Developing Good Fine Motor Skills

   We will be working on fine motor skills throughout the school year.  Developing good fine motor control is a pre-writing skill. By providing your child with meaningful fine motor activities, your child can develop strong fine motor control.  It also can be a lot of fun!

Here are some activities for your child to try at home:

• roll Play-Doh to make "snakes" and form letters, numbers, and shapes
• use fingers to "write" letters and numbers in shaving cream or whip cream
• pick up Cheerios using thumb, pointer, and middle fingers (tripod grasp)
• use tripod fingers to pick up pennies and drop into a "piggy bank"
• pop bubble wrap using tripod fingers
• use tongs to pick up objects like cotton balls (use tripod grasp)
• use small pencils to encourage tripod grasp (golf pencils work well)
• use small crayons to encourage tripod grasp (break "skinny" crayons)
• tear paper 
• use tripod fingers to squirt water from a spray bottle
• lace pony beads onto a pipe cleaner
• wheelbarrow walking (hold child's feet and child "walks" using arms)
• pinch clothespins with tripod fingers to hang clothes, paper, or pictures from a clothesline
• use a turkey baster to blow tissues, cotton balls, or ping pong balls across a surface
• pour water into a cup
• use fingers to peel fruit (oranges, tangerines, clementines, etc.)
• string beads onto a necklace