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20 Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

Fine Motor Activities

Are you looking for fun fine motor activities for your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten students? Developing fine motor skills is an important part of a high-quality early childhood program, but finding “just right” activities that are engaging and effective can be challenging. These activities will help young children build fine motor skills in fun, playful, and hands-on ways they’ll absolutely love!

20 Fine Motor Activities for Preschool

What are Fine Motor Skills?

The term fine motor refers to the small muscles in the hand and fingers. While some fine motor skills may develop naturally through daily play, it’s important to be intentional when it comes to strategically planning opportunities for your kids to practice these skills daily in the classroom.

Fine Motor Practice with tweezers

Why are Fine Motor Skills Important?

Young children must exercise these muscles often in the early years so they can do daily tasks in the future like writing, tying shoes, buttoning, zipping, and other self-help skills.

It’s important that your toddlers and preschoolers have plenty of opportunities to work on fine motor development to prepare their little hands for the tasks listed above. Before children can begin to hold a pencil in their hands and write with control, they must first develop strength and dexterity in their fingers and hands.

You can help your kids develop fine motor skills by providing fun, engaging activities in your classroom like these that encourage using the hands and fingers together.

Fine Motor Skills with Stickers

Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

Everybody knows that kids learn best through play, and what could be more playful than stickers ? Stickers are super popular with the littles. Why not harness their natural fascination and invite them to use stickers as a way to practice those fine motor skills? They’ll think they’re just having a good old time!

Did you know you can often find inexpensive golf tees at the dollar store? Invite your kids to hammer golf tees in playdough, or even a pumpkin in the fall for super engaging fine motor fun!

Fine Motor Practice Rolling Pin

Fine Motor Skills Activities

The possibilities for using clothespins to develop hand strength are endless. Use inexpensive sets of socks from the dollar section of your local big box store, or raid your laundry basket for old socks. String a piece of yarn or twine between two chairs to create a mini clothesline and your littles will have a blast hanging socks. In fact, they’ll be having so much fun they won’t have a clue that they actually practicing an important skill.

There are lots of things in your kitchen that can be used for fine motor practice. Kids love using tongs to pick up small objects like pom-poms to transfer into ice cube trays.

While geoboards are often thought of something used in math instruction, they’re also perfect for developing those little hand muscles. These geoboard task cards make geoboards even more fun and engaging.

Another common household item that can serve double duty for developing hand muscles is a plant sprayer . You can find inexpensive plant spray bottles at your local dollar store. Your kids will have a blast spraying water on the grass at recess, or add a little liquid watercolor and invite them to spray the snow if you live in a cold climate.

Fine Motor Activity Lacing Beads

Fine Motor Activities for Preschool

Stringing beads on a pipe cleaner is a great way to support fine motor development in your classroom. You can invite your preschoolers to thread small pieces of paper straws onto chenille stems. If your children are old enough you may consider adding some pony beads to your fine motor tray. The beads shown above are called Biggie Beads , they’re bigger and easier for little hands to string than regular pony beads.

Eyedroppers for Fine Motor Practice

Using tongs is also a great way to practice those hand muscles. The scoop tongs pictured above perfectly sized for little hands. Children can use tongs to pick up items and transfer them from one container to another.

Invite your kids to twist chenille stems (pipe cleaners) and place them into a colander to develop fine motor skills. Bonus, this activity is also great eye-hand coordination practice.

Fine Motor Activities for Preschool

Scissor Skills Activities

Have you tried crayon resist painting with your class? Invite your kids to put washi tape on white paper, then paint over it with tempera paint sticks. As if playing with tape and painting wasn’t fun enough, invite your kids to peel the tape off the paper and reveal the white space underneath – what’s not to love?

You can find squeeze bottles at your local dollar store, they’re great for squirting water or paint. Put a few squeeze bottles in your sensory bin along with water and your kids will have a blast squeezing water – within limits, of course. You can also put a little liquid watercolor into the bottles along with the water and invite your kids to paint the snow if you live in a colder climate. Sensory play is a super fun way for your kids to exercise and strengthen those small hand muscles.

Q-Tip-Fine Motor-Alphabet

Developing Fine Motor Skills in Preschool

A hole punch or shape punches are super fun for kids! Just put out some punches in your writing center along with some colorful construction paper scraps and invite your children to start punching away. You’ll be surprised by how long this seemingly simple task will keep them engaged. While it may seem simple, paper punches are excellent for fine motor practice.

Fine Motor Skills with Push Pins

You can’t go wrong with a good old crayon rubbing ! Use hot glue or liquid glue to create designs or images on paper. When they’re dry, invite your kids to make crayon rubbings of the dried glue images. Grasping the paperless crayons is another way to develop those small muscles.

Developing Fine Motor Skills with Glue

Lacing Beads

One of the most popular fine motor activities for kids is lacing beads. When it comes to developing fine motor skills in the preschool classroom, lacing beads are the gold standard. Young children also develop important hand-eye coordination skills when lacing beads.

More Fine Motor Ideas

Camping Art Activity

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Home » Fine Motor Skills Activities

18 Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

Published: Oct 28, 2019 · Modified: Jul 18, 2022 by Vicky · This post contains affiliate links.

It's no secret that fine motor development plays an important role in a child's development and success at school. When I was teaching Preschool and Kindergarten, I saw many kids who had weak fine motor skills. I created a variety of  fine motor skills activities to use in the classroom for students of all skill levels, as everyone can use a little help. Many parents wanted to work on fine motor skills at home too and they often asked me for ideas. The cheap  fine motor activities for preschoolers  that I will be sharing today will help kids strengthen their skills while incorporating learning from various parts of the curriculum. I just love sneaking in some learning wherever I can, don't you?

These 18 Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers will keep your kids busy while they work on important skills.

Why are fine motor skills important?

What items are helpful for practicing fine motor skills for preschoolers, fine motor skills activities for 3-5 year olds.

Fine motor skills are important for young children and they affect everything from self feeding to using scissors to writing with pencils. As children grow, there will be a greater demand placed on their motor skill development. They will be expected to dress themselves and use zippers and buttons. Drawing and writing will be easier if your child has strong fine motor skills.

Please supervise children while they are doing these activities.

Pushing Toothpicks I just love easy fine motor activities! This one requires 2 supplies and is pretty easy to take anywhere. It really works on those small muscles! You can find the cheese shakers here .

children placing tooth picks in shaker

Fine Motor Work with Golf Tees

This fine motor exercise will help kids to gain hand strength as they push golf tees into foam. Even a toddler can do it! We use these golf tees for lots of activities.

child placing golf tees in foam

Fine Motor Fun Tong Transfer

In addition to fine motor practice, you can use this activity with pom poms to help with color recognition. These tongs are a great size for kids and you will use them again and again.

Fine Motor tong transfer

Play Dough and Beads

What kid doesn't love play dough? Take advantage of that by adding some beads for fine motor practice. Try making this oatmeal play dough recipe with kids. It works great for this activity.

placing play dough in beads

Patterned Bead Snakes

Stringing beads on a pipe cleaner is a great way to work on fine motor skills. Add some fun by creating a snake. You can also use this as a way to teach colors and patterns.

pattern bead snake

Fruit Loop Towers

Raid your pantry for this yummy activity that will have kids reaching and grasping for more. When you are done, you can make this cereal rainbow craft with the leftover cheerios.

fine motor cereal stack

Making Straw Jewelry

Fun for little fingers! This is another activity that my preschoolers and toddler both enjoyed. When they are done threading the straws on to the pipe cleaners, they will have colorful pasta jewelry to wear and incorporate into pretend play.

MAKING STRAW JEWELRY

Woven Paper Place mats

Small hand muscles get quite the workout as they weave paper under and over to create a pretty place mat. You can laminate these when they are done and use them for meals.

child weaving paper placemat

Fine Motor Work with A Colander

Love this new use for a strainer or colander ! In addition to being a great fine motor activity, this unleashes imagination and keeps kids busy. Win!

placing pipe cleaners in colander

You Can Count on Me

Math combined with fine motor work? Count me in (pun very much intended)! This is another one of those activities that just use a few items you probably already have.

child holding pipe cleaners

Fine Motor Skills for Preschoolers Pasta Play

Fine motor skills for preschoolers are so important. Here is a fun game you can make using dyed pasta. Directions to dye pasta included.

placing pasta in foam

Color Drop Game

child placing straws in container

Fine Motor Skills Activity with Dyed Oatmeal

container with dyed oatmeal and containers

Marshmallow Sculptures

Kids will have no idea they are actually building small motor skills while playing with marshmallows. They may eat some marshmallows along the way

in this fun fine motor activity.

marshmallow sculptures with toothpicks

Counting Bead Fun

Pipe cleaners again? Did you buy them yet? Practice counting and math skills while working those little muscles with Counting with Beads and Pipe Cleaners.

counting with beads and pipe cleaners

Fine Motor Skills Water Art

Find out how to make this fine motor skills water art. You won't believe how easy it is and how quickly you can set up this art activity.

water art

Q-Tips and Straws Fine Motor Activity

This is a great way to help little hands strengthen fine motor skills and work on colors at the same time.

Q-Tips and Straws Fine Motor Activity

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More Fine Motor Skills Activities

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Reader Interactions

September 17, 2018 at 3:13 pm

It is must for working parents to choose good school nursery for the child.

September 16, 2018 at 3:57 pm

that is great article from child perpective

September 16, 2018 at 2:45 pm

Seema Mehta

September 17, 2017 at 10:31 pm

Development of motor skills is important for the overall growth of children and pre-schoolers and that is what I think. The ideas are amazing and the collection is really neat too! Not generic ideas that people think of everyday! It is a really great job by Vicky.

May 07, 2016 at 2:57 am

Superb activities. I am using them tom improve the fine motor skills of my year old girl

Vicky @ Mess For Less

September 10, 2014 at 6:52 pm

So happy it will be of help to you Nora!

September 05, 2014 at 5:30 pm

Thank you so much for the list here! I plan to use some of these with the kids I nanny for. Thanks so much!

Ashley Wells

December 27, 2013 at 5:52 pm

That must start from the childhood, and the best way to do that is to choose proper problem solving activities for preschoolers.

http://kidslearninghub.com

Angie Christensen

May 11, 2013 at 12:43 pm

We've used the bathroom clings with suction cups on the bottom (like what you might put in the bottom of your bathtub) for several different fine motor activities. Turn them upside down so the suction cups are facing up. The kiddos use tweezers or strawberry hullers to pick up beans or pom poms and put one into each suction cup. They an also use eye droppers to squeeze water into each suction cup. If you don't have bathroom clings, you can also use an inexpensive kitchen mat that you would sit underneath your dishes drainer.

Rebecca English

February 24, 2013 at 9:28 am

This is a fabulous collection of activities. My twins are nearly three and will love these.

Thanks for linking to the Sunday showcase. I've pinned this to our board.

Diana - FreeStyleMama

February 21, 2013 at 6:21 pm

Great collection!

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The Imagination Tree

Creative play and learning for kids

40 Fine Motor Skills Activities

September 3, 2013 by Anna Ranson

Here is a collection of 40 fine motor skills activities for young children that are easy to set up and promote a whole range of skills. They’re creative, open-ended, appropriate and varied with ideas for practising motor skills through art, sensory play and simple manipulative games, and there are so many to choose from!

40 fine motor skills activities for children

One of the most important ways we can help our children while playing with them at home or in a childcare/ classroom setting is through setting up simple activities that help to develop fine motor skills. Young children need to be able to hold and use scissors and pencils appropriately before using them in a classroom context. We cannot expect them to be able to write if they haven’t yet developed the strength needed in their hands and fingers.

There are plenty of easy ways to strengthen these muscles, practise co-ordination and develop hand:eye co-ordination using simple, everyday materials and a bit of creative fun! Here are 40 that we have done over the past few years with babies to 5 year olds. There are a million variations you could make from each of these to cater for your own child’s particular interests and learning dispositions. Use these as a springboard and pin it for future reference too!

natural materials in herbal play dough

[ Herbal play dough with natural materials to explore]

My personal favourite tool for developing all fine motor skills is the humble ball of homemade play dough . It can be used in SO many ways by adding other combinations of materials to it, and automatically strengthens little hands as they roll, squeeze, twist and build with it. Here is a whole post about the benefits of playing with play dough and a handy guide to starting out with building your own play dough tool kit. Of course, baking with real dough is another wonderful way to play and learn simultaneously!

The many benefits of play dough (and a tool kit) 

play+dough+tool+kit

Other activities we have loved have included exploring sensory play materials, transporting small parts, threading beads, hands-on art projects, cutting and sticking, tearing and scrunching papers, opening and closing fastenings and countless others. Here is a selection of some of those favourites, all of which can be adapted for different age groups and abilities.

Threading with beads onto pipe cleaners

beads and pipe cleaners threading

Threading, posting and slotting toys for babies and toddlers

4+homemade+baby+and+toddler+toys

Poking straws into holes

straws discovery box

Pasta necklaces

Rainbow threading necklaces

Monster play dough

Monster play dough

Weaving around cardboard

Weaving on cardboard shapes

Fairy sparkle playdough

Fairy play dough activity

Pipe cleaners and colanders

Pipe cleaners discovery box

Beads on spaghetti

Threading-with-beads-on-spaghetti-666x1000

Hair rollers sticky construction

Baby-play-activity-with-hair-rollers

First sewing basket

Sewing with ribbons

Edible fingerpainting 

homemade-edible-finger-paint1

Making marks in fairy dust

Writing-and-mark-making-in-fairy-dust-660x1000

Decorating play dough eggs

easter+play+dough+invitation+to+play

Mark making and scooping in lavender sensory salt

Lavender sensory salt

Building 3D models

matching-shapes-to-pictures-680x453

Sorting and pattern making with shells

Matching-and-sorting-using-natural-materials-680x453

Patterning with lego

lego+duplo+pattern+making

Lid posting game

lid+sort+and+count+box

Snipping and doodling sticky stained glass windows

stained glass windows

Whisking up coloured sensory soap 

whisking coloured soap

Salt dough alphabet modelling

salt dough initials

Pebble sorting

Pebbles discovery box

Stacking cups

coloured+cups+discovery+box

Play dough cupcakes

playdough cupcakes

Foam and water window art

Foam window murals

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Matcha Green Tea Play Dough

September 4, 2013 at 5:44 am

Golly Anna! What a bumper collection! Love it.

