Picture this… you’re 4 years old and your teacher just said you’re going to be completing fine motor activities. She gives you a string and some Fruit Loops and you’re supposed to make a necklace, but you struggle to string the cereal. Your little hands are shaking and you just cannot get that string through the hole in the cereal. Why is this? It’s because your fine motor skills are not developed enough to complete the task. This is a common struggle for many students (of all ages). But fine motor skills go beyond stringing Fruit Loops. Every year in my classroom I have students who come to school struggling to use scissors, hold and write with a pencil, manipulate small objects, button their coats, tie their shoes, and more!

What are Fine Motor Skills?

According to an OT with NAPA, fine motor skills are described as “…the movements and coordination of the small muscles of the body, typically thought of as the movements that involve the fingers and the hands. Fine motor skills are important for supporting independence with dressing, feeding, eating, and performance in school.” They are extremely important throughout a child’s school career because they provide students with a foundation for hand use. I want to give you 10 different fine motor activities that you can use with your students to help increase fine motor skills and development.

Fine Motor Activities Your Kids will LOVE

1. Playdough

Playdough, a universal pastime among kids all over the world, strongly contributes to the development of fine motor skills in children. Incorporating play dough into a child’s routine can be an enjoyable and effective way to promote the refinement and strengthening of their fine motor abilities. I love having my students use playdough as a morning work activity. This is because it helps them to self-regulate and start the day on a positive note. Sometimes I give students free choice but I also enjoy using a variety of playdough mats. These mats contain things like numbers, letters, sight words, and shapes for students to build using playdough. I’ve created this Playdough Mat Bundle to support educators and students from preschool through 3rd grade.

Some of the benefits of using playdough (and playdough mats) with your child(ren) are:

• Hand strength and finger dexterity
• Bilateral coordination
• Tactile sensory challenges
• Creative development

With all of these benefits and the instant engagement that playdough brings – it’s a great option for weaving in fine motor practice.

2. Scissor Skills

Using scissors as a tool to enhance fine motor skills is an excellent strategy. Scissors, being a tool that students will continue to utilize throughout their lives, highlight the significance of early development of these skills. Here are a few reasons scissors are an important component of fine motor control:

• Strengthening hand and finger muscles
• Bilateral coordination
• Spatial awareness

If you’re at a loss about what kinds of activities you should have your child practice, I’ve got you covered. I created a fun Scissor Skills set, perfect for preschool through first-grade students to strengthen their fine motor skills.

Many schools start school without ever being exposed to scissors at home. That means as primary teachers it is up to teach our students the rules for using scissors and the correct way to use this tool. Scissors might feel like a mountain too high to tackle. But with a strategic approach, like I use in my cutting practice resources, and some practice it won’t be.

And. . . don’t be in a rush with scissor skills. There is a lot of motor planning that happens when you learn a new skill. So embrace those jagged cuts and just know developing good scissor skills will take a little time. However, for most students, using scissors can be an enjoyable and effective activity for building their fine motor skills.

3. Tracing

These skills are exactly what your students will practice when using my Prewriting Practice Worksheet resource. My students always love it when we use these printables because they love the engaging designs. There is something for every student! From trucks and boats to cute animals and holiday-themed graphics, your students are sure to love it too!

Tracing is an enjoyable and effective activity that can aid in the development of fine motor skills in children. These activities offer multiple benefits that contribute to a student’s overall motor development while preparing students for more advanced writing and drawing tasks.

• Refines hand and finger coordination
• Enhances pencil grip
• Boosts pre-writing skills

Pre-writing practice is so much fun when you connect it with engaging tracing activities like these.

4. Lacing

Research has shown that lacing activities can play an essential role in developing fine motor skills in children. For instance, activities such as threading beads or lacing cards can be beneficial for fine motor development in children.

