We have been loving activities that promote fine motor skills and we have found lots of objects that are great for strengthening fine motor skills!
How do you develop fine motor strength?
Here’s my list of objects (along with activities, of course) to help your children develop fine motor strength.
I do have a general list of ideas to do that are great for fine motor skills.
I realized fine motor activities can also be looked at as strengthening fine motor skills and I have collected those below and categorized them:
- Small Objects to use in Fine Motor Activities
- Objects that Strengthen Hand Muscles
- Objects that Promote Hand-Eye Coordination
- Objects that are good for threading (more hand-eye coordination)
Find a list of 30 materials to use to promote fine motor skills, along with activities to do with them.
Small items that promote fine motor skills:
Pretty much any small item is great for fine motor skills strengthening. You definitely need to keep a watch on younger toddlers, or kids that like to mouth items when working with small items. But just the act of pinching or grasping the small items is great for their little fingers.
- Cereal: Make a craft with them.
- Pipe cleaner pieces: Push them into a spice container.
- Pom poms or cotton balls: Just pick them up! Or push them into a small container.
- Small containers to put things in: A number of objects can be used to push into it, including pom poms or ribbons.
- Buttons: Make something out of them, or sort them by size or color.
- Stickers: Create a scene with stickers. The act of removing the sticker is huge!
- Toothpicks: Poke foam with it or use it to build structures.
- Marshmallows or raisins: Use with toothpicks to build structures, paint with them, or make a craft with them.
Objects that build hand strength for fine motor skills:
Items that help with hand and finger strength, that require them to actually use their hand muscles in order to operate it.
These activities require grip strength using the palm of your hand as well as the fingers.
- Kitchen tongs: Pick up stuff around the house with them.
- Eye droppers: Add them to a water activity or a science experiment.
- Syringes: Also add these to water activities! Kids love them.
- Play dough (clay, putty): Just let them play with it. The more they manipulate it, the more it strengthens. Here are my tips on how to make homemade play dough that is super soft!
- Rubber bands: (or hair ties): These are great to use around your fingers to open and close. Try this rubber band passing game to encourage hand strengthening, or make a geoboard.
- Hole punch: Just punch holes in paper (kids will love that!), or include it in crafts.
- Clothespins: Include them in all kinds of activities. Have the kids hang stuff up, like on a clothesline!
- Tweezers: Again, use these to pick up small objects! These are smaller so it takes more coordination, but they’re easier to actually squeeze.
Strengthen hand-eye coordination with small objects:
This is a list of small items that require an action using hand eye coordination. Generally, this is using both the thumb and index finger in a pincer grasp and maneuvering the object in a way that you desire.
That’s kind of hard to explain because hand-eye coordination activities can also include a bunch of gross motor activities. So I’m limiting it to smaller items that really require concentration to achieve whatever it is they’re doing.
- Cutting: Scissors and paper goes a long way in fine motor skills strengthening. But beginners can cut straws. Something easy to just snip quick.
- Screwing: Set out some jars with lids. Or nuts and bolts (we’ve used drawer knobs).
- Pipe cleaners and colander: Just stick pipe cleaners through the holes of the colander.
- Paper clips: Clip them onto papers. Use thicker construction paper.
- Writing and drawing: Set up a drawing station. Pencils, crayons, markers. Or chalk at the chalkboard!
- Weaving: Weave paper, weave ribbons in the clothes basket, weave sticks through the fence, or even yarn or string through a fork.
- Tearing Paper: Rip and tear up paper to work the small muscles of the hand.
- Toothpicks & marshmallows: Build structures with them.
- Balancing: Building towers with blocks actually takes a lot of hand-eye coordination and gentle touch.
Threading, a subcategory of hand-eye coordination:
Threading items are a big fine motor activity and is great for strengthening. This could technically get put into the hand-eye coordination category, but I think there’s enough diversity of how we can do it that I keep it separate.
- Straws: Thread straws for a necklace.
- Cereal, such as Cheerios: They work great to make a necklace or bracelet too.
- Pasta: Thread large, straight and dry pasta onto dry spaghetti noodles! Being ever-so-careful not to snap one!
- Beads: Another bracelet pleaser.
- Sewing or lacing: Use lacing cards, or make your own (let them use the hole punch!), and thread strings through.
- Pipe cleaners: Pipe cleaners are a great medium to thread onto for beginning threaders. They’re stiff. Just be careful of the sharp ends (you can fold it over onto itself to make a dull point).
- Shoestrings: Rounded shoestrings (we use the ones from our Melissa & Doug Lacing Set, affiliate link) are also a great medium for threading. The ends are ‘hard’ so they don’t fray and get in the way.
- Dry spaghetti: Like I mentioned above, thread other pastas onto the dry spaghetti.
Get the Fine Motor Go-To List printable here.
Generally, the goal is to work on fine motor strength, hand strengthening, stability and control over the small muscles in the hand and fingers. Most of the time fine motor control can be improved through everyday play and their everyday toys.
Of course, talk to a occupational therapist if you have concern of your child having weak hands, wrist stability, or anything with your child’s hand strength. They will be able to provide specific activities to help your child.
Now that we’ve mastered strengthening fine motor skills, let’s jump to gross motor activities!
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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.
Roxanne says
love these ideas!
Clement Ngige says
its quite fun to learn with you
Sherra says
Thank you for your awesome post! Just found your site and signed up. Absolutely looks great! Thanks!!!
Maureen says
Your 30 moves for excessive energy link does not work. Wanted to view it.
Jamie Reimer says
Sorry about that Maureen – I’ve fixed the link in the post – here it is: https://handsonaswegrow.com/30-moves-for-excess-energy/
Leonine Coombs says
Thanks for sharing such wonderful ideas. It would help me pass my test pertaining to learning through play.
Falak says
These look really nice, will try with my tot soon