Definition: Small movements of the hands that allow us to manipulate materials like pencils, clothing buttons, and containers.
What fine motor skills do these activities help the child to develop?
- Pencil grasp
- Strengthen pinch and grip
- Hand-eye coordination
- Precision of their fingers – e.g., isolating fingers
- Builds the foundation for other activities that they enjoy
- Coordination of both hands
Fine motor activities to complete for toddler/ preschool (1-4 years old)
- Use spoons to transfer small objects from one dish to another
- Use sidewalk chalk to draw on the playground and on walls
- Tear up recycled paper to make confetti
- Create a water bin – spray bottle, plastic cups, small sponges
- Stringing together beads / macaroni
- Build a tower of 10 blocks
- Making snips on cardboard paper or stiffer paper
- Tracing sand with a stick
Fine motor activities to complete for school age (5+ years old)
- Paint picture using Q-Tips or fingerpaint
- Make a lacing card with cardboard and with a hole punch
- Cutting different shapes, lines
- Complete puzzles
- Drawing and colouring using broken crayons
- Spreading margarine with a knife
- Self-care skills – tie own shoelace, button shirt, zippers and snaps, opening and closing containers
- Scrunch up newspaper and toss them in the bin
- Create a water bin – include syringes, eye droppers, buckets
What to look for
- Include these fine motor skills during day to day activities – play, transition between activities
- Incorporate a variety of materials for the children to use e.g., paper clips, tweezers, stencil tracing, pom poms, clothespins so that it is more fun for them!
- Use different sizes for the children for example small, medium and large beads
- Work on different surfaces to support the development of pencil grasp e.g., chalkboard, slanted surface (use a 3 inch binder)
Links to developmental milestones and implications
- https://askbhsc.org/developmental-milestones-for-fine-motor-skills
- http://www.kamloopschildrenstherapy.org/fine-motor-skills-toddler-milestones
Written by: Stephanie Wong OT Reg. (Ont.)