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40 Fine Motor Skills Activities

September 3, 2013 by Anna Ranson

Here is a collection of 40 fine motor skills activities for young children that are easy to set up and promote a whole range of skills. They’re creative, open-ended, appropriate and varied with ideas for practising motor skills through art, sensory play and simple manipulative games, and there are so many to choose from!

40 fine motor skills activities for children

One of the most important ways we can help our children while playing with them at home or in a childcare/ classroom setting is through setting up simple activities that help to develop fine motor skills. Young children need to be able to hold and use scissors and pencils appropriately before using them in a classroom context. We cannot expect them to be able to write if they haven’t yet developed the strength needed in their hands and fingers.




There are plenty of easy ways to strengthen these muscles, practise co-ordination and develop hand:eye co-ordination using simple, everyday materials and a bit of creative fun! Here are 40 that we have done over the past few years with babies to 5 year olds. There are a million variations you could make from each of these to cater for your own child’s particular interests and learning dispositions. Use these as a springboard and pin it for future reference too!

natural materials in herbal play dough

 

[Herbal play dough with natural materials to explore]

My personal favourite tool for developing all fine motor skills is the humble ball of homemade play dough. It can be used in SO many ways by adding other combinations of materials to it, and automatically strengthens little hands as they roll, squeeze, twist and build with it. Here is a whole post about the benefits of playing with play dough and a handy guide to starting out with building your own play dough tool kit. Of course, baking with real dough is another wonderful way to play and learn simultaneously!

The many benefits of play dough (and a tool kit) 

play+dough+tool+kit

 

Other activities we have loved have included exploring sensory play materials, transporting small parts, threading beads, hands-on art projects, cutting and sticking, tearing and scrunching papers, opening and closing fastenings and countless others. Here is a selection of some of those favourites, all of which can be adapted for different age groups and abilities.

Threading with beads onto pipe cleaners

beads and pipe cleaners threading

Threading, posting and slotting toys for babies and toddlers

4+homemade+baby+and+toddler+toys

Poking straws into holes

straws discovery box

Pasta necklaces

Rainbow threading necklaces

Monster play dough

Monster play dough

Weaving around cardboard

Weaving on cardboard shapes

Fairy sparkle playdough

Fairy play dough activity

Pipe cleaners and colanders

Pipe cleaners discovery box

Beads on spaghetti

Threading-with-beads-on-spaghetti-666x1000

Hair rollers sticky construction

Baby-play-activity-with-hair-rollers

First sewing basket

Sewing with ribbons

Edible fingerpainting 

homemade-edible-finger-paint1

Making marks in fairy dust

Writing-and-mark-making-in-fairy-dust-660x1000

Decorating play dough eggs

easter+play+dough+invitation+to+play

Mark making and scooping in lavender sensory salt

Lavender sensory salt

Building 3D models

matching-shapes-to-pictures-680x453

Sorting and pattern making with shells

Matching-and-sorting-using-natural-materials-680x453

Patterning with lego

lego+duplo+pattern+making

Lid posting game

lid+sort+and+count+box

Snipping and doodling sticky stained glass windows

stained glass windows

Whisking up coloured sensory soap 

whisking coloured soap

Salt dough alphabet modelling

salt dough initials

Pebble sorting

Pebbles discovery box

Stacking cups

coloured+cups+discovery+box

Play dough cupcakes

playdough cupcakes

Foam and water window art

Foam window murals

Pom pom drop game
filling+bottles+with+pom+poms
Painting with water
painting+and+mark+making+with+water+on+chalk
Finger paint mono-printing
finger printing
Matching lids game
playing+with+bottle+top+game
Painting with Q-tips
painting-a-figure-with-q-tips-666x1000
Tape resist paintings
Tape+resist+art+8
Tinkering with wires and loose parts in play dough
leads+and+pipes+in+play+dough
Grinding coffee beans
Grinding coffee
Sorting coloured chips in egg cartons
putting+chips+in+egg+box
Tearing and sticking collage
Rainbow collage activity
Paper bag weaving 
paper bag weaving
Sticker and felt collage
sticking activity
If you would like some more ideas for making play dough exciting, here are over 50 in this round up collection, all from this blog!the+A-Z+of+play+dough+recipes+and+activities+title
You might also like to browse our collection of Discovery Box ideas for curious toddlers!
15 discovery boxes for toddlers and preschoolers
Cakie: 5.0
Pop: 3.5
Bean: 18 mos