These activities provide opportunities to develop various fine motor skills, including:

• Hand-eye coordination
• Finger dexterity
• Bilateral coordination
• Concentration

Children can improve their finger strength and control, hand dominance, and ability to perform complex hand movements by lacing small objects. I have a variety of lacing tools and activities in my classroom but my students often reach for these Zeodder Wooden Animal Lacing Cards. Check them out on Amazon for your classroom today!

5. Pinching

Pinching activities support fine motor control and development immensely in young students.

By performing pinching activities, children will:

• develop the muscles in their fingers
• improve their hand coordination and dexterity
• hone in on their hand-eye coordination

I use a variety of fine motor activities with my students that have been successful in helping them develop and strengthen their skills. And no… pinching your neighbor isn’t one of them!

A personal favorite of my students is paper crumpling. When crumpling paper into tiny balls, the pincer grip strengthens. We will often play “basketball” after crumpling the paper. To play, students will find a partner and I ask a question (think review questions, simple math, etc…). The player to get the answer correct first gets a chance to throw their crumpled paper into the hoop (trash can). If he/she gets it in, they receive a point.

Adding fine motor to activities you already do

Clothespin or tong pinching is another fun activity to use with students. Your students can transfer objects such as pom-poms, beads, fluff balls, or other small materials using these tools. And. . . it is so easy to add these tasks to center activities you are already using. For example, instead of having students sort objects with their hands, add a pair of kid-friendly tweezers or tongs. Now students are working on fine motor and sorting.

Having students mark their answers on task cards with a clothespin is another easy way to work on this fine motor skill. Do you use sensory bins? Include some activities that have students working with tongs to move and collect items from the bin. All of these pinching activities can be tailored according to a child’s age and skill level and can support the development of fine motor skills that are important for daily activities such as writing, drawing, and using utensils.

6. Stringing

Engaging in stringing activities can help children develop their fine motor skills too. Like pinching, this fine motor activity also involves using the pincer grip. This requires coordination between the thumb and fingers and strengthens the muscles needed for tasks like writing, using utensils, and manipulating small objects.

By engaging in these staining activities, children can develop their :

• hand strength
• finger control
• coordination

Some of my favorite stringing activities include stringing beads. Children can thread beads onto a string or pipe cleaner, which promotes finger dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and concentration. They can create patterns or sequence different colors and sizes of beads to enhance their fine motor skills further. One of my classroom favorites is this Melissa and Dough Lacing Beads activity. Students are always excited about it!

Another classroom favorite is stringing buttons. Children can thread buttons onto a string or a shoelace, practicing the pincer grip while manipulating the buttons.

And. . . last but not least, my number one favorite (preschool/kindergarten) stringing activity is the creation of a pasta or cereal necklace. Children can thread different pasta shapes, such as penne or macaroni, onto a string or yarn, encouraging finger manipulation, hand-eye coordination, and concentration. They can experiment with different patterns and create their own unique necklace.

#TeacherHack – If you set up stringing activities in your primary classroom, consider using shoe laces because the wrapped end creates a built-in needle. You can also use yarn and add some scotch tape to the end to create the same effect.

7. Tools

When you think of fine motor activities does your mind go to…tools? While I know using tools can support fine motor development, I will tell you mine didn’t at first. That’s because when you think tools you’re probably like me in thinking students have to be building something. You don’t always think about how your preschool and early elementary students could be using a hammer or screwdriver in the classroom!

But, I’ve been experimenting with my students and I have found that fine motor growth can be achieved using a variety of tools like these:

• Plastic or rubber hammer: Using a child-safe plastic or rubber hammer can be an excellent tool for practicing hand-eye coordination and building strength in the hands and fingers.
• Plastic golf tees and foam board: Children can use a plastic golf tee and a soft foam board to practice their hammering skills. They can tap the golf tee into the foam board and then remove it, repeating the activity to enhance hand-eye coordination and fine motor control.
• Push pins and corkboard: Children can use push pins to create designs on a corkboard. Colorful push pins, like these, become the creative tool for creating pictures and images. By pushing the pins into the corkboard or cork mat and pulling them out, they can refine their finger control and develop hand strength.
• Play workbench: A child-sized play workbench with plastic nails and a toy hammer can offer a safe and fun way for children to practice their fine motor skills. One of my favorites is the Montessori Wooden Screwdriver set found on Amazon.