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September 4, 2013 at 8:18 am

What a great and amazing ideas !! I love it all ! Thank you for sharing …

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September 4, 2013 at 6:26 pm

Love it, pinned for future reference! especially love the salt fairy dust.

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September 5, 2013 at 2:45 pm

I am doing some early childhood graduate work with 2s and 3s…looking forward to incorporating many of these ideas…especially the twigs or birthday candles into dough activities! Thank you.

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September 9, 2013 at 3:07 pm

Wow! You have a great selection of fine motor activities here! I used a lot of fine motor activities with my kindergartener last year because he had so much trouble holding a pencil. At the start of this new school year he has already shown me how well he can hold a pencil and print now! I’ll be using some of these to continue helping him with his fine motor, as well as his younger sister. Thank you for sharing!

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September 9, 2013 at 5:35 pm

I’m a teacher’s aid in a SPED class and my students absolutely love sensory art and so many of these fine motor activities would be great for them! Thanks for sharing your great ideas and awesome projects!

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[…] to child development experts, completing crafts helps to build a child’s fine motor skills and dexterity. Not only do your children benefit developmentally from crafting, but the process […]

[…] fine motor skills activities for young children in this collection are easy to set up and will promote a whole range of skills. They’re creative, open-ended, […]

[…] Little kids usually seem to be mushing up objects they play with but they are actually using a gamut of actions and strengthening their muscles while they knead, pinch, mold,roll, squeeze and twist.  Read more about activities that aid in fine motor movements here. […]

[…] https://theimaginationtree.com/2013/09/40-fine-motor-skills-activities-for-kids.html […]

[…] I was inspired for this post by a beautiful picture from the Imagination Tree on her post with 40 Fine Motor Skills Activities. I literally ran and got them right when I saw it, and we just started playing. I was a little […]

[…] this child-safe claylike substance is great for developing muscle coordination in the hands. The Imagination Tree has a simple no-bake recipe for homemade play dough as well as a host of ideas for using it in a […]

[…] activities (finger strengthening). This website has some fun ideas to aid fine motor control. https://theimaginationtree.com/2013/09/40-fine-motor-skills-activities-for-kids.htmlSome other things which help develop this are things like: pegging pegs onto objects (you could […]

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

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Example of a fun fine motor skills activity for kids

75 Fun Fine Motor Skills Activities for Kids (Free PDF Activity Included)

Fine motor skills activities for kids: explore fun games and everyday life activities that will help your child’s fine motor skills development + Download your free scissors skills activity (a bilateral hand coordination activity, also good for hand muscles and hand-eye coordination)

Fine motor skills are the ability to move the small muscles in our hands and wrists to complete a task. They are an important component in children’s development.

Fine motor skills start developing during infancy.

Even newborns can grasp objects. At that time, fine motor skills are a basic reflex, but by age three to six months, babies are actively reaching for objects with both hands and transferring from one hand to another.

Fine motor skills are essential because children will use them daily for the rest of their lives.

Some examples of the use of fine motor skills in everyday life situations are:

Fine Motor Skills Activity_Cut Paper with Scissors / Download at the end of the post

(Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. You can also read our Disclosure & Disclaimer policy here )

Fine Motor Skills Components / Examples of Fine Motor Skills

Several sub-skills or components build up the overall motor skills.

Examples of some (not all ) fine motor skills components  are:

Let’s move to our favorite fine motor activities designed to help your child develop and work on all small muscles of the hand to improve manual dexterity!

75 Fun Fine Motor Skill Activities

There are so many ways to nurture fine motor skill development. Here are 75 different activities to help your child’s development. 

String Activities 

Fine motor skills activities don’t need to be complicated. In fact, one of the most valuable tools can be a simple piece of string. It’s common for an occupational therapist to try these activities for fine motor control in occupational therapy.

THREADING BEADS ACTIVITY FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Arts and Crafts

For creative kids, arts and crafts are all excellent fine motor activities and a great way to work on hand-eye coordination, bilateral hand coordination, hand prehension, in-hand manipulation, or hand-muscle strength.

Plus, there are so many fun activities in art that both older children and younger kids will love to try over and over again.

EASY ORIGAMI ACTIVITY FINE MOTOR SKILLS

More fun fine motor activity ideas!

COLORED TISSUE PAPER CRAFT FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Everyday Tasks that Develop Fine Motor Skills

One fun way to help your child’s development is simple activities that are also life skills. In fact, one of the best ways to foster your child’s fine motor development is to have them help with everyday chores. Here are a few simple ideas that you can try with your own young children

PLAY DOUGH ACTIVITY FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Countless games are designed to be the perfect fine motor practice that your 5-year-olds will love to play (or a kid with fine motor skills issues).

Sensory Play

Sensory Play is one of the most important things you can implement in your children’s routine to foster their development. It stimulates different parts of their brains and can be done in fairly simple ways, like a sensory bin. 

In order to make a sensory bin, you only need a few items. Fill up a bin with one of these items and a few toys (like toy cars or a cup and funnel) and let your kid run wild:

If you are nervous about adding a sensory bin into your routine, there are plenty of other sensory play options. Here are a few examples:

Interested in more sensory activities? Check out our list of sensory activities for kids of all ages (40+ Activities and a free Sensory Meny PDF)

Download your Free Scissors Fine Motor Skills Activity

Download your free scissors skills activity (a bilateral hand coordination activity, also good for hand muscles and hand-eye coordination):

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

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Preschool Inspirations

Preschool Activities and Learning

Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

April 22, 2021 by Shelly Riddle Leave a Comment

Kids and teachers both love these fine motor activities for preschoolers! It takes a lot of practice and strengthening to master fine motor skills, but luckily these learning activities are so fun that kids don’t even know they are “at work.” Check out the full list below and have your kiddos get to work, or rather, to play!

a collage of three different activities that build fine motor skills and the text fine motor activities for preschool

As a preschool teacher or parent, you probably hear and use the term fine motor skills on a regular basis. But what exactly are these fine motor skills, and why are they so important?

What are Fine Motor Skills?

Simply defined, fine motor skills are the coordination of the small muscles that control the hand, fingers, and thumb. They include movements like grasping and pinching. Developing fine motor skills is vital in young kids as they are the foundation of many activities including writing, drawing, cutting, grasping, buttoning, tying laces, zipping, and even using utensils.

As adults, it’s easy to take these fine motor skills for granted. However, we can’t underestimate the importance of strengthening those little muscles and helping young kids develop the skills that are important in all areas of their lives.

ASL Alphabet Poster

FREEBIE ALERT!

Another wonderful way to work on fine motor skills is through sign language, particularly the ASL alphabet. Enter your e-mail below to get this free ASL alphabet poster! It’s perfect to print and hang in your home or classroom. The hands are pictured in four different skin tones.

Fine Motor Busy Bags

Busy bags are ready-to-go bags or boxes that include simple, engaging activities that young kids can do independently, anytime, anywhere.  They are an integral part of early childhood education because they allow for independent skill practice which helps boost confidence and autonomy. 

collage of four busy bags that develop fine motor skills

Brown Bear Lacing Busy Bag – Preschool Inspirations Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? I see adorable lacing cards just waiting for me! That’s right – this activity brings a beloved children’s book to life with darling lacing cards. A fun way to integrate literacy with fine motor activities for preschoolers! 

Rainbow Sight Words – Preschool Inspirations This is a rainbow-tastic literacy activity for fine motor skills. It’s always exciting when we can make sight word practice fun and hands-on.  This activity does just that, while also developing hand-eye coordination. 

Rainbow Fine Motor Sensory Bin – How Wee Learn If you’re looking for a sensory bin that is bright, engaging, and helps build fine motor skills, look no further! With colorful buttons, plastic eggs, and pipe cleaners, you may keep those little hands playing for hours! The perfectly fun way to help prep those hands for writing.

Fine Motor Practice with Buttons – Coffee Cups and Crayons Playdough is probably one of the most popular fine motor activities for preschool. This activity takes it to the next level by adding some dry spaghetti and buttons to work on threading. You can even add in some math applications with counting, patterns, and sorting.

Pincer Grasp

The pincer grasp is defined as the coordination of the index finger and thumb to hold an object. It’s extremely important in a child’s development and is crucial for several activities, including (but not limited to) buttoning, zipping, eating with utensils, and holding/controlling a pencil. 

collage of six different fine motor activities for preschool that build a pincer grasp

Apple Sorting Activity – Preschool Inspirations This adorable sorting activity is chock full of fine motor fun! Tracing, cutting, and sorting, oh my! Those little hands are going to get quite the fine motor workout, and may just sneak a few yummy fruit loops while they are at it! 

Rainbow Name Tracing Activity – Preschool Inspirations In this fine motor activity for preschool, your kiddos get to practice something that is of great value to them- their names! Kids generally love anything that has their name involved. As an added bonus, the colorful dot stickers are an amazing way for kiddos to strengthen their small hand muscles, which of course, promotes fine motor development. Win, win!

Fall Alphabet – Preschool Inspirations This fine motor activity for preschool has a fun fall focus, but can be adapted for any season or theme! The large wooden letters make a great sturdy base for the kids to practice letter recognition and formation. You can get the fun fall acrylics (or any variety of acrylics based on seasonal needs) at the dollar store, Target, or online. 

Strengthen Fine Motor Skills with Water – Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds When you incorporate water into your fine motor practice, it is sure to be a hit! Young kids love using pipettes and water and they don’t even know that it’s an amazing exercise in hand-eye coordination. Win-win!

Fine Motor Activity with Beads – Toddler Approved Beads make such fun fine motor activities. Kids will adore taking their beading to a new level while matching colors and decorating rainbow hair! It’s great for kids to work on different-sized pincer grips, which can easily be done in this activity by simply changing up the size of your beads. 

Cardboard Roll Letter Match – Taming the Monsters This fine motor activity for preschool literally only requires three items, all of which you most likely already have on hand! Just grab a sharpie, toilet paper roll (or cardboard craft tube), and some dot stickers. Take a few minutes to prep it and you’ve got a fine motor literacy activity ready to roll!

Scissor Skills Activities

We all know that scissor skills are extremely important, but do we specifically know why? There are so many reasons, including: strengthening little hand muscles, developing visual motor skills (eye-hand coordination), increasing bilateral coordination (using both sides of the body at the same time), developing the important tripod grasp, and building focus and attention to tasks and details. 

collage of four different activities to teach scissor skills

Scissor Skill Artwork Practice – Preschool Inspirations When you think of fine motor activities for preschool, I’m sure scissor skills pop in your head immediately. As you know, learning to use scissors can be quite a tricky task for those little hands. Having this station in your classroom is truly a genius idea for cutting practice and a way to use recycled artwork from your kiddos.

Open-Ended Fine Motor Practice – Preschool Inspirations How beautiful is it to see open-ended learning at work in a preschool classroom? This fine motor activity table for preschoolers is truly phenomenal. Some young kiddos can be very hesitant to work on the traditional “cut on the line on paper” practice and this activity table allows them to cut all kinds of materials at will which keep them engaged and truly learning and developing all those important scissor skills!

Cutting Practice – Days with Grey When it comes to fine motor activities for preschoolers, there’s nothing quite like a game of Trap, Cut, and Rescue! Your kiddos won’t even realize they are doing scissors practice, as they will be completely focused on one mission – rescue the bears! 

Rainbow Confetti – Play to Learn Preschool Fine motor activities for preschoolers can be a rainbow of confetti fun! This simple activity incorporates two major fine motor skills along with color recognition, sorting, and letter recognition practice. Make your kiddos’ fine motor practice a confetti-filled party!

Fine Motor Skills Activities

Fine motor skills are the coordination of the small muscles that control the hand, fingers, and thumb. They help children perform important tasks such as writing, drawing, buttoning, zipping, grasping items like toys and utensils, and so much more!

collage of seven different preschool activities to build fine motor skills

Fingerplays – Preschool Inspirations Fingerplays are a fantastically fun way to practice fine motor activities for toddlers and preschoolers. They tie in so many other essential skills such as body awareness, listening skills, and vocabulary development. The best part is that you don’t need any materials (unless you want to incorporate some finger puppets, of course!) and they can be done anytime, anywhere.

Preschool Rainbow Craft – Preschool Inspirations Somewhere over the rainbow, you will find this amazing fine motor activity for preschool. The kiddos need to shape the pipe cleaners, which gets in some excellent and fun fine motor practice. This activity arrives just in time for all those spring rainbows!

Paper Plate Apple Lacing Activity – Preschool Inspirations When planning your fine motor activities for preschoolers, lacing activities should be high on the list. Lacing is excellent for fine motor, hand-eye coordination, and focusing on a task. Bonus – you probably already have most of the necessary supplies on hand! 

Fine Motor Number Challenge – Fun-A-Day Fine motor activities for preschoolers just aren’t complete without some tongs mixed in! They are such a beloved part of fine motor practice and so good for the kids as they manipulate this tool. Check out this fun activity which uses the tongs, wooden spools, and organically allows for practice with one-to-one correspondence.

Egg Carton Geoboard – And Next Comes L What do you get when you flip over an egg carton and grab some rubber bands? Well, an easy homemade geoboard, of course! Don’t we all just love ideas that are this simple, this genius, and allow for fun fine motor practice with literally no prep? 

Play Dough and Rocks – The OT Toolbox This fine motor activity for preschool is as simple as playdough and rocks. Yes, that’s all it takes! The rocks bring in some added fun and exploration to beloved playdough time and also help build those little hand muscles even more! 

