Fine motor skills activities

Fine motor skills activities are important for young children as they build the muscles in the fingers, hands, and wrists. It enables children to have the dexterity in movement that they will need for the rest of their lives. You can help your child build their muscles and movement by providing them with some of the following fine motor activities at home:

Threading beads (or pasta) on to string

They'll need to use both hands to complete this activity- one to pinch the string and another to thread the beads on. It also enables them to  use their visual coordination.

Playdough 

Playing with dough encourages your child to use their hands in a variety of ways- kneading, rolling, moulding and cutting.

Playing with clothes pegs

The pinching movement of clothes pegs is great for building the strength between thumb and forefinger. Create a 'washing line' out of string and let your child hang their clothes/ toy's clothes, or clip teddy's ears. 

Stickers

Peeling and placing stickers encourages the ability to use the hands for fine tasks. Making pictures using stickers also helps build your child's imagination. 

Spray bottles

Fill a spray bottle with water and let your child spray the garden plants or a homemade target. It helps build strength in the fingers and palm of their hands. 

Chalk or crayon drawing

Chalk is a great way to encourage children to get outside and decorate the patio or pavement- it keeps them entertained and also builds pencil-holding ability for school. Crayons on paper are also a good option for bad weather days. 

Sorting activities

Give your child a mixture of coloured beads or coins and let them sort them into colour or type. This encourages finger movement but also engages their brain in identifying the items and sorting them into piles. 

Cutting along lines

Draw some dotted lines on plain paper and ask your child to cut along the lines using children's scissors. Once they get the hang of basic lines you could move on to shapes.

Using tongs or tweezers

You can make this easy game at home using small objects like pasta, or beads. Ask your child to move the items from one place to another using tongs or tweezers. Tongs will be easiest to start with until they have mastered the movement. 

Lego

Not only is Lego great for their creativity, it also builds their fine motor skills. Using their hands to push bricks together and pull them apart builds the muscles in their hands.

Tracing on paper

Using a pencil draw some basic outlines for them to go over with a crayon- wavy lines, shapes or the outline of an animal are all good starting options. 

Crayon rubbing

Provide them with plain paper and crayons and help them find interesting objects to place under the paper and rub over on top with a crayon. Leaves are great for rubbing, but interesting textures like the bark of a tree or a wooden fence also work well. You can also try coins or objects around the home. 

Making cookies

Not only is this a fun family activity, but creating and rolling the dough is great for their fine motor skills, as is decorating the baked cookies with chocolate chips, sprinkles or icing. 

Fine motor tuff tray ideas

Tuff trays make the ideal space for your child to enjoy some imaginative messy play and hone their fine motor skills. Some activities your child could enjoy include:

• sand play. Put some sand in the tuff tray and encourage them to 'draw' in the sand using sticks, or make patterns and swirls in the sand using their fingers
• using rice. Empty some rice in the tray and let your child use scoops, cups and funnels to play with
• soil. Put some compost in the tray and let your child move it around using toy diggers and dump trucks, or spades and forks 
• cooked pasta. Cook some pasta- spaghetti is ideal- and put it in the tuff tray. Your child can cut it up into pieces using children's scissors
• treasure hunt. Place some soil or sand in the bottom of the tray and hide some small items within it- coins, beads, or small plastic toys. Give them some tongs to retrieve the treasure with
• ice. Freeze some ice cubes or water in moulds with some small items within. Empty the ice into the tuff tray and ask your child to find ways to break the items out of the ice, using items of their choosing.