FINE MOTOR SKILLS
Sandy Moline, Early Childhood Educator

Every child needs practice in learning how to use his or her body. Children work on developing their large motor skills first as they grow. Large motor activities are those that develop the large muscles in the arms and legs and include activities like rolling over, crawling, walking and running. As they age, children need a balance of practice at fine and large motor skills. Fine motor skills involve doing activities that help children develop hand strength. Hand strength is needed to help children hold a pencil or grasp a pair of scissors. Some children, especially young boys, may resist pencil and paper activities because they do not have good control and the activity is too hard. 

Fun Activities to Develop Fine Motor Skills:

• Use pinch type clothespins and clip onto a bowl or box or clip onto clothing and pull off.  A parent could also rig up a short clothesline for a child by stringing a line between two chairs. Children could then hang socks from the line, small baby clothes, or even leaves.
• Play with play dough or silly putty. Children can use both hands and roll out a worm with the dough. Children can also roll out play dough with a rolling pin and then cut shapes out of the dough with cookie cutters. Children can also cut play dough with a scissors.
• Sort small objects like beads, coins, different colored paper clips or seeds into a muffin tin.
• Pound nails into scrap lumber. 
• Open containers or jars. Begin to collect empty jars or water bottles and keep in a bag for the child to discover.
• Crumple up paper and shoot it into an empty laundry basket.
• Do puzzles together.
• Throw and catch bean bags or soft balls. Blow up a beach ball three-fourths of the way so that a child can easily catch. 
• Pop bubble wrap with a certain hand or finger.
• Pick up toothpicks and put them into a container one at a time.
• Thread spaghetti noodles through a colander.
• Hit a balloon into the air and catch. Be sure to pick up small balloon pieces if the balloon pops.
• String beads, cheerios or cut straw pieces onto a piece of yarn.  It will be easier for your child if you wrap one end of the yarn with tape for the needle and tie the other end of the yarn around a bead, cheerio or straw piece. 
• At bath time, let your child practice squeezing water out of a sponge.
• Give a child a pair of tweezers and two bowls. Fill one bowl with dry beans, macaroni or cereal. Show your child how to transfer the items one at a time from bowl to bowl.
• Play Lego’s with your child.

Be sure to provide supervision for many of the above activities, especially when the activities involve small pieces or balloons.  Many of the activities above are most appropriate for children three- to five-years-old.  Many activities will keep your child busy for a long time — save these for an inside day.  Your child will enjoy doing many of the activities with you.

Additional Resources:

http://www.preschoolexpress.com/skill_station01/skill_station-sept01.shtml

Sandy Moline, Early Childhood Educator
Rosemount, Apple Valley, Eagan Area Schools