Fine Motor Journals – Stay At Home Educator Fine motor journals are a developmentally appropriate way for preschoolers to practice skills needed for writing. They allow fine motor practice in a variety of ways and engage the student in ways that letter tracing worksheets might not. They also give parents a snapshot of how their children are progressing in their pre-writing and writing skills.

collage of eight different preschool activities with the text fine motor skills activities

Shelly Riddle

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How to Help Your Child Develop Fine Motor Skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Fine motor skills meaning

Early childhood development includes acquiring fine and gross motor skills. While both these skills involve movement, they do have differences:

Both types of motor skills enable children to become more independent. Fine motor skills are especially crucial, however, because the ability to use the smaller muscles in the hands allows children to perform self-care tasks without assistance. This includes:

Examples of fine motor skills

Babies and toddlers develop fine and gross motor skills at their own pace. Some children develop some skills earlier than others, and that’s perfectly normal. Children usually begin to acquire these skills as early as 1 or 2 months old and continue to learn additional skills through preschool and early elementary school.

The most important fine motor skills children need to develop include the following:

Here’s a brief timeline of fine motor milestones for babies and toddlers:

0 to 3 months

3 to 6 months

6 to 9 months

9 to 12 months

12 month to 2 years

2 to 3 years

3 to 4 years

Fine motor skills development

Fine motor skills develop naturally as your child gains the ability to control and coordinate their body . Keep in mind that some children might develop fine motor skills earlier and have better coordination than others.

One baby may learn to shake a rattle at 3 months, whereas a baby of the same age might not shake a rattle until a month later. This is totally normal.

Don’t be alarmed if your child isn’t developing as fast as a child of similar age. Remember, your child’s body is still growing. In a few weeks or months, they may build enough muscle strength in their hands to acquire new fine motor skills.

Fine motor skills activities

Incorporating fun activities into your child’s daily routine can help improve their fine motor skills. The ability to learn and practice fine motor skills at an early age can benefit them academically, socially, and personally.

Here are some activities you and your child can do together:

Trouble with fine motor skills

Although fine motor skills develop at different rates, see your child’s pediatrician if they struggle with these skills or gross motor skills. Delays could be a sign of developmental coordination disorder. It affects about 5 to 6 percent of school-aged children.

Signs of a problem with fine motor skills include:

Some fine motor skills delays aren’t detected until a child is older. Identifying a delay early can ensure your child receives the help they need to build their skills and help them grow.

Your child’s pediatrician may diagnose a coordination disorder if your child has:

Your child may need to work one-on-one with an occupational therapist to learn techniques to improve coordination in their smaller muscle groups.

Fine motor skills are essential to living and learning. If your child has difficulty with day-to-day activities or you feel your child struggles with these skills, discuss the possibility of a developmental delay with their doctor.

With an early diagnosis, home activities, and the assistance of an occupational therapist, you can help your child thrive and reach developmental milestones.

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13 Easy DIY Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

This post may contain affiliate links; please see our  terms of use  for details.

Fine motor skills are the ability to control small muscles in the hands and fingers in order to perform tasks. These skills develop over time, and toddlers typically begin to gain more control of their hands around 18-24 months old. 

Many everyday activities require fine motor skills, such as holding a pencil, using scissors, buttoning a shirt, or tying shoelaces. For children with fine motor delays, these simple tasks can be frustrating and challenging.

While many parents are focused on teaching their toddler “Big Life Skills,” like potty training or learning to read, it’s also essential to encourage your child’s fine motor development.

From building blocks to drawing with crayons, toddlers are constantly exploring the world through their hands, and there are many simple activities to encourage fine motor development in preschoolers. Games that require grasping small objects, such as picking up coins or placing pegs in holes, are great fine motor activities. Arts and crafts also provide endless opportunities for exploring different textures and practicing precise movements.

Below are 13 of our favorite fine motor activities for preschoolers that you can set up quickly at home! They each use materials you should have readily available around the house (like cardboard, pipe cleaners, dried pasta, etc.) and can be simple or more complex, depending on your child’s developmental needs. We’ll also show you how to make each of these activities accessible for children who are visually impaired.

1. Color Match Pom Poms

A little boy playing with pom poms and bottles in a fine motor game.

What You’ll Need

How To Set It Up

How To Play

The object of this game is to choose one pom pom from the paper cup in the center of the board and place that pom pom in the corresponding bottle with the matching color. Precisely picking up one pom pom requires fine motor control, but even more control is necessary to place the pom pom into the small opening of the bottle.

To make this activity easier, remove the color-matching aspect entirely and use bottles with larger openings. You can even begin with five paper cups in place of the water bottles and just have your child move the pom poms from the center cup to the five outer cups.

How To Make the Game Accessible

For kids who are visually impaired, pick colors they can see and use high contrast. For example, your board could be black and your colored circles bright yellow and bright red. Limit the pom poms to just red and yellow and help your child match the red pom poms to the bottles on the red circles and the yellow pom poms to the bottles on the yellow circles.

You can also replace the color differences with texture differences, like small seashells versus pom poms. Your child could sort the objects by touch rather than by sight.

2. Color Match Caterpillar

Matching colored pom poms in bottle caps.

Have your child sort the pom poms on the table into the matching color bottle cap on the caterpillar’s body. You can make this game more complex and use more hand muscles by offering your child tools to pick up the pom poms, like large plastic tweezers or a large plastic spoon.

Again, use high-contrast colors for kids who are visually impaired (yellow on black works really well for kids with CVI). You can also remove the color matching entirely and just focus on scanning the board to find the bottle caps and place the pom poms in the caps. 

3. Count the Pom Poms

A small child counting pom poms and placing them in cups.

This fine motor skills activity also focuses on math skills. Your child’s objective is to fill each cup with the number of pom poms determined by the number on the table.

When working on emerging motor skills, just have your child pick up the pom poms and place them in the cups. As they develop stronger fine motor skills, have them use tools to move the pom poms from the table to the cups. 

To make this accessible for kids learning braille, cut out cardboard squares, write the number in large print, and add a braille number label. You can glue the paper cup to the cardboard if you don’t want your child to have to scan to find the cup associated with the number.

4. Pasta Straws

A little girl stringing pasta on straws.

This is a simple game but can be difficult for little hands to master, and it can take a lot of fine motor practice to get it right. Once your child is comfortable stringing pasta onto a straw, you can complicate the fine motor movements by having them string the pasta onto twine.

Another option is to place the straws in foam (like floral foam blocks ) so your child doesn’t need to hold or stabilize the straw in one hand while stringing the pasta with the other (a relatively complex fine motor skill). Depending on the size of your straws, you may be able to place them in the holes of a colander rather than in floral foam.

5. Play Dough Letters

Little boy making a letter A out of play dough.

Help your child form play dough in the shape of the letter using the print as a template. Have them pick up small objects (a simple way to develop fine motor skills) and push them into the play dough. This activity is fun because kids enjoy playing with the first letter of their name and there is no wrong way to decorate a play dough letter!

If your child is learning braille, rather than having them form a print letter out of play dough, have them use small objects (rolled aluminum foil works great for this) to push a braille cell into the play dough. Feel the six dots and see if they can recreate their name in braille in the play dough!

6. Scooping Beans

Little boy scooping beans form a bowl into a cupcake pan.

Simply have your child move all the beans from the bowl to the cupcake pan. The best part of this game is the sound the beans make as they fall into the pan!

You can make the game more complex by adding other scooping tools, like measuring spoons, or asking your child to fill all the cups in the pan to the same fill line.

Do you know what else comes in sixes? A braille cell! If your child is learning braille, ask them to fill the cups in the cupcake pan to create braille letters!

7. Beads in a Container

Little girl pulling beads out of a container.

Place the party beads in the container with a short length set out through the hole in the lid. Have your child pull the beads out of the container!

Bead necklaces made with smaller beads can be more challenging to hold on to but easier to pull out of the container, while oversized beaded necklaces are easier to hold but harder to pull through. Experiment with both and see which poses more of a challenge for your child.

The great aspect of this game is that your child will have to hold the container with one hand while pulling the beads with the other, also known as bilateral hand coordination . If this is too complex for your child at the moment, you can begin this activity with a container that suctions to the table. As your child works on developing fine motor skills, move to a container that they will have to stabilize themselves. 

This game is already pretty accessible for kids who are blind or visually impaired, but one fun add-on may be to play with light-up beads in a darkened room. Kids with light perception will work on their fine motor skills while also working on their visual tracking with bright lights!

8. Toothpick Cactus

Little boy using a play hammer to stick toothpicks in a cardboard cactus.

Help your child find all the holes in the cactus and place the toothpicks in the holes. Have your child remove the toothpicks and place them back again. Both taking the toothpicks out and placing them back in the holes support fine motor development.

To add complexity to this activity, have your child use a small tool, like a wooden mallet, to pound the toothpicks into place.

For kids with little to no vision, part of the game involves using their hands to scan the cactus and find the holes. For kids with some usable vision, look for colored toothpicks with frills and choose colors that are easy for them to see or that highly contrast the green on the cactus.

9. Drawing Obstacle Boards

Little boy drawing lines around buttons glued to poster board.

Give your child pens or crayons and tell them to draw a path around the obstacles on the board. This game is similar to a maze, but there is no right or wrong way to “complete” the maze. The point here is to learn how to properly hold and manipulate a writing implement and to create unbroken pencil lines on the paper.

The items glued to the board will be easy for a child with a visual impairment to find, but the pencil lines might not have much meaning. If your child is blind, consider using scented markers or puffy paints to make the lines on the paper.

10. Watermelon Sponge

Child placing buttons in a watermelon shaped sponge.

The seeds have fallen out of the watermelon, and it’s your child’s job to put them back! Show them how each of the black buttons fits snuggly in the slits in the watermelon sponge to create seeds. Placing the “seeds” in the watermelon is a great fine motor activity, but it’s even more difficult to remove the seeds. Work on both motor skills to develop those hand muscles.

11. Rubber Bands on a Tube

A little boy putting rubber bands on a cardboard tube.

This activity allows for more fine motor practice than you might think! Although relatively simple to set up, the action of holding and stabilizing the tube while placing the rubber bands on the tube is actually a pretty advanced skill. You can make the game more complex by having your preschooler group rubber bands together by color or asking them to count how many rubber bands are on the cardboard tubes.

If your child is blind, try introducing textures to the game! Rather than just using plain rubber bands, collect different types of bands like silicone bands, elastic hair bands, or cotton hair ties. See if your child can differentiate the textures and group the bands together by touch on the tube.

12. Butterfly Decorating

Little girl decorating a cardboard butterfly with play dough and dried pasta.

This is one of our favorite fine motor skills activities! After you’ve made your cardboard butterfly, your child’s job will be to decorate it with colors and textures. The bottle caps and body can be filled with play dough, and the pasta can be set into the dough to create fun textured designs.

This activity allows for a lot of imagination, making it easily adaptable. Try making a sparkly butterfly with plastic gemstones or glitter foam stickers, or add more textures with sandpaper wings or cut small pieces of paper to create a collage. Collages are also great scissor skills activities that allow for cutting practice, or you can work on tearing paper with your hands instead!

13. Pom Pom Tower

Little boy placing pom pots in measuring spoons on a tower.

Have your toddler place pom poms on each measuring spoon in the tower. They can count the number of pom poms or try to sort the pom poms by color. The biggest challenge for this fine motor activity is to balance the tower while using a pincer grasp to pick up the pom poms and place them in each spoon. Of course, it’s also so much fun to see the tower topple and spill all the pom poms!

This game is fairly accessible as is, but if your child is visually impaired you can focus on helping them scan the tower with their hands to locate all the measuring spoons before beginning play. See if your child can count the number of spoons and keep track of which ones have pom poms and which ones are still empty. This can be a wonderful way to begin learning about scanning and spatial awareness!

13 Easy DIY Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

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28 Fine Motor Activities That Get Little Hands Moving

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Kristy Zamagni-Twomey

We all use fine motor skills every day without even noticing it. Tying our shoes, buttoning our shirt, feeding ourselves, and brushing our teeth all require fine motor skills, which involve using the small muscles of our hands and wrists. The development of these skills begins at birth and continues to develop over the course of childhood. Perfecting these skills becomes even more important as kids start school since classroom tasks like writing and cutting are dependent on a student’s hand-eye coordination. Bilateral coordination and balance are other examples of fine motor skills that require practice. Check out our list of the best fine motor activities for you to use in your classroom!

Fine Motor Activities for Preschool / Toddlers

1. process art sculpture.

A little girl is shown sticking pipe cleaners into a foam block. (fine motor activities)

The setup for this activity is so simple—it requires only some foam blocks, pipe cleaners, and beads. Be sure to have a variety of beads and colored pipe cleaners so students can really personalize their sculptures.

Learn more: School Time Snippets

2. Fruit Loop and Spaghetti Stringing

A little boy sits in front of a sculpture that has a base of play dough with raw spaghetti sticks coming out of it. He is stringing fruit loops onto the spaghetti strands. (fine motor activities)

Kids will love this activity, however, you will want to make sure to check for allergies before proceeding. Always have some extra fruit loops on hand since kids will likely steal a few!

3. Button Squiggles and Swirls

Pieces of blue cardstock have black squiggles and swirls drawn on them. Little hands are seen lining buttons up along the lines. (fine motor activities)

Draw squiggles and swirls on card stock, then let students line buttons of different shapes and colors along those lines.

Learn more: Learning 4 Kids

4. Counting With Elastics

Popsicle sticks have numbers on the top of them and little hands are shown putting the correct number of elastics onto them (fine motor activities)

We love that this is a fine motor activity that also teaches counting. All you’ll need are oversized Popsicle sticks and a ton of little elastics.

Learn more: Little School of Smiths

5. Pom-Poms in Water Bottles

An empty water bottle is filled with pom poms and a little hand is shown placing another into the bottle (fine motor activities)

This is the perfect activity to work on bilateral coordination since kids will have to hold the bottle with one hand while stuffing the pom-poms in with the other.

Learn more: The OT Toolbox

6. Pom-Pom Sorting

Text reads Mega Block Pom Pom Sorting. Mega blocks are turned upside down in different colors. Corresponding colored pom poms are shown and are placed into their matching colored block. (fine motor activities)

Instead of building with all of those mega blocks you have in the classroom, why not turn them upside down and repurpose them for a color-sorting activity? You’ll also need some pom-poms in corresponding colors and some plastic tweezers.