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Filed Under: Activities, Age, Child Development, Fine Motor Development, Kinaesthetic Learning, Learn, Motor Skills, Play Collections, Preschooler, School Age, Toddler Tagged With: Fine Motor Skills

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Comments

  1. Pauline, Lessons Learnt Journal says

    September 4, 2013 at 5:44 am

    Golly Anna! What a bumper collection! Love it.

  2. Nancy says

    September 4, 2013 at 8:18 am

    What a great and amazing ideas !! I love it all !
    Thank you for sharing …

  3. imperfectly natural mama says

    September 4, 2013 at 6:26 pm

    Love it, pinned for future reference! especially love the salt fairy dust.

  4. Becky says

    September 5, 2013 at 2:45 pm

    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.

  5. Missy says

    September 9, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    Wow! You have a great selection of fine motor activities here! I used a lot of fine motor activities with my kindergartener last year because he had so much trouble holding a pencil. At the start of this new school year he has already shown me how well he can hold a pencil and print now! I’ll be using some of these to continue helping him with his fine motor, as well as his younger sister. Thank you for sharing!

  6. Kathryn says

    September 9, 2013 at 5:35 pm

    I’m a teacher’s aid in a SPED class and my students absolutely love sensory art and so many of these fine motor activities would be great for them! Thanks for sharing your great ideas and awesome projects!

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Trackbacks

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    November 2, 2013 at 5:28 pm

    […] to child development experts, completing crafts helps to build a child’s fine motor skills and dexterity. Not only do your children benefit developmentally from crafting, but the process […]

  2. Baby Talk: Resources to Support the People Who Work With Infants and Toddlers: Issue No. 30 November 2013 | NJCITE says:
    November 10, 2013 at 10:51 pm

    […] fine motor skills activities for young children in this collection are easy to set up and will promote a whole range of skills. They’re creative, open-ended, […]

  3. Did You Know: About The Physical Benefits of Art | GymboreeIndia says:
    November 29, 2013 at 5:25 am

    […] Little kids usually seem to be mushing up objects they play with but they are actually using a gamut of actions and strengthening their muscles while they knead, pinch, mold,roll, squeeze and twist.  Read more about activities that aid in fine motor movements here. […]

  4. 40 Fine Motor Skills Activities from The Imagination Tree says:
    January 8, 2014 at 1:55 pm

    […] https://theimaginationtree.com/2013/09/40-fine-motor-skills-activities-for-kids.html […]

  5. Fine Motor Skills Activities Ideas Using Velcro Rollers says:
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  6. Activities to Encourage Fine Motor Skills — Therapy Fun Zone says:
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    […] this child-safe claylike substance is great for developing muscle coordination in the hands. The Imagination Tree has a simple no-bake recipe for homemade play dough as well as a host of ideas for using it in a […]

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  8. Room Four Term One Week Four | room4greytownkowhai says:
    February 23, 2014 at 6:26 am

    […] activities (finger strengthening). This website has some fun ideas to aid fine motor control. https://theimaginationtree.com/2013/09/40-fine-motor-skills-activities-for-kids.htmlSome other things which help develop this are things like: pegging pegs onto objects (you could […]

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About The Imagination Tree Hello and welcome! I'm Anna, Mama of 4, early years teacher and play enthusiast from the UK! Click here to read more about me.

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