank you for sharing these! Pinning this page.
Deebi27 says
I will pass these on to my daughter and grandson…11 months old(out of towners), and book mark/Pin for when my grandson (10 days old!) who lives locally! Thanks so much!
Hani Andini says
Thank you. These fun way activities helping me to teach my awesome kids! :)
The Practical Mom says
A good list of materials and activities! We’ve used most of these and like you mentioned, it engages my 3 year old well and keeps him focused and calm!
ThePracticalMomBlog.Blogspot.in
Nath's Mom says
I am excited about using these ideas for my son. Hopefully these activities will encourage him to write because he shows no interest at this time. Great ideas!!!
OneMommy says
Some great ideas!
My oldest never had a trouble with the itty bitty stuff, but I think I need to take time to work on some of these with my youngest.
R. Simmerman says
These are great FM exercises!!! My youngest has Down snydrome and my oldest has very weak fine motor. Can’t wait to start on these exercises!
Thank you for sharing!
Lorna dEntremont says
Awesome post… amazing photos! What perfect ways to have FUN and at the same time practicing fine motor skills. Sharing on my Facebook page. Thanks! Lorna
Anonymous says
Thank you for sharing this awesome list. My little girl is 14 months so I'm collecting ideas for activities we can do that are fun for her (and ME!) and also help her development. Pinning! ;)
Anonymous says
Thanks! I also use poster pins and call it pin prick art. Etcha Sketch, lite brite, aqua doodle, pushing beads through cutouts on a yogurt container lid, silly putty…
Jen says
Wow- what an awesome collection! My little man is into beans and rice. He calls it scoop, scooop. Also- loved playing with oatmeal. He's getting pretty good with the plastic chopsticks, too. :)
Deebi27 says
Thanks for all the great links, some I have used and several I will be using!
andie jaye says
so many great ideas! thanks for popping our math with tongs in there!
Junky Jen says
I work with developmentally delayed preschoolers and sometimes run out of "new" ideas!! Love all of your links and ideas and will be directing parents your way!! Thanks!!
Joyce says
Great round up! We do a lot of those activities, but I seen several that we need to do! Thanks for rounding all of these great ideas up into one easily accessible space. Can we predict more arts and crafts in your future? Haha :)
Sally says
Great post! I can't wait to do some of these with my kids!
rachelle | tinkerlab says
I love this post, Jamie! You come up with the best ideas and I know my readers will love them too!
Our Country Road says
What a great collection of ideas!! I'm excited to be on it!! Thank you :}.
PlayDrMom says
THANK YOU for including me on the list! It's SUCH a great collection!
luckyrock says
this is such a great post and I thank you for it.
here, here and here you can find my ideas.
Raising a Happy Child says
This is an awesome list! So many good ideas in one place. I am sure it will be pinned 1000 times :)
shirley says
Thank you!! My son is still struggling and we are getting close to kindergarten roundup and I am concerned he is really going to struggle next year. Unfortunately, the suggestions from the OT at the school are pathetic at best. I so thankful there are other moms out there who share ideas. We have been doing the bolts & nuts (a suggestion from my mom) and being a boy he loves it plus the weight of the bolts is a great strengthening exercise for his hands as well. Since I do not have a blog I am glad to see someone else suggested it too!
Becky says
This post totally rocked. I just got so many ideas that are going to help me get through the winter! Thank you!
JDaniel4's Mom says
Thank you for including me on the list!
Kristina says
What a great list of activities!
I am pinning this to use as a reference.
I think the idea you shared from us actually isn't from Toddler Approved though.
Having Fun says
This list will keep us busy for a long time. Several of your activities we haven't tried yet. Thanks for sharing.
Jessica says
What a great collection of activities. Thanks for sharing!
Isil says
Great list!My son has just turned 2 and right now he is also into this kind of activities. He loves sticking things,posting buttons in slotted lidded container and tweezing pompoms are his favorites.
Deborah says
Love them all!