Learn more: Happy Toddler Playtime

7. Cardboard Roll and Straw Threading

small cardboard rolls have holes punched in them. Little hands are shown threading plastic straws through them (fine motor activities)

Cut up some toilet paper rolls, then have your students work on punching holes in them. Add another fine motor activity by having your students thread straws through those holes.

Learn more: Laughing Kids Learn

8. Dinosaur Spikes

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Print and laminate some dinosaurs in different colors and have your students practice attaching clothespins in matching colors to their backs.

Learn more: Oh Hey, Let’s Play

9. Animal Tape Rescue

Small plastic animals are taped to the floor; little hands are shown trying to remove the tape and free the animal (fine motor activities)

Little ones will certainly get a kick out of “freeing” the animals from the floor or whatever surface you decide. You can work on hand-eye coordination while also working on animal recognition.

Learn more: Messy Little Monster

10. Sticker Color Sorting

A little girl is shown holding sticker dots in different colors. There are four squares in red, yellow, green, and blue on the wall. She is matching the stickers to the squares.

This activity is so simple yet it works on both fine motor skills and color recognition.

Learn more: Busy Toddler

11. Another Animal Rescue

Several plastic animals are wrapped up in elastics (fine motor activities)

Here’s another adorable animal rescue mission for your little ones. This time, they will have to remove the elastics to free their animal buddies!

Learn more: Team Cartwright

12. Colorful Rainbow Hair

A cardboard face has holes punched in it with pipe cleaners sticking out of it and beads attached.

This might just be the cutest pipe-cleaner-and-bead fine motor activity we have ever seen!

Learn more: Toddler Approved

13. Button Sorting

Several small containers in different colors have a slit on the top. Multi colored buttons are piled up by them.

Find some small bowls with lids, cut slits in the top, then let your students sort different-colored buttons into the appropriate containers. Kids will be working on their hand-eye coordination while also practicing color recognition.

Learn more: About Family Crafts

14. Pumpkin Sorting Bin

Several small pumpkin containers are lined up in the back of a bin with small orange pumpkins in pretend dirt in front of them. (fine motor activities)

This is the perfect fine motor/sensory activity for October, although it would be fun anytime! Grab some small pumpkin containers and orange pom-poms or small pumpkin candies, then let your students see how many pumpkins they can pick up.

Learn more: I Heart Crafty Things

15. Q-Tip and Straw Activity

A little girl is seen stringing straw pieces onto colored q-tips.

Another threading activity, this time using cotton swabs and straws. We love how inexpensive this activity is to pull together!

Learn more: Mess for Less

16. Holiday Tree Balance Activity

A little girl is balancing along the lines of a Christmas tree which have been created using green painter's tape.

Despite this being a Christmas tree, you could easily make it non-denominational by simply creating a forest in your classroom using green painter’s tape. Have students practice their balance by walking along the limbs of the tree.

Learn more: The Inspired Treehouse

17. Quiet Books

A child's hands are shown buttoning buttons on the pages of a soft book. (fine motor activities)

Quiet books are soft books that often contain real-life tasks for little ones to complete like tying shoelaces or buttoning buttons. Purchase some to include in your class library, or if you’re feeling really crafty, make one yourself!

Learn more: My Mommy Style

Fine Motor Activities for Elementary Students

18. pushpin mazes.

A piece of paper is shown with push pins in it and a crayon has been used to trace around the push pins (fine motor activities)

If you’re doing this activity with older elementary students, you will be able to let them design their writing patterns with the pushpins before they practice their writing skills following the maze.

Learn more: Planning Playtime

19. Yarn Wrapping

A heart shape has yarn of all colors wrapped around it.l colors wra

Yarn wrapping is so fun, and it makes for the perfect craft for elementary school–age students. Be sure to have plenty of varieties of yarn so your students can really express themselves.

Learn more: The Pinterested Parent

20. Perler Beads

White boards are shown with small hands placing beads onto them into various designs.

Since stringing beads onto pipe cleaners might not be challenging enough for elementary-age students, why not try Perler beads? In addition to the hand-eye coordination required to put the small beads on the boards, it will also take patience and determination. Having an extra adult on hand to handle the ironing will help!

Learn more: Mama in the Now

21. Beaded Friendship Bracelets

Several beaded bracelets are shown.

A childhood staple for generations, kids will love creating these cute beaded bracelets to keep or give as gifts.

Learn more: Projects With Kids

22. Play Dough Writing

A hand is shown practicing writing with a wooden stick in play dough.

Practicing handwriting can be tedious, but practicing it in play dough can liven it up a bit.

Learn more: Fantastic Fun and Learning

23. Stack the Erasers

Small erasers are shown being stacked (fine motor activities)

Roll some dice, then have your students stack mini erasers to get to the desired number. Keep stacking until they fall over!

24. LEGO Challenge

Text reads "Lego Stem Challenge Cards" Various Lego creations are shown.

Since most kids love LEGO, this fine motor activity is sure to be a hit in your classroom. Come up with daily or weekly challenges for your students, then watch them get to work. You may need to ask for donations of LEGO bricks from friends and families.

Learn more: Life Over C’s

25. Edible Toothpick Sculptures

Sculptures are created from grapes and toothpicks.

Provide your students with grapes or marshmallows and countless toothpicks, then watch their creativity flow!

Learn more: Artful Parent

26. Paper Weaving

Several papers are shown woven through with strips of paper.

First, have students cut up strips of paper and magazines, then have them practice weaving them through slits in paper.

Learn more: Babble Dabble Do

27. Bean Mosaic Art

Several mosaics are made from painted beads arranged onto paper plates

Older kids will really excel at painting beans and then arranging them into creative mosaics.

Learn more: Pretty Life Girls

28. Braiding Boards

Text reads Braiding Boards Easy DIY Teaching Tool. strings of yarn are grouped into threes and attached to boards.

Braiding is the perfect activity for older elementary students to work on their hand-eye coordination. Similar to tying shoelaces, braiding requires patience and mastery that is age-appropriate for elementary students.

Learn more: Happy Hooligans

Looking for more fine motor activities? Find out how handwriting helps develop fine motor skills!

Plus, get all the best teaching tips and ideas when you  sign up for our free newsletters .

Developing fine motor skills is essential to tasks like writing and even eating. Check out our list of the best fine motor activities!

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activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

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Fine Motor Skills

So, what exactly is fine motor skills, explore popular topics.

What do all these words mean?

Fine Motor Skills impact function and hand use in small motor tasks. You may have heard the term fine motor skills before. If you are familiar with occupational therapy, then you know that fine motor activities are an integral part of OT interventions. The hands play an important role in most occupations that we perform. From writing, to tying, getting dressed, feeding ones self…most of our day to day tasks involve using our hands. So, when fine motor control and dexterity impacts functional performance, it can be a reason to work on motor control of the hands.

Here, we are covering all aspects of fine motor skills when it comes to children. We’re covering fine motor development, each aspect of fine motor skills, and fine motor activities that are rooted in play and learning to develop these essential skills of the hands.

Fine motor skills and everything you need to know about fine motor development.

What are Fine Motor Skills?

Fine motor skills are the refined movements and actions of the hands, fingers, and wrists that enable precision and dexterity of movement. Fine motor skills can be broken down into different motor components that impact the ability to use the hands in functional tasks and tool use.

Fine motor skills are necessary for every task that a child completes. From play, self-care, to managing clothing fasteners, and coloring, motor skill development is needed for every aspect. Fine motor skill development is essential to pencil grasp and handwriting. Fine motor skills make up a huge part of learning and the school day (Read about the various fine motor skills needed at school .)

 Motor skills like pincer grasp and hand strength are essential for a child’s development and ability to use their hands in small motor movements.

Types of fine motor skills

what are the fine motor skills

Fine motor skills are made up of several components of motor skills using the fingers and hands. related, and an important piece of the fine motor puzzle, are the core stability, strength and positioning of proximal positioning, strength, and gross motor skills. developmentally proximal positioning, strength and stability and motor skills enable distal mobility and coordination..

Fine motor skills are made up of various motor components. These sub-areas impact mobility, tool use, manipulation of objects, strength, and endurance. These examples of fine motor skills are needed for everyday tasks like cutting with scissors, tying shoes, fastening buttons and zippers, coloring, and holding a pencil.

Let’s cover all of these fine motor areas in more detail:

These fine motor skills are needed for functional tasks like managing a pencil or crayon during handwriting, opening containers, managing coins or small items, manipulating a spoon/knife/fork, adjusting the paper when cutting with scissors, and fastening buttons or shoe laces.

These are just a few examples of fine motor skills that are essential for functional development and effective manipulation of tools.  

Fine motor activities

Fine Motor Activities

Almost every activity you see here contains developmental information and explanations of what skills your child will be working on with the activities. I love to discuss the basics of playful activities and why it helps with developmental skills and functional tasks like handwriting , scissor skills , dressing, and shoe tying.  

The fine motor skills that we share in the creative activities below are some of our favorite ways to play! Read specifics about building fine motor skills through play .

This page is a huge resource of fun ways to play and learn while working on fine motor skills. Most activities here are easy prep and use recycled materials or items you might find around the home.   Occupational Therapists can use these activities in treatment and parents can do these projects at home for quiet time or developmental skill-building.  

Add these fine motor activities to your therapy tool box:

One way to work on fine motor skills is to use one material for a variety of skill areas. We’ve put together some resources to just that! Try these specific tools to work on fine motor skill development in kids:

Fine motor activities for kids to help develop skills

 Extended wrist fine motor activity

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

 fine motor writing activity

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Neat Pincer Grasp Fine Motor Activity

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

 Scooping and pouring fine motor and hand dominance with beads

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

DIY stacking cups – This activity helps with cylindrical grasp, motor planning, crossing midline, bilateral coordination, problem solving, wrist stability, proximal strengthening and stability, grasp and release, and motor planning skills.

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

More Fine Motor Activities

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Even More Fine Motor Activities:

Create Your Own Race Track Spring Sensory Seek and Find Sensory Soup with Fine Motor Sorting Fine Motor Strengthening with Color Match Cereal Box Fine Motor Coordination Activity DIY Lacing Cards Manipulating Coins Fine Motor Skills Best Fine Motor Play Ideas for Kids Tripod Grasp with Pipe Cleaners Textured Shaving Cream Play Finger Isolation Pom Pom Snowflake Line Awareness Craft Sight Word Scooping Golf Tee Hammering Honey Bee Pinch Pins Invitation to Scoop and Pour Spring Themed Play Dough Press Indoor Snow Painting, scooping, mixing Paint Baggie Letter Formation Light Bright Fun

Need some specifics?  Fine motor skills are essential for independence in handwriting and scissor skills.

Fine Motor Skills and Handwriting

Read more about fine motor skills and how they impact handwriting .

Fine motor skills are essential in the classroom, and they can impact learning. For more information, check out this resource on fine motor skills needed in the classroom . 

Here is a resource on cursive writing , much of which requires pencil control, in-hand manipulation, and motor planning of fine motor movements in order to form letters. While there is evidence of cursive handwriting being a more efficient and functional form of written work in the child with dysgraphia or other handwriting concerns, there is a component of fine motor dexterity needed for cursive writing.

Fine Motor Skills and Scissor Skills

A s an occupational therapist, working on scissor skills with kids is one of my favorite goal areas.  There are so many ways to get creative with modifications to paper, lines, and scissors.  The fine motor activities that work on the muscles and dexterity needed for scissor use are fun, too!  Stop back soon as we add new activities all the time.  

Fine motor activities for kids to help develop skills

How to Practice Fine Motor Skills

Simple activities that use the small muscles of the hand are ideal for practicing fine motor skills. While child development and age level plays a role in the practicing of fine motor activities, these fine motor practice ideas can be simple ways to develop hand strength, coordination, pinch, and dexterity:

Why is Fine Motor Important?

We’ve already covered many of these areas, but in the world of occupational therapy, fine motor development is essential for functional participation. SO many daily tasks are impacted by fine motor development. This functional participation allows us to learn, grow, and interact with the world around them.

In children, fine motor skills allow them to experience the world around them.

This is only the beginning. Relatively every functional task that we do includes aspects of fine motor. Consider your daily tasks. In every way, fine motor skills are included in some manner or another. From seat belt buckles to typing a message on your phone. Fine motor activities are a part of every day, all day long.

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Fun Learning for Kids

Favorite Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

I am a blog ambassador for Lakeshore and am compensated for my work. I received product free of charge, but all thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

If you are looking for fine motor activities for preschoolers , then look no further. These fine motor activities are fun, engaging and super effective!

Fine motor activities for preschoolers that are fun, engaging and effective! These fine motor games and activities are sure to be a hit!

I am always looking for ways to work on fine motor skills with my kids. Thankfully, there are so many great fine motor tools and games you can play to work on small hand muscles and prepare kids for writing and other life skills.

This list is jam-packed with fun and engaging fine motor activities that your preschoolers will want to do again and again!

Alphabet lacing beads to develop fine motor skills in preschoolers.

1. Alphabet Lacing Beads

Our favorite alphabet beads are these Giant Alphabet Beads from Lakeshore. They are big and chunky, so they are perfect for young preschoolers to lace. I like to use alphabet beads because they make it easy for children to engage with the alphabet while also developing fine motor skills. We’ve used them to practice spelling names, learn letters and sounds, build sight words and more.

Fine motor pom pom transfer activity.

2. Pom Poms and an Ice Cube Tray

My preschooler does this activity over and over again! Simply put a bunch of craft pom poms on the table with an ice cube tray. Then add some fine motor tools like tweezers or clothespins. Children will use the fine motor tools to pick up the pom poms and place them in the tray. This is easily one of our favorite fine motor activities for preschoolers!

Spider web fine motor activity that kids love!

3. Spider Web Game

One of our all-time favorite fine motor activities (and the most popular one on this website) is this spider web fine motor activity ! Just grab a small basket, weave some yarn through to make a “web” and add some spider rings to the bottom. Then give children tweezers or clothespins and let them get the spiders out of the web. Use more or less yarn depending on the abilities of your students/kids. The more yarn you weave around the basket, the more challenging the activity will be. My 6-year-old son still loves doing this activity! So, if your kids are older and still need fine motor practice, I highly recommend this game.

