Fine motor skills are the ability to make movements using the small muscles on our hands and wrists. These skills are important for early child development and as a child grows. In order to improve these skills, we have provided your child with a menu of fine motor activities. There will be opportunities built into your child's daily schedule to use this menu to choose activities to help develop their skills. The most important fine motor skills children need to develop include the following:
Fine Motor Activities:
Build with Legos- Practice pushing the pieces together and pulling them apart.
Color a picture- Try using different art materials to color in a picture. Use a favorite coloring book or you can find printable coloring pages here. Practice staying in the lines of the picture and coloring the whole space.
Play with play dough- Push pieces into the play dough and dig them out again. Construct favorite items out of play dough (animals, food, cars, etc.). Roll the play dough into a ball. Smash it flat, Roll it into a snake.
Cut with scissors- Try cutting different kinds of paper(card stock, construction paper, regular printer paper, junk mail). Follow different lines to cut, you can find printable pages for cutting here.
Play with dolls- Practice taking care of dolls by feeding them, dressing them or moving them about. Try using dolls of different sizes such as baby dolls, Barbie dolls or Polly Pocket dolls. The smaller the dolls the more these little fingers will have to work!
Draw a picture- Try using different art materials to draw a picture. Practice drawing something from memory or draw something you see. Use lots of different colors!
- The palmar arches allow the palms to curl inward. Strengthening these helps coordinate the movement of fingers, which is needed for writing, unbuttoning clothes, and gripping.
- Wrist stability develops by early school years. It allows children to move their fingers with strength and control.
- Skilled side of the hand is the use of the thumb, index finger, and other fingers together for precision grasping.
- Intrinsic hand muscle development is the ability to perform small movements with the hand, where the tip of the thumb, index finger, and middle finger touch.
- Bilateral hand skills permit the coordination of both hands at the same time.
- Scissor skills develop by age 4 and teaches hand strength and hand-eye coordination
Fine Motor Activities:
Build with Legos- Practice pushing the pieces together and pulling them apart.
Color a picture- Try using different art materials to color in a picture. Use a favorite coloring book or you can find printable coloring pages here. Practice staying in the lines of the picture and coloring the whole space.
Play with play dough- Push pieces into the play dough and dig them out again. Construct favorite items out of play dough (animals, food, cars, etc.). Roll the play dough into a ball. Smash it flat, Roll it into a snake.
Cut with scissors- Try cutting different kinds of paper(card stock, construction paper, regular printer paper, junk mail). Follow different lines to cut, you can find printable pages for cutting here.
Play with dolls- Practice taking care of dolls by feeding them, dressing them or moving them about. Try using dolls of different sizes such as baby dolls, Barbie dolls or Polly Pocket dolls. The smaller the dolls the more these little fingers will have to work!
Draw a picture- Try using different art materials to draw a picture. Practice drawing something from memory or draw something you see. Use lots of different colors!