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Activities with Fine
Motor Manipulatives
Fine Motor
Activities
Scissor
Activites
Sensory
Activites
Midline
Crossing
Activities to Develop Handwriting
Skills
Body
Stability
Fine Motor
Skills
Ocular Motor
Control
Eye-Hand
Coordination
Activities with Fine Motor
Manipulatives
Pre-kindergartners benefit from
experiences that support the development of fine motor
skills in the hands and fingers. Children should have
strength and dexterity in their hands and fingers before
being asked to manipulate a pencil on paper. Working on
dexterity and strength first can eliminate the development
of an inappropriate pencil grasp, which is becoming more
commonplace as young children are engaged in writing
experiences before their hands are ready. The following
activities involve the use of manipulatives which will
support young children's fine motor development, and will
help to build the strength and dexterity necessary to hold a
pencil appropriately.
Fine
Motor Activities
 Molding
and rolling play dough into balls - using the palms of
the hands facing each other and with fingers curled
slightly towards the palm.- Rolling
play dough into tiny balls (peas) using only the finger
tips.
- Using
pegs or toothpicks to make designs in play dough.
- Cutting
play dough with a plastic knife or with a pizza wheel by
holding the implement in a diagonal volar grasp. (see
attached diagram)
- Tearing
newspaper into strips and then crumpling them into balls.
Use to stuff scarecrow or other art creation.
- Scrunching
up 1 sheet of newspaper in one hand. This is a super
strength builder.
- Using
a plant sprayer to spray plants, (indoors, outdoors) to
spray snow (mix food coloring with water so that the snow
can be painted), or melt "monsters". (Draw monster
pictures with markers and the colors will run when
sprayed.)
- Picking
up objects using large tweezers such as those found in
the "Bedbugs" game. This can be adapted by picking up
Cheerios, small cubes, small marshmallows, pennies, etc.,
in counting games.
- Shaking
dice by cupping the hands together, forming an empty air
space between the palms.
- Using
small-sized screwdrivers like those found in an erector
set.
- Lacing
and sewing activities such as stringing beads, Cheerios,
macaroni, etc.
- Using
eye droppers to "pick up" colored water for color mixing
or to make artistic designs on paper.
- Rolling
small balls out of tissue paper, then gluing the balls
onto construction paper to form pictures or designs.
- Turning
over cards, coins, checkers, or buttons, without bringing
them to the edge of the table.
- Making
pictures using stickers or self-sticking paper
reinforcements.
- Playing
games with the "puppet fingers" -the thumb, index, and
middle fingers. At circle time have each child's puppet
fingers tell about what happened over the weekend, or use
them in songs and finger plays.
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Scissor
Activities
When scissors are held correctly, and
when they fit a child's hand well, cutting activities will
exercise the very same muscles which are needed to
manipulate a pencil in a mature tripod grasp. The correct
scissor position is with the thumb and middle finger in the
handles of the scissors, the index finger on the outside of
the handle to stabilize, with fingers four and five curled
into the palm.
- Cutting
junk mail, particularly the kind of paper used in
magazine subscription cards.
- Making
fringe on the edge of a piece of construction paper.
- Cutting
play dough with scissors.
- Cutting
straws or shredded paper.
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Sensory
Activities
The following activities ought to be done
frequently to increase postural muscle strength and
endurance. These activities also strengthen the child's
awareness of his/her hands.
- Wheelbarrow
walking, crab walking
- Clapping
games (loud/quiet, on knees together, etc.)
- Catching
(clapping) bubbles between hands
- Pulling
off pieces of thera-putty with individual fingers and
thumb
- Drawing
in a tactile medium such as wet sand, salt, rice, or
"goop". Make "goop" by adding water to cornstarch until
you have a mixture similar in consistency to toothpaste.
The "drag" of this mixture provides feedback to the
muscle and joint receptors, thus facilitating visual
motor control.
- Picking
out small objects like pegs, beads, coins, etc., from a
tray of salt, sand, rice, or putty. Try it with eyes
closed too. This helps develop sensory awareness in the
hands.
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Midline
Crossing
Establishment of hand dominance is still
developing at this point. The following activities will
facilitate midline crossing:
- Encourage
reaching across the body for materials with each hand. It
may be necessary to engage the other hand in an activity
to prevent switching hands at midline.
- Refrain
specifically from discouraging a child from using the
left hand for any activity. Allow for the natural
development of hand dominance by presenting activities at
midline, and allowing the child to choose freely.
- Start
making the child aware of the left and right sides of his
body through spontaneous comments like, "kick the ball
with your right leg." Play imitation posture games like
"Simon Says" with across the body movements.
- When
painting at easel, encourage the child to paint a
continuous line across the entire paper- also from
diagonal to diagonal.
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Activities To Develop Handwriting
Skills
There are significant prerequisites for
printing skills that begin in infancy and continue to emerge
through the preschool years. The following activities
support and promote fine motor and visual motor
development:
Body
Stability
The joints of the body need to be stable
before the hands can be free to focus on specific skilled
fine motor tasks.
 Wheelbarrow
walking, crab walking, and wall push-ups.- Toys:
Orbiter, silly putty, and monkey bars on the
playground.
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Fine
Motor Skills
When a certain amount of body stability
has developed, the hands and fingers begin to work on
movements of dexterity and isolation as well as different
kinds of grasps. Children will develop fine motor skills
best when they work on a VERTICAL or near vertical surface
as much as possible. In particular, the wrist must be in
extension. (Bent back in the direction of the
hand)
- Attach
a large piece of drawing paper to the wall. Have the
child use a large marker and try the following exercises
to develop visual motor skills:Make an outline of a one
at a time. Have the child trace over your line from left
to right, or from top to bottom. Trace each figure at
least 10 times . Then have the child draw the figure next
to your model several times.
- Play
connect the dots. Again make sure the child's strokes
connect dots fromleft to right, and from top to
bottom.
- Trace
around stencils - the non-dominant hand should hold the
stencil flat and stable against the paper, while the
dominant hand pushes the pencil firmly against the edge
of the stencil. The stencil must be held firmly.
- Attach
a large piece of felt to the wall, or use a felt board.
The child can use felt shapes to make pictures. Magnetic
boards can be used the same way.
- Have
the child work on a chalkboard, using chalk instead of a
marker. Do the same kinds of tracing and modeling
activities as suggested above.
- Paint
at an easel. Some of the modeling activities as suggested
above can be done at the easel.
- Magna
Doodle- turn it upside down so that the erasing lever is
on the top. Experiment making vertical, horizontal, and
parallel lines.
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Ocular
Motor Control
This refers to the ability of the eyes to
work together to follow and hold an object in the line of
vision as needed.
- Use
a flashlight against the ceiling. Have the child lie on
his/her back or tummy and visually follow the moving
light from left to right, top to bottom, and
diagonally.
- Find
hidden pictures in books. (There are special books for
this.)
- Maze
activities. (You can buy these in bookstores, and
Spags.)
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Eye-hand
Coordination
This involves accuracy in placement,
direction, and spatial awareness.
- Throw
bean bags/koosh balls into a hula hoop placed flat on the
floor. Gradually increase the distance.
- Play
throw and catch with a ball . Start with a large ball and
work toward a smaller ball. (Koosh balls are easier to
catch than a tennis ball.)
- Practice
hitting bowling pins with a ball. (You can purchase these
games or make your own with soda bottles and a small
ball.)
- Play
"Hit the Balloon" with a medium-sized balloon.
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