Gumball Grab fine motor game for preschool. A fun way to develop fine motor skills!

4. Getting Ready to Write Gumball Grab

My kids love practicing any skill when I turn it into a game. Getting Ready to Write Gumball Grab does just that and in a super fun way! My kids absolutely love this game and have no clue how much fine motor practice they are getting at the same time. Kids grip the tweezer tongs that come with the game like they would hold a pencil, so it is awesome for developing the fine motor skills necessary for writing. This is just one of the many wonderful tools and activities from Lakeshore that help promote fine motor skills in a fun and engaging way!

Fine motor hole punch game for kids. Develop fine motor skills while learning to count!

5. Hole Punch Game

Developing Fine Motor Skills in Preschool

Fine motor water play activity with pipettes or droppers. A fun sensory fine motor activity!

6. Pipettes and Water Play

My preschooler’s favorite thing to do is play with water. So, I just give her cups of colored water and pipettes and she happily plays with the water while developing fine motor skills. These eyedroppers also work really well!

Ice cream scoop fine motor game for preschoolers to learn to count and develop fine motor skills.

7. Scoop and Count Game

This Squeeze, Scoop and Count Ice Cream Shop is such a fun way for preschoolers to develop fine motor skills while also learning to count! It’s also perfect for pretend play. This is a staple in our preschool supplies!

Play dough and buttons fine motor activity for preschoolers.

8. Play Dough and Buttons

My kids really enjoy adding these large collage buttons to play dough. They like to hide the buttons in the play dough and then dig them back out. This process is awesome for strengthening hand muscles!

Tracing lines with buttons or gems fine motor activity for preschool.

9. Tracing Lines with Gems

This fine motor activity for preschoolers is super simple to set up! Just draw lines on colored construction paper and have the kids trace along the lines with gems, buttons or beads.

Cutting mazes scissor skills activity that helps young children develop fine motor skills.

10. Cutting Mazes

If you are looking for ways to help your kids with scissor skills, this activity is for you. I like to take squares of colored cardstock and make cutting mazes for the kids. Just use a marker or crayon to draw a maze and then invite your kids to use scissors to go through the maze. Another option is to have the kids make their own mazes that they can share with one another.

Q-tip painting names fine motor activity. Q-tip painting is a great way to develop fine motor skills.

11. Q-tip Painting

Q-tip dot painting is always a favorite with my kids! Learn names or letters by dot painting along the lines of the letters. This requires children to use precision and helps to develop fine motor control.

Fine motor activities for preschoolers that are super fun!

I hope this list of fine motor activities for preschoolers is really helpful to you and that your kids enjoy them as much as my kids do!

What would you add to this list? Please share your kids’ favorite fine motor activities in the comments.

I am really excited to share this 20% off coupon , so you can get a great deal on one of these awesome fine motor games or tools for your kids too! For more activities, download Lakeshore’s FREE  Parent’s Guide ,

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

12 Fine Motor Activities For Preschoolers

by Esther Evans | Sep 2, 2021 | Blog , Writing And Fine Motor | 1 comment

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Did you know that the bones in children’s hands are still developing before the age of seven? An x-ray of a three-year-old’s hand compared to a seven-year-old reveals a startling difference. (Source)

For many young children, this means that the process of writing can be uncomfortable and even painful as they haven’t yet developed enough muscle tone to hold a pen or pencil correctly.

No wonder some children are reluctant to write!

In my work as an educational advisor, I tell everyone this:

The answer is to provide lots of activities to strengthen and build up the muscle tone in their hands and fingers. We need to give children lots of practice in precise hand movements such as:

All of these movements and many more will help to build up a good pincer grip and mean that the process of writing is more comfortable and enjoyable.

Fine motor development goes hand in hand with gross motor development which is all about building up the larger muscles in the body. (Source)

In my long career in teaching and advising, I must have tried hundreds of fine motor activities! And in this article, I’ve condensed all that experience into the ultimate twelve activities for preschoolers. Let’s dive in…

Pac man monster tennis ball fine motor activity

1. Pac Man Monsters!

These are ones you simply must try!

Get a tennis ball, and slice a hole in it with scissors or a knife. I have found dogs’ tennis balls work the best for this!

The hole becomes the mouth! If you now squeeze the ball, the mouth opens, and it looks just like a Pac-Man Monster.

There are all sorts of exciting activities you can do with these, but my favorite is simply to find some ‘food’ for the monster to eat. Something like pompoms would be perfect.

Put lots of pompoms into something like a big play tray. Then the pac-man monsters go around eating as many pompoms as possible, by squeezing the balls, opening the mouths, and picking them up. Hours of fun!

You can also decorate these balls in different ways to create a range of characters. For example, here is a Ninja Turtle tennis ball:

Tennis ball Ninja turtle fine motor activity

You can also try things like races, where the children try to eat as many pompoms as possible in a time limit.

All this tennis ball squeezing is brilliant for hand strength, and develops all those muscles in small hands.

2. Washing Day

Invite the children to help you have an old-fashioned washing day.

This is great to do outdoors on a nice sunny day. Provide the children with waterproof aprons and a water tray or washing-up bowl filled with warm soapy water.

Then all you need to do is find some items that need a wash. In my class, I used to find all the doll’s clothes and blankets, tea towels, and any other soft furnishings we had available.

Encourage the children to scrub the clothes, then wring out the water.

Really encourage the wringing movement. Ask the children to twist with both hands to rinse the water out of the clothes.

You could use words like:

You could even see how much water you can squeeze out by providing some empty containers.

When the clothes have been washed, they will need to be hung out. Have a clothesline in your outdoor area or garden and ask the children to peg the clothes on the line.

Pegging is a brilliant activity for building fine motor strength and developing the muscles ready to hold a pencil in a pincer grip.

The more they can peg, the better.

Ask the children to peg the items on the line with the pegs.

The younger the children, the more difficult they will find this, so help them to pinch the pegs at first if you need to, and leave some pegs and a washing line out so they can practice themselves once you have modeled it to them.

3. Pastry Faces

Any kind of dough is great for strengthening the muscles in the hands and improving fine motor development including:

Modelling clay

Plastercine

It’s a lovely idea to make the dough first with the children. There are plenty of simple pastry recipes around and flour, fat and water cost very little.

You could also use ready-made pastry if you wanted to. You will also need a bag of flour to stop the pastry sticking to your surface.

Provide the children with a clean flat surface, rolling pins, cutters and some flour for dusting.

It goes without saying that the children will need to wash their hands well and only use their own piece of pastry dough, to keep in line with current guidelines.

Ask the children to roll their piece of pastry into a ball, using the flat of their palm.

Show the children how to roll their piece of dough out flat with the rolling pin.

Encourage them to push and pull backwards and forwards as they do.

Ask them to push the cutter shape into the pastry and gently remove a pastry circle.

Use the leftover pieces of pastry to make the features of a face. Encourage the children to roll out small balls by using their palm in a circular movement and to roll longer pieces by pushing the flat of their hand backwards and forwards.

Like everything, this needs practice. Let the children use the shapes they have made to decorate their faces.

They can squeeze their pastry face into a ball and start again as many times as they like, or you can bake the faces in the oven. You can use currants or raisins if you prefer to make eyes, nose, and mouth.

You don’t have to stick to pastry faces. Here are some pastry activities I have done with my class:

Simple jam tarts.

Criss cross jam tarts.

Pastry animals

Pastry vehicles

Pastry shapes

Pastry flowers.

Pastry Christmas trees.

The children can even eat their pastry shapes at snack time. I used to provide jam or lemon curd to spread or dip. These activities are also great for developing fin motor skills.

4. Water Blast!

This is about as much fun as you can have!

This activity is perfect for a sunny day as there is some serious soaking going on usually.

The purpose of this activity is to give lots of practice in pulling the trigger to shoot water as this builds up both the pincher grip muscles and the upper arm muscles.

You will need:

A long tray of water, (builder’s trays are great for this activity).

Several water pistols

Some rubber/plastic ducks with numbers on

A supply of water

Waterproof aprons (optional)

Fill the tray with water so that the ducks float.

Give each child a water pistol and let them choose a duck.

Tell the children that on the count of three, they are going to shoot water at the ducks to make them travel across the tray to the other side.

The winner is the duck that touches the other side of the tray first.

(Also good for number recognition but the children will be having such a good time they won’t realize they are learning anything!)

You can easily adapt this activity to use:

Plastic boats

Recycled boats made from plastic tubs.

Or anything just as long as it floats.

I like to paint numbers on the ducks with nail polish as it doesn’t come off in the water.

5. Target Practice

This is another water pistol activity similar to the one above, but this time the children shoot at targets on a wall.

Find a wall (without doors or windows) that is suitable for the children to shoot at with a water pistol.

Using a piece of chalk, draw a large face on the wall.

Ask the children to listen carefully.

Depending on the age and stage of your children t’s a good idea to put their water pistols on the floor between each try.

When you say a part of the face they are to try and squirt their water pistol at it.

So, Ready, steady…..Nose.

This is really good for following instructions, increasing vocabulary, and of course squeezing the index fingers to build up that pincer grip.

Of course, you don’t have to draw a face. You could try shooting water at: Numbers

Different shapes

Colors (if you have colored chalks)

Mini- beasts

Anything really – just have lots of fun!

6. Threading

Sometimes the old ones are the best and we still use them for good reasons.

When children thread objects, they are using most of the muscles in their hands, as they pinch, twist, push and pull with small precise movements.

Threading can also help to develop the muscles in the whole of the upper arm and shoulders – which is vital for being able to write comfortably later on.

There are many colorful, attractive resources you can buy to develop the children’s skills in threading, but if you are at home, here are a few of my favorites:

Pasta necklaces

Provide the children with a bag of rigatoni, or a similar shaped pasta and some shoe laces or thick string. If you want to make this activity more creative, the children can paint the pasta before or after they have made their necklace.

Cheerio bracelets

The same principle, but use cereal. Cheerios are smaller and so the children will need to be more precise.

Button friendship bracelets

Choose some buttons that your friend would like. Think about the colors, size, and shape of the buttons. This can be tricky due to the very small holes in some buttons, so consider the stage of the children first and the types of buttons you are using.

Leaf threading

Tie a knot in a shoe lace and ask the children to collect as many different shaped and sized leaves as they can.

Push the shoelace through the middle of the leaves to thread the leaves together to create leaf mobiles/decorations. This is particularly effective in Autumn when you can talk about all the different shades of colors.

Curtain rings

If you have any old curtain rings lying around, this is a great one to start with as curtain rings tend to be chunky and wooden so they are easier for little fingers to manipulate. Use thick string or thin ropes to make necklaces.

7. Hole Punch Magic!

You can buy all sorts of craft hole punches now, and these can create a range of different holes – stars, crescents, hearts, and all other sorts of options.

These hole punches are a brilliant way to interest young children, and getting them using fine motor skills without even knowing it!

Making holes in leaves is an activity all children enjoy:

Leaf hole punching

You can also make holes in paper, card, and flowers.

The confetti that you generate from doing it is also great for picking up with tweezers, in itself a fantastic fine motor experience.

8. Tear it up!

What? I hear you cry. I don’t want my children to start ripping and tearing things up!

Ripping and tearing paper are actually really important skills in developing fine motor control!

Provide old magazines or newspapers, or use the paper in your recycle boxes. You could also use old envelopes, junk mail, or any old paper you have around.

Ask the children to rip the paper and tear it into the smallest pieces they possibly can. Keep trying to see if they can make the pieces even smaller. Who can make the smallest pieces of all?

Talk about teeny, tiny, miniature, and minuscule pieces.

Again, this is about controlling the many muscles in the thumb and index finger and strengthening them. Keep the tiny pieces of ripped paper in tubs as they can then be recycled to use for craft or mosaic work.

Some children like to tear along a line at first, so just draw random lines on the scrap paper and see if they can tear along the lines.

You can also try this activity with leaves. Ask the children to tear up different leaves into the smallest pieces they can.

This is a similar variation to Tear it up. On large pieces of recycled paper, draw spirals. Show the children how to tear along the spiral lines to make a spiral mobile, then ask the children to tear along the curves themselves. Again, you will need to adjust the size and difficulty of the spirals depending on the stage of the children.

Draw horizontal lines across a newspaper and rip the pages down the lines, without ripping through the whole page. Twist the newspaper around and bind it with an elastic band to make a palm tree effect.

9. Planting Seeds

Seeds come in all different shapes and sizes, but many are tiny.

This gives the children an opportunity to pick them up between their fingers, requiring precision and dexterity.

As well as being a great activity for developing speaking and listening, and observation skills, picking up and planting seeds is also great for developing fine motor skills .

Ask the children to fill a pot with compost.

Push their finger into the pot to make a hole with their index finger in the middle.

Pick up a seed between their fingers and put it in the hole.

Cover the hole with a little bit more compost.

Using a water spray with a trigger to water the pot every day will also help to practice those pincer movements again.

10. Finger Painting

Another good activity for working on pincer grip and developing creativity. 

This is all about precision.

Provide a large sheet of paper and some ready mix paint in saucers.

Encourage the children to dip their fingers in the paint, getting a dab of paint on their index finger.

To start with, you might want to draw a simple picture or shape for the children to dab along the lines. Once they have got the idea, you can add different colors and encourage them to be creative themselves.

You could also add cotton buds or Q-tips here. Encourage the children to dab the cotton bud or Q-tip into the paint and dot and dab the paint in lines and curves.

11. Tweezers!

Sorting is how we make sense of our world.

Young children need lots of practice and opportunities in sorting objects into colors, shapes, and sizes. They also need opportunities to match objects as these are the pre-cursors to reading skills.

You can start off with sorting small objects into sets by hand, and if the children can do this easily, try adding a pair of tweezers to pick up the objects with.

I’ve always found cake tins to be great for this but you could also use a collection of empty containers.   Provide lots of loose parts such as buttons, curtain hoops, shells, pebbles, pasta shapes, marbles.

Any small but interesting objects would work well here.

Ask the children to sort the objects out into the containers/cake trays. If cosmetic tweezers are too difficult, you can buy some large plastic tweezers now from most resource companies that are perfect for little chubby hands.