8. Games

Another favorite when supporting students with their fine motor development is through the use of games! Games make an engaging way of learning and building strength while not having to focus on “educational content.” Playing games also builds a variety of social skills!

Many common games can help improve fine motor skills in students while keeping them engaged and entertained. Here are some examples:

• Jenga: Playing the classic game of Jenga requires players to carefully remove and stack wooden blocks without causing the tower to collapse, which promotes hand-eye coordination, precision, and grip strength.
• Operation: This game challenges players to remove small plastic body parts from a patient’s “body” using tweezers while avoiding touching the metal edges. It helps develop hand-eye coordination, control, and fine motor skills.
• Lite-Brite: Lite-Brite is a game where children create designs by placing small, colorful pegs into a backlit board. It enhances finger dexterity, grasp, and precision while encouraging creativity.
• Don’t Spill the Beans: In this game, players take turns placing plastic beans on top of a pot, trying not to tip it over. It requires hand control, balance, and precision.

Remember to consider the age appropriateness and skill level of the students when choosing a game. It’s essential to adapt the difficulty level and provide necessary assistance or modifications as needed. The key is to make the games engaging while promoting the development of fine motor skills.

9. Crafts

Who doesn’t love crafts? Engaging children in crafts is a fantastic way to promote fine motor skill development while having fun. Here are some craft ideas that can help develop fine motor skills in your students:

1. Paper Weaving: Kids can create paper weavings by cutting evenly spaced slits along the edges of two pieces of colored paper and weaving thinner strips of paper through them. This craft enhances hand-eye coordination, finger control, and bilateral coordination.
2. Collage Making: Cutting and tearing paper or magazine snippets and gluing them onto a larger piece of paper to create unique collages helps develop finger strength, scissor skills, and creativity.
3. Finger Knitting: Finger knitting is a simple and enjoyable craft that promotes finger dexterity. Kids can create long braided chains or small knitted items using a continuous yarn strand and their fingers.
4. Origami: The art of folding paper into various shapes and figures enhances hand-eye coordination, finger control, and concentration. Starting with simple origami projects like paper airplanes, boats, or animals is a great way to begin.

Be sure to choose crafts that suit the age and abilities of your students. Provide proper supervision and adjust the difficulty level or materials as needed. The crafts you choose should allow children to explore their creativity while also enhancing their fine motor skills.

10. At Home Activities

If you’re a stay-at-home parent or homeschool educator, don’t worry you don’t have to have a classroom full of manipulatives to support your child’s fine motor skills. There are plenty of at-home fine motor activities that children can do to develop and grow their skill set, even without fancy equipment or tools. Here are some ideas:

1. Doing Puzzles: Solving puzzles engages the hand-eye coordination required to manipulate the puzzle pieces independently, encouraging finger manipulation and fine motor coordination.
2. Drawing, Coloring, or Painting: Activities that involve holding a writing tool and making marks on paper or painting with a brush help develop grip strength, finger control, and eye-hand coordination.
3. Tearing Paper: Give students a stack of paper to tear into strips or squares to build hand strength, coordination, and motor precision.
4. Keyboarding on a computer: Typing on a keyboard requires finger coordination, precision, and hand placement, helping enhance fine motor skills.

Encourage students to engage in these activities regularly, aiming for at least 15-30 minutes of practice each day. Ensure the activities are challenging but not too difficult and adjust the difficulty level to make it fun and engaging.

Just Start!

From playing games that require precise movements to engaging in crafts that promote finger dexterity, there is a wide range of activities available to support student fine motor development. Even at home, students can engage in activities that promote this skill. By integrating a variety of fine motor activities into their routine, children can develop fine motor skills while also having fun. The key is to make it enjoyable, engaging, and consistent.

Pin for Later!

Be sure to pin this post to your classroom or homeschool board to refer to later!