12. Finger Rhymes

Singing songs and rhymes are a vital part of every child’s language development and I’m sure you use them on a daily basis.

Even our youngest children and even babies can start to join in with finger rhymes and actions. But they can also help to develop fine motor control as children naturally join in with the actions to songs and rhymes.

Two little dicky birds.

Round and round the garden

Incy wincy spider

The mouse who lived in a house.

One, two, three four five, Once I caught a fish alive.

I taught Nursery for many years before becoming an advisor and I always liked to use a selection of new and traditional finger rhymes. If you introduce Makaton signs it is the same principle.

Those are my top ten ideas, but hopefully, they may have sparked many other ideas. Most teachers and practitioners are providing fine motor activities without even realizing it!

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

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Empowered Parents

The 17 Best Fine Motor Activities for Kids

By: Author Tanja Mcilroy

Posted on Last updated: 10 Feb 2023

Categories Fine Motor Skills

17 fine motor activities pinterest image

Looking for some simple ideas for fine motor activities for your little ones?

While you can find many interesting, creative or theme-based activity ideas online, this is a list of the most basic and essential types of fine motor skills activities.

They are the kinds of activities that all kids should be doing in early childhood in order to improve their fine motor skills.

What is An Example of a Fine Motor Activity?

Any activity that engages the small muscles of the body – such as the fingers and eyes – is a fine motor activity.

An example is drawing a picture or pushing pegs through a pegboard.

What are Some Fine Motor Skills Examples?

These are a few examples of tasks that require fine motor skills :

Why are Fine Motor Skills Important?

Children need to develop their fine motor skills in order to accomplish all kinds of self-care tasks, play and participate in activities and learn to write, among other things.

As they grow and develop, they progress through the fine motor milestones – such as learning to feed themselves, dress or build a 24-piece puzzle.

It is vital to their independence and their ability to cope academically during their years of schooling.

17 of the Best Fine Motor Activities for Kids

Here are 17 simple fine motor activities for preschoolers and toddlers. 

Many of the same activities can be done with toddlers, 3, 4 and 5-year-olds. Just change the expectation to suit your child’s age and maturity.

For example, a 2-year-old may only scribble with a crayon, whereas a 5-year-old will start experimenting with writing their name; a 3-year-old may love pasting buttons with liquid glue onto paper, and an older child can categorize the buttons by size.

Although kids should have access to some fine motor skills toys , many activities can be done with waste materials or everyday items in your home or classroom.

Close up of child's hand holding a pair of scissors to do art. Text reads "17 fine motor activities for your children".

1. Playdough

Playdough has so many benefits your kids should be playing with it often. It’s wonderful for fine motor control.

Provide a sensory, fine motor experience by using different materials and tools – cookie cutters, plastic knives, twigs, a rolling pin, etc.

You can also press items like beads or buttons into the playdough.

Here’s a recipe for easy DIY playdough .

There are variations of this substance that are also suitable, such as clay, plasticine, etc.

Drawing is one of the most important fine motor activities and one that kids should have the opportunity to do daily.

Drawing is the most important pre-writing activity . As kids progress through the stages of drawing , they eventually start developing the control to form letters and write.

Offer lots of different types of paper and writing tools – pencils, pens, oil pastels, markers, chalk, etc.

3. Painting

Painting is another activity that has so many variations and should be done often.

It can be easy to avoid because of the mess factor but the benefits of painting far outweigh the hassle of washing up.

Kids painting on the ground with their hands and brushes

Painting activities don’t need to be complicated and kids should be allowed to paint freely without much guidance.

Here are a few types of painting activities to try:

…and there are lots more!

4. Finger Plays

Teach your kids some fun finger rhymes like Tommy Thumb and Two Little Dickie Birds .

These are great for exercising little fingers and getting them to control and coordinate them.

Fingerplays also improve language, concentration and listening skills.

Here are some fun fingerplays for children .

This post contains affiliate links for educational products that I personally recommend. If you purchase through one of them, I earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Read the terms and conditions for more details.

5. Threading

Threading takes a lot of coordination and concentration and can take time to master. It is excellent for building eye-hand coordination and developing the pincer grasp.

There are many ways to teach kids to thread:

The older children get, the better control they will have threading beads of smaller sizes onto a string.

Child making a beaded necklace

Similar to threading, lacing is the action of moving a string/thread in and out of holes – like when lacing up shoes.

Apart from practising tying shoelaces – which is quite an advanced skill – offer activities like lacing cards ( this is a great set ) or lacing around a paper plate or shape cut-out.

7. Paper Tearing

Did you know that tearing paper is a skill children should learn?

Like any other skill, it needs practice to be mastered.

Give children different kinds of papers to tear. Add some glue and they can create a collage out of it.

While you’re at it – teach kids to crumple paper as well. This will strengthen the hand muscles.

Crumple papers and aim and throw them into a laundry basket to make a game out of it.

8. Paper Folding

When I taught in the grades, I was forever moaning at the kids for turning their worksheets into paper planes and flying them around the class during the lesson!

Paper folding is a fine motor skill kids need to develop before starting formal school and this is a great way to teach it.

See if kids can come up with some of their own ways of folding the plane before you’re tempted to explain step-by-step.

Child flying a paper airplane

If the plane is not well folded it will not fly well and this becomes a great opportunity for some problem-solving practice .

Try folding hats and boats too.

Puzzles are my favourite fine motor skill activity because they are so good for a child’s cognitive development , visual perception and focus.

It takes children a lot of practice and fine motor control to learn to hold a piece steady as they try to join it to another piece, as can be seen when you watch a toddler trying to push a piece in with brute force.

Puzzles are for every age, from simple peg puzzles for toddlers to 48-piece puzzles for older children.

These are the best puzzles for toddlers and puzzles for preschoolers . There’s also a free downloadable set of printable puzzles at the end of this post.

Little girl doing a shape peg puzzle

10. Self-Care Tasks

One of the best ways to develop children’s small muscle skills is to encourage independence and let them learn self-care tasks.

Activities like feeding oneself, getting dressed (buttoning clothes, tying shoelaces, closing zips) putting toothpaste on a brush or opening a tap to wash hands will all develop this skill.

It also gives kids a great sense of achievement.

Every child should own a great set of wooden blocks ( like this one ).

Block play is amazing for fine and gross motor development , problem solving, science, early number concepts , spatial development and more.

Children progress through the seven stages of block play as their cognitive understanding improves so this is one of those activities where you can see the growth and maturity.

12. Construction Play

Apart from block play, there are many other forms of construction play , which help improve fine motor skills .

Lego is a wonderful alternative, as well as any other construction toys that link, snap together, fit into each other, or stack.

You can even make constructions out of toothpicks or matches – like a toothpick house or shape.

Hold the ends together with Prestick/Blu Tack, jelly sweets or marshmallows.

13. Cutting and Pasting

Cutting and pasting are great for hand-eye coordination and fine motor control.

This is one of the most “monitored’ activities for kids and one that should be done freely and with few restrictions.

Children and teacher cutting paper with scissors

Do a search online and you will find countless step-by-step crafts to follow.

While there’s a place for this – like when making a Mother’s Day card that actually looks like one – generally, cutting and pasting activities should be creative.

This means the focus should be on the process, not the product.

Give kids lots of freedom to cut and paste things into their own collages and let their imaginations run wild. They will be learning a lot more this way.

14. Playing with Loose Parts

Loose parts play is a simple way to make use of anything you have on hand at home or in class and turn it into an educational activity.

Loose parts can include beads, buttons, coins, shells, matches, pieces of wood, corks, ice cream sticks, lids and containers, pegs and anything else you can think of.

Glass jar filled with buttons

Kids can group and match these items, make art with them, engage in pretend play, pick them up with tweezers and sort them into egg trays and more.

Here are 17 things you can do with buttons .

15. Woodwork

Kids love hammering nails into wood. As long as this is done with child-safe equipment, it’s a good exercise in hand-eye coordination .

Use a toy hammer, some soft wood offcuts and a soft backing board.

There are also hammering sets ( like this ) and tool kits available online which also encourage pretend play .

16. Cooking Activities

Getting children involved in the kitchen is a good life skill and involves a lot of small muscle movements.

Baking or cooking activities will have kids cutting, chopping, slicing, spreading, stirring, mixing, piercing, squeezing and more.

17. Cards and Games

Playing with cards and games is not just good for intellectual development, but also requires the use of a child’s hand muscles.

While children are playing with cards, memory games , sequencing cards, board games and other similar games, they are using their fingers to lift, sort, turn over, stack and handle the cards and playing pieces.

The importance of fine motor skills for preschoolers and toddlers cannot be overstated. It’s necessary to expose kids to all the types of activities in this article but remember to focus on the process, not the product.

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Hands on kids activities for hands on moms. Focusing on kids activities perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

Improve Kids Fine Motor Skills with 30 Materials & Activities

Fine Motor Popular Preschoolers Toddlers My Favorites Resources 102 Comments

Fine motor activities have been put on a back burner in this house for a bit, about a year. Now we’re back on a big fine motor skills activity kick!

Which is probably a good thing.

Gross motor skills should come before fine motor skills.

Those big muscles help the little muscles!

But wow! What a difference a year makes!

You’ve got to try  these cutting activities to build fine motor skills as well as learn to use scissors!

Last year, Henry wouldn’t sit still. He didn’t have any desire to do anything that didn’t involve a lot of running around.

We were really into activities that promoted his gross motor skills  at that time.

But recently, Henry’s taken a turn and likes to focus on some of these littler things. He loves to cut especially.

Improve Kids Fine Motor Skills with 30 Materials & Activities

Now that’s he’s interested in these fine motor activities, what can we do?

I’ve gathered up some inspiration.

You'll love working on fine motor skills with easy activities ideas, made simpler with materials you can keep on hand!

Download the Fine Motor Week of Activities

But, first of all, what  are fine motor skills?

According to Understood.org :

What are examples of fine motor skills and activities?

Fine motor skills can include small movements such as:

Fine motor skills helps children learn the essential everyday life skills tasks

Why are fine motor skills important for a preschooler?

As you can see, many of these skills are needed in a child’s (and adult’s) everyday tasks.

Without having gained strength in fine motor skills, a child can suffer moving forward. They may not have the ability to do these small tasks, but they also may lack the confidence to do more advanced tasks or projects because of this inability.

You can check out the chart of fine motor development on Kidsense.org .

Are you convinced now that fine motor skills are important to focus on just a bit?

Of course, I still recommend not going crazy about it. Don’t expect your kid to be able to make straight lines and hold their pencil correctly when they’re two years old.

There are lots of ways to improve fine motor skills, which helps with writing down the road

Click here to Download the Fine Motor Week of Activities

But if you notice they are lacking in their fine motor ability, there are tons of fun ways to help improve it.

The big question becomes…

“How can I improve my child’s fine motor skills?”

Let’s have fun with promoting their fine motor skills anytime! No need to wait until they’re behind, right?

These are some supply suggestions that naturally promote fine motor through activities for preschoolers.

Materials that promote fine motor skills… and click the link (or look below) to find fine motor activities to do with them!

By the way, these would be fantastic to put together in a “fine motor kit” to have on hand.

Play dough is a great tool to improve fine motor skills in children

Using toothpicks to help child improve their fine motor skills

Fine Motor Skills Activity Ideas

Now that you have some materials to grab and have on hand to work on fine motor skill, put them to use with some of the activities that promote them!

These activities can be done with a great variety of materials, so don’t just limit yourself to what’s above. Instead, use our suggestions as inspiration!

Weaving activity idea to improve child's fine motor skills

If you’re struggling for younger kids to work on their fine motor skills, you may want to look into our fine motor activities for toddlers suggestions .

Below are some great fine motor activities for preschoolers to get started with.

Get a quick print of these materials and what to do with them here , or click the image below. Put this printout in a fine motor kit to have on hand with the supplies listed to use and you’ll be set!

Get a quick print of these materials and what to do with them here, or click the image below. Put this printout in a fine motor kit to have on hand with the supplies listed to use and you'll be set!

Check out our 32 activities that focus in on objects that help strengthen a child’s hand grip.

Like I said, stock up on these fine motor materials and keep them handy. Here are some handy affiliate links to get you started:  Plastic Sewing Needles for Kids ,  Colorful Buttons ,  Eye Droppers ,  Fiskars Pointed Scissors ,  Marbles ,  Beads .

30+ materials and activities that help support and improve fine motor skills in young children.

However, keep in mind that before really you really focus in on fine motor skills, kids need to get moving and using their gross motor skills first to build up their big muscles which in turn will help support the little muscles used in fine motor activities!

What are your best tips and tricks to make fine motor activities super fun?

About jamie reimer.

Jamie learned to be a hands on mom by creating activities, crafts and art projects for her three boys to do. Jamie needed the creative outlet that activities provided to get through the early years of parenting with a smile! Follow Jamie on Pinterest and Instagram !

More Hands on Kids Activities to Try

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Reader Interactions

102 comments.

January 29, 2023 at 4:31 am

his site is really useful for parents. children need to develop fine motor skills and there are many websites for this. one of them is: https://wunderkiddy.com / I am a mother myself and used this site together with my child. the result was already visible in a month and a half. also on the site there is a preparation for school. they taught my kid simple mathematical examples there. in general, I advise everyone

Graham P says

October 21, 2020 at 4:34 am

Some lovely ideas here for me to try with my daughter.

Robbin says

September 30, 2020 at 12:47 am

Great post. Thanks for sharing!

Jurrien Collins says

May 8, 2020 at 8:36 am

I am doing some early childhood graduate work with 2s and 3s…looking forward to incorporating many of these ideas…especially the twigs or birthday candles into dough activities! Thank you for these.

Suvarna says

May 5, 2020 at 11:55 am

It is very helpful and interesting.s

johnsonsophia016 says

December 10, 2019 at 11:24 am

very cool post. thanks for sharing.

Jeanette says

September 13, 2019 at 1:42 pm

Thats very interesting activities .something that I surely want to try with my children.

Kirsty says

July 28, 2018 at 9:42 pm

Love all the ideas you have gathered here and how super easy they are to do at home. It really is amazing how all these little activities help to make such a difference to children’s skills. I especially notice the difference between children that have done these sorts of activities and those that haven’t when they start school.

Tillie Clapp says

December 21, 2017 at 8:50 am

Can you put these together in a book?

Rachel says

January 2, 2018 at 7:44 pm

Thank you! Here are some ebooks currently available: https://room.handsonaswegrow.com/shop/?_ga=2.81849686.1143596184.1514920466-514156227.1474654125 Enjoy!

Beth Bishop says

October 10, 2017 at 12:05 am

This list is great! I am always searching for new books for my kids and it is so hard trying to find things in their age groups that they are also interested in.. My 11 year old actually just finished the first Harry Potter book(yea she started a little late with those, I won’t let her see the movies until she reads the books… I’m mean like that) but I have the hardest time finding stuff for my 9 year old. She is picky and hasn’t found a favorite genre yet.

Ambreen naveed says

August 7, 2017 at 12:29 am

Awesome plz keep updating me on my email thank u

Renilda says

July 30, 2017 at 9:47 am

Tnq for your idea’s…..its really nice

July 30, 2017 at 9:45 am

Its really very nice ideas……tnq fr ur sharing

Han-Son says

February 10, 2017 at 10:04 am

Love this. Those fine motor skills are so important to develop even at a young age. We’ve just profiled how you can do it with some Play Doh and Twigs too if that’s of interest? http://daddilife.com/daddilifeforce-re-imagining-new-uses/

August 20, 2016 at 11:28 am

This list is seriously amazing and gave me so many ideas as an art teacher trying to help young ones strengthen their fine motor skills for writing! Thank you so much!

Jamie Reimer says

August 22, 2016 at 8:31 pm

You are very welcome!

Amarjit kaur says

May 25, 2016 at 8:16 am

These are wonderful activities wl do with my grand dauggter

Jessika Arellano says

May 11, 2016 at 11:08 am

thanks for good information is important when we are want increase this motor ability is more help for me

ShishuWorld says

September 29, 2015 at 4:14 am

What a wonderful set of ideas! Thank you for sharing these! Pinning this page.

Deebi27 says

July 11, 2015 at 3:06 am

I will pass these on to my daughter and grandson…11 months old(out of towners), and book mark/Pin for when my grandson (10 days old!) who lives locally! Thanks so much!

Hani Andini says

July 3, 2015 at 4:07 am

Thank you. These fun way activities helping me to teach my awesome kids! :)

The Practical Mom says

January 24, 2015 at 10:22 am

A good list of materials and activities! We’ve used most of these and like you mentioned, it engages my 3 year old well and keeps him focused and calm!

ThePracticalMomBlog.Blogspot.in

Nath's Mom says

November 9, 2014 at 11:42 pm

I am excited about using these ideas for my son. Hopefully these activities will encourage him to write because he shows no interest at this time. Great ideas!!!

OneMommy says

May 15, 2012 at 2:53 pm

Some great ideas! My oldest never had a trouble with the itty bitty stuff, but I think I need to take time to work on some of these with my youngest.

R. Simmerman says

April 3, 2012 at 7:19 pm

These are great FM exercises!!! My youngest has Down snydrome and my oldest has very weak fine motor. Can’t wait to start on these exercises!

Thank you for sharing!

Lorna dEntremont says

February 16, 2012 at 11:25 am

Awesome post… amazing photos! What perfect ways to have FUN and at the same time practicing fine motor skills. Sharing on my Facebook page. Thanks! Lorna

Anonymous says

February 16, 2012 at 4:14 am

Thank you for sharing this awesome list. My little girl is 14 months so I'm collecting ideas for activities we can do that are fun for her (and ME!) and also help her development. Pinning! ;)

February 13, 2012 at 4:24 am

Thanks! I also use poster pins and call it pin prick art. Etcha Sketch, lite brite, aqua doodle, pushing beads through cutouts on a yogurt container lid, silly putty…

February 12, 2012 at 5:29 am

Wow- what an awesome collection! My little man is into beans and rice. He calls it scoop, scooop. Also- loved playing with oatmeal. He's getting pretty good with the plastic chopsticks, too. :)

February 11, 2012 at 4:58 pm

Thanks for all the great links, some I have used and several I will be using!

andie jaye says

February 2, 2012 at 5:03 am

so many great ideas! thanks for popping our math with tongs in there!

Junky Jen says

February 1, 2012 at 1:47 am

I work with developmentally delayed preschoolers and sometimes run out of "new" ideas!! Love all of your links and ideas and will be directing parents your way!! Thanks!!

January 30, 2012 at 9:41 am

Great round up! We do a lot of those activities, but I seen several that we need to do! Thanks for rounding all of these great ideas up into one easily accessible space. Can we predict more arts and crafts in your future? Haha :)

January 27, 2012 at 6:14 pm

Great post! I can't wait to do some of these with my kids!

rachelle | tinkerlab says

January 27, 2012 at 5:35 pm

I love this post, Jamie! You come up with the best ideas and I know my readers will love them too!

Our Country Road says

January 27, 2012 at 5:08 pm

What a great collection of ideas!! I'm excited to be on it!! Thank you :}.

PlayDrMom says

January 26, 2012 at 3:58 pm

THANK YOU for including me on the list! It's SUCH a great collection!

luckyrock says

January 26, 2012 at 2:52 am

this is such a great post and I thank you for it. here, here and here you can find my ideas.

Raising a Happy Child says

January 26, 2012 at 12:03 am

This is an awesome list! So many good ideas in one place. I am sure it will be pinned 1000 times :)

shirley says

January 25, 2012 at 9:00 pm

Thank you!! My son is still struggling and we are getting close to kindergarten roundup and I am concerned he is really going to struggle next year. Unfortunately, the suggestions from the OT at the school are pathetic at best. I so thankful there are other moms out there who share ideas. We have been doing the bolts & nuts (a suggestion from my mom) and being a boy he loves it plus the weight of the bolts is a great strengthening exercise for his hands as well. Since I do not have a blog I am glad to see someone else suggested it too!

January 25, 2012 at 7:07 pm

This post totally rocked. I just got so many ideas that are going to help me get through the winter! Thank you!

JDaniel4's Mom says

January 25, 2012 at 5:19 pm

Thank you for including me on the list!

Kristina says

January 25, 2012 at 4:26 pm

What a great list of activities! I am pinning this to use as a reference. I think the idea you shared from us actually isn't from Toddler Approved though.

Having Fun says

January 25, 2012 at 3:54 pm

This list will keep us busy for a long time. Several of your activities we haven't tried yet. Thanks for sharing.

Jessica says

January 25, 2012 at 2:25 pm

What a great collection of activities. Thanks for sharing!

January 25, 2012 at 1:40 pm

Great list!My son has just turned 2 and right now he is also into this kind of activities. He loves sticking things,posting buttons in slotted lidded container and tweezing pompoms are his favorites.

Deborah says

January 25, 2012 at 12:42 pm

Love them all!

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activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

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Books and Giggles

Books and Giggles

12 Fun Hole Punch Fine Motor Activities

12 Fun Hole Punch Activities with collage of 6 of them

Inside : these hole punch activities include crafts, math and literacy activities, and art projects. All of them are great fine motor skills work for kids!

12 Fun Hole Punch Activities with collage of 6 of them

(Disclosure: Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.)

Are you looking for an engaging way to help your kids work on their fine motor skills? Many (but not all) hole punches are perfect for strengthening those little hands, and they’re so much fun!

What Kind of Hole Punch Should Kids Use?

Make sure you get a hole punch that is easy enough to squeeze and has a guard to prevent itty bitty fingers from reaching the cutting surface. I have a single-hole punch from Office Depot that is perfectly fine.

You can also get punches that are extra easy to squeeze , which might be a good solution for kids who have trouble with a standard punch. (ad)

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

If you pick an activity that needs lots of punched holes, you may want to use a 2 or 3-hole punch instead. Of course, then you aren’t working those future writing muscles in the same way.

Hole Punch Fine Motor Activities

All of these activities help young children develop fine motor skills. By using the hole punch, kids can have fun while exploring early math and literacy concepts and using their imaginations.

Let’s get started…

Rainy Day Craft – Perfect for springtime or for a weather unit, this rain craft makes creative use of a hole punch. A class set of these would also make a cute display. You may also want to read some books about weather or seasons when you make this.

rain craft with hole punched rain, a puddle, cotton ball clouds, and a cutout photo of a girl holding an umbrella

Hungry Caterpillar Hole Punching Activity – Preschoolers or kindergartners can follow along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar as they punch all the items the caterpillar in the book eats.

hole punch on top of colored in fruit pictures related to The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Hole Punch Letter Worksheets – These alphabet worksheets in my store are a hit with hole punch fans! Print out these pages to give students practice recognizing uppercase and lowercase letters and their initial sounds.

hole punch letter worksheets

More Hole Punch Fine Motor Activities

I’ve also found you some hole-punch activities from talented teachers and homeschoolers around the web. This first group can be used almost any time of year (or adapted for any time of year.)

collage of hole punching activities

Left to right by row:

Paper Donut Craft – Kids can add hole punch “sprinkles” to these crafty donuts. Wouldn’t this be fun to make after reading If You Give a Dog a Donut !

Munched Leaves Craft – Here’s another fun activity to do after reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar .

Kinetic Paper Shape Art – Children use paper scraps and a hole punch to create moveable art in this fascinating project based on the work of artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

Confetti Collage – Kids who are prolific hole punchers will enjoy this colorful art activity.

Rainbow Bookmarks – These ‘no glue, no mess’ hole punch bookmarks would be fun to make around St. Patrick’s Day. You could also try them with pastel colors for a Mother’s Day gift.

Uppercase Lowercase Letter Matching – Little hands can punch the matching lowercase letters on these free printable strips.

Seasonal Hole Punching Ideas

A few of the ideas above can also be used seasonally, but I’ve separated these out for you.

collage of seasonal hole punching activities

Hole Punched Hearts – These sweet hearts are a simple hole-punching activity that kids can work on independently. Then, string them up as a pretty Valentine’s Day decoration.

April Showers Craft – I linked to this rainy day craft at the top of this post, but I’m including it again here for your convenience.

Count to 20 Activity – This hands-on math activity would be a fun addition to your fall apples unit.

Christmas Tree Bookmarks – This is another cute seasonal hole punch craft for little book lovers.

Ready to get started? Hole punch activities are an awesome way to keep your little ones engaged while also practicing fine motor skills. Plus, who doesn’t love the satisfying sound of punching a hole in a piece of paper?

collage of hole punch activities

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ABCDee Learning

25 Preschool Fine Motor Activities (2023)

Looking for preschool fine motor activities.

Practicing fine motor skills will help your kids ability to do things like tie their shoes, button their shirts and zip their jackets! Which are all really important everyday life skills!

Let’s get started with my 25 Preschool Fine Motor Activities.

Activity #1: Q-Tip ABC’s

We love Q-tip painting! It’s a great way for preschoolers to work on those fine motor and handwriting skills without a ton of pressure.

This is a fun alphabet and tracing activity! The kids will have a blast painting with Q-tips to create the letters!

q-tip alphabet activity

How to do this activity

A. materials you need.

crayola paint

View Amazon's Price

Using markers, write the letters of the alphabet on paper. I chose to do the colors of the rainbow to also work on color matching skills!

Dump some paint into a paint tray.

C. Activity

Have your kids dip the Q-tips into the paint. They will match up the color marker with the color paint and create the letter using the Q-tip!

One thing I would change that I didn’t do, was to create arrows on each letter to show your little one how to form the letter correctly.

This is a great way to practice writing skills and involve some art too!

RELATED: Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers

Activity #2: jellyfish fruit loop threading.

We LOVE using Fruit Loops for activities. Adding this fun snack in is always a huge hit with kids.

This jellyfish activity is a perfect way to work on threading and fine motor skills for preschoolers.

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

art trays

Create a jellyfish shape out of paper and crayons! Let your little one color the jellyfish!

Grab some pipe cleaners and tape them to the back of the jellyfish.

Your child should work on color sorting by threading the correct color Fruit Loop on the pipe cleaners!

You can have them sort the Fruit Loops by color first, or they can just grab them from a bowl and place them on the pipe cleaner.

RELATED: How to Teach your Toddler Colors

Activity #3. pasta straining.

Want to know the  EASIEST   activity to pull off that your preschooler will love?

Add dried spaghetti noodles into a colander! I had no clue that my little guy was going to be so enthralled with this activity. I appreciate the activities that I can pull off with things that I have in my pantry.  

pasta straining fine motor activity

colander

Flip the colander upside down and grab the noodles

Have your little ones start to put the pasta noodles inside the colander!

Explain to your child that they don’t have to push down hard because then the noodles will break off. This happened several times with my son until I showed him how to do this correctly!

They can also try to pull them out once they are all in to extend the activity further!

Activity #4: Rainbow Cutting Craft

Cutting activities are important for preschoolers to work on and they improve fine motor skills!

This simple rainbow craft is adorable and it works on cutting skills in a fun way for the kids.

rainbow cutting activity

Create a cloud shape and cut it out! Then, create the rainbow by cutting strips of colored paper.

Attach the colored paper to the back of the cloud by using tape or a glue stick. Lastly, draw some lines on the strips. You can create them as easy or hard as you’d like depending on the skills of your little one.

Have your child use scissors to cut along the lines you created! They should try to stay on the lines the best they can.

To make it easier for them to cut, tape down the cloud to a flat surface.

RELATED: Kindergarten Activities for Kids

Activity #5: bead threading.

Here’s another threading activity for you, but this has an added element of counting!

This bead color sorting activity works on color recognition, number recognition, counting, sorting, and fine motor skills! That’s pretty amazing.

bead threading fine motor activity

Write each number out on a piece of paper and cut them out and tape them down. We only had room for 8 on our tray, but you can do as many as you want!

Tape down the different colored pipe cleaners that you want to use at the top

Show your child how to string the beads on the pipe cleaner. Depending on how old they are, you can do this activity together, working on counting out loud, or you can have them do it on their own to see how they do it and talk about it afterward!

RELATED: Number Recognition Activities for Kids

Activity #6: geoboard alphabet activity.

Do you remember using these boards as kids? I remember loving when my teacher pulled them out so we could play and create with them!

Work on creating letters with the geoboard! This is not only a wonderful way to work on letter-building skills, but it’s a great fine motor activity for kids!

letter z geoboard printable

Click HERE to grab your Geoboard Lower Case Letter Printable .

geoboard letters

Use my geoboard letter worksheets to help your little ones build the letters! Print off the letter Z and any other letter you want to work on.

Your little one will use the rubber bands to build the letter Z. Younger ones can use the worksheets to help guide them on building the letter. Older children can be challenged by trying to do it on their own!

RELATED: Free Alphabet Printables for Kids

Activity #7: hedgehog wrapping craft.

This hedgehog craft is the perfect fine motor activity for your kids!

They will love wrapping the yarn to create these cuddly little guys. I loved this craft because it was something different the kids have never done before.

hedgehog yarn wrapping

colored yarn

Draw a hedgehog shape on cardboard. Cut it out using a box cutter.

Glue the googly eye and add a smile and little markings for the hedgehog’s feet! Lastly, glue different colored poms on the nose to work on color matching skills!

Tape a piece of yarn to the back of the hedgehog and have the kids start wrapping it around repeatedly. They will do this step until the whole hedgehog is covered in the yarn!

Since it’s made out of cardboard, the spikes will hold the yarn in place! When they are all done wrapping, they can place another piece of tape on the back of the cardboard and cut the piece of yarn!

RELATED: Letter H Crafts and Activities

Activity #8: alphabet color coding.

Want to try a beginner color-coding activity that’s perfect for preschoolers? I love that it works on several skills with just 1 easy setup as well! 

This fine motor activity works on color recognition, color matching, number recognition, and letter building!

tweezers for kids

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Inside the bottle caps, place a dot sticker with the numbers 1-3 written on them. Older children can have more numbers and colors!

Create the letter Y on the cardboard with the bottle caps in a mixed-up order. Write what each number signifies on the side; you can use a pom too for younger ones. Older kiddos can work on color sight word recognition.

Have your child use the key to place the correct colored pom in each bottle cap to create the letter Z! This works on letter building, color recognition, and number recognition!

Want to add in some fine motor skills? Have them use tweezers to pick up and place the poms inside the caps!

Activity #10: Tape Resist Art

I love how tape resist art turns out! It’s so cool to see the outline of the object when you are done!

When the kids rip and pull the tape off at the end, they are building those fine motor skills.

painters tape art

painter's tape

Create an upper and lower case letter M on the piece of cardstock paper with the masking tape! Also, grab some water for the watercolors.

Paint around both of the letters. When they are done, they can pull off the tape gently! They can see the outline of the letters! They will love seeing what they created!

RELATED: Letter M Crafts and Activities

Activity #11: fine motor boards.

This activity isn’t a DIY, and believe me sometimes you don’t have time to create every activity, which I totally get!

These fine motor boards are amazing because they work on essential life skills that kids will be expected to know how to do before school starts.

life skills set for fine motor skills

Work on lacing, buttoning, zipping, buckling, tying, and snapping with these boards. I especially like these because they are small and be taken on the go since they are small.

Suggestions

1. For young kids, start with the zipping and snapping boards; I just got these, and my son is two, and those are the boards we are working on now.

2. Preschoolers can try all of the boards! The tying and the lacing activities will be challenging, make sure to encourage them to keep trying and don’t get frustrated.

Activity #12: Beginning Sound Clips

This fine motor activity for kids is a great way to learn and review beginning sounds!

I love this activity because it’s bright, colorful and the kids get excited to see what pictures are on each board.

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Click HERE for your FREE Beginning Sound Clip printable

clothespins

Print off the letters you want to work on. You can cut out the paper and tape them to a piece of cardboard if you want to! This helps the clips stay in place a bit better.

The kids will identify each picture around the letter. They will make the beginning sound of each image.

When they find a picture with the sound of the letter in the middle, they will open a clothespin and place it on the picture!

This is a great first step to reading!

Activity #13: fruit loop fish activity.

This threading craft is cute and fun for the kids to work on some color matching and fine motor skills.

They can even get a little snack out of the deal too :).

fruit loop fish craft

Bend a pipe cleaner slightly to begin to make the fish, but don’t close it because the kids need to add in the Fruit Loops.

Have the kids sort out the Fruit Loops by color in bowls. We did this activity on an art tray, if you don’t have one you can always do it on paper.

The kids will use color matching skills to thread on the Fruit Loops on the right colored pipe cleaner. Once they get enough on, you can close the pipe cleaner and turn it into a fish!

Place it on the art tray or a piece of paper and add a googly eye and a mouth to make a fish face!

Continue this for all the colors of Fruit Loops! This is a yummy and fun way to work on those fine motor skills!

RELATED: Letter F Activities and Crafts

Activity #15: q-tip sun craft.

This fine motor activity is cute and simple to set up! It’s sure to bring some smiles to your face!

Q-tip sun craft

Place a bowl down on a piece of paper and trace it using a pencil.

Create the lines for the sun all around the circle. Use a marker to color the lines whatever colors you want the sun to be.

The kids will use Q-tips to color match and trace the lines you created with paint! This activity also works on creating patterns.

Encourage your little one to stay on the lines as much as possible!

Add on a face once the paint has dried!

RELATED: Letter S Crafts and Activities

Activity #15: ripping a rainbow.

Ripping pieces of paper is a fun and simple fine motor activity!

My kids had a blast ripping the paper to create these beautiful rainbows. I know yours will too!

ripping rainbow fine motor activity

construction paper

Draw a rainbow shape on white paper and cut it out.

Have your child rip a bunch of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple pieces of construction paper into small pieces.

The kids will use a glue stick to paste on the ripped paper to create a rainbow!

Such a simple and fun fine motor activity!

Activity #16: Alphabet Play Dough Mats

Whenever I pull out the Play-Doh, the kids play for it for at least a half-hour. You know, that’s kind of a big deal, right? Most of the time, it’s longer than that, but at least a half-hour!

When the kids roll, cut, and piece together the play dough, they are working on those fine motor skills!

letter z play dough mat

Click HERE to grab your Letter Play-Doh Mats! (Upper and Lower case letter included)

Play doh

Print off the letters that you want to work on! Then, place them inside a dry-erase folder for your little ones to build on. This way, it won’t get the sheet dirty, and you can save and redo it repeatedly.

Your little ones should roll and create the letters using Play-Doh. You can have them match the colors that are on the sheet, or you can use whatever color you’d like. They should try to create the letter by following the lines!

RELATED: ABCDeeLearning’s TpT Store

Activity #17: sticker lines.

Peeling stickers and using small muscles in your fingers to place them in a specific spot is an excellent fine motor activity!

sticker line fine motor activity

Plus, how colorful and fun does this activity look? We didn’t even finish the lines, so I could show you how to draw each of the lines, and it looks terrific!

dot stickers

On a piece of paper, draw several different types of lines (zig-zag, curvy, straight, castle, and loopy).

Tape the piece of paper down to a flat surface!

Have your child place a dot sticker on the lines and tell them to try to get them close to each other to follow the entire line or as close to it as possible.

For older kids, start the line for them and create a pattern or colors that you want them to follow.

Activity #18: Ocean Jell-O Dig

Jell-O digs are a fan favorite around here. I love them because they taste safe for the kids it helps work on their fine motor skills.

This ocean bin is a perfect addition to an ocean-themed unit to learn about ocean animals!

ocean animal toob toys

Make the blue Jell-O by following the directions on the box. I recommend grabbing two packs to have enough Jell-O to cover the animals.

Put the Jell-O inside the sensory bin then, place the animals in the Jell-O before putting it in the fridge.

Once the Jell-O is ready, have the kids use tweezers to grab each of the animals out! Talk about what each animal is when they are attempting to grab it out.

Once they are all done, enjoy a little snack 🙂

RELATED: 40 Sensory Activities for Kids

Activity #19: water letter tracing.

Tracing with water is a great introduction to writing skills! The kids will have a blast using water to erase the lines.

Tracing is the PERFECT fine motor activity for kids who are ready to start forming letters.

chalk place mats

Write the letter that you want to work on, on the chalkboard. I created the letters then made dotted lines inside and outside the letter so they knew what lines in order.

Have the kids dip their paintbrushes into a cup of water. They will start painting the lines away to create each letter!

They should try to stay in the lines as much as possible! However, don’t worry if they don’t get it exactly right, you want to encourage them to keep trying-handwriting can be a discouraging thing for kids.

Doing fun activities like this will help them learn and gain confidence!

Activity #20: Dinosaur Count and Feed

Feeding activities have become a BIG hit around here! They work great for fine motor skills, color recognition, and counting skills.

I love when activities work on several learning skills at once!

dinosaur count and feed

1. Materials you need

Click HERE for your Count and Feed Printable

pom poms

In a sensory bin, dump a whole bunch of different colored poms! Print off the characters and the counting cards. Cut out the characters, punch a hole in their mouth using a knife, and then cut the inside part of the mouth open. Tape the characters to a cup.

3. Activity

Have your little ones use the counting cards to see what color and how many of each color they should place inside the character’s mouth. They can use kid-friendly tweezers to add some fine motor skills, or you can just have them use their hands. They should tell you the number and count out loud how many they are placing inside!

RELATED: Dinosaur Activities for Preschoolers

Activity #21: caterpillar sensory bag.

Sensory bags are a mess-free and fun way to get some fine motor skills in!

We are actually pretty obsessed with sensory bags over here. The kids always have a good time using them.

Click HERE to grab your FREE Caterpillar printables

colored masking tape

Erase the label to the bag by using a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol!

In a ziplock bag, dump a bottle of cheap hair gel and 1/4 cup of water! Add some colored poms!

Print off my worksheet to work on some caterpillar pattern skills!

Tape the sensory bag to a flat surface with the printable underneath it. Have the kids scoot the poms to color match the patterns!

You can also use my number caterpillars to work on counting skills!

Activity #22: Alphabet Popsicle Stick Match

I love being able to reuse items like an egg carton for learning activities!

Pushing these popsicle sticks in their little slots on the egg carton is a fun fine motor activity!

colored popsicle sticks

Flip over an egg carton and create slits using a knife (the adult needs to do this part).

Write the letters you want to review on the sides of the carton and on the popsicle sticks.

Work on upper to lower case letter matching or just match up the same letters! Have the kids push the popsicle sticks in the correct slots to match up the letters.

This is a fun challenge to practice the alphabet and test those fine motor skills!

Activity #23: Water and Oil 

What a fun fine motor and science activity!

Squeezing these droppers is a fun way to strengthen those little muscles in your child’s fingers.

droppers

In a baking pan, add some oil and lay it down on a flat surface. Then, in cups, add some water and food coloring (mix it up with a spoon).

Have the kids use droppers to suck up the colored water mixture and squirt it into the oil. Make observations about what happened when the two mixed together!

Try this with multiple colors for even more fun.

RELATED: BEST Sensory Bins for Kids

Activity #24: alphabet mats.

I have FREE alphabet mats that are perfect for some fine motor play!

These mats can be used in a variety of different ways. Pretty much any little supply you have on hand can be used to create the letters.

alphabet mats

Grab your FREE Letter Mats HERE

wild dough play doh

Interested in grabbing some Wild Dough for 15% off? Use the code ABCDEE15 at checkout!

Print off the letters you want to work on! Then, get the supplies out that you want your little one to build the letters with.

Have your child identify the letter before beginning!

They can choose which supply they want to build with. You don’t have to use all the supplies, you can even just choose one if you want.

They should try to stay on the lines as much as possible. There are also numbers located inside each letter to show what order it’s supposed to be created in. They should follow those numbers to learn how to create each letter correctly.

RELATED: Teaching Resources

Activity #25: alphabet handwriting sheets.

At the end of the day, one of the reasons we are working on fine motor skills is to be able to write.

I have FREE alphabet writing sheets for you to try out with your child. Letters A-Z are available!

alphabet writing sheets

Click HERE for your FREE Alphabet Writing Sheets

dry erase folders

Print off the letters you want to work on. This can just be used as a one-time worksheet or you can place the sheet in a reusable folder.

This way, you can use the same sheet repeatedly and use a dry erase marker instead of a pencil. This is also nice in case they make a mistake, you can just erase it and try again without a huge mess. 

Have your kids trace the letters first at the top before attempting to make them on the line.

The first line should be used to make the upper case letter and the second line is for the lower case letter.

Encourage your child to make the letters like they did when they traced them. They should also try to stay within the black bold lines.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Fine motor skills are essential for kids’ development, self-esteem, and success in their school work.

The good news is, is that huge strides can be made to increase fine motor skills by doing fun activities that they will enjoy doing. All you need to do is start implementing these lessons at home!

If you have any fine motor activities that have worked for you and your family, please share them with our community by commenting below!

Happy Learning!

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Ideas for Pre-K & Preschool Teachers

Fine Motor Skills

By Karen Cox | Affiliate Disclosure | Filed Under: Fine Motor Activities , Fine Motor Skills

Here are ideas for improving fine motor skills in Pre-K/ Preschool children. Find additional fine motor activities here.

Fine Motor Skills

Find more fine motor ideas on the Fine Motor Skills Resource Page

Fine Motor Skills is one of the main areas I sought to improve in my Pre-K classroom this past year (2008-09). I think fine motor is an area which is often overlooked, yet it is so important. Fine motor skills are the foundation children need before they learn handwriting, in order to have proper pencil grasp and control of a writing instrument.

My goals were to increase the fine motor materials available in our classroom environment, and to plan activities and materials that are interesting and fun so that children would be motivated to use them and would choose them during their free choice time. Most of these activities use “found materials” that can be borrowed, donated, or purchased inexpensively, rather than commercially produced and sold in an educational catalog. Below are several of the fine motor skills activities my class did this year. A few of these ideas were borrowed from Montessori (and I’ve noted those below).

Water Drops with Suction Cups

The little suction cups on the bottom of these bathtub shapes become mini bowls when turned upside down and used in this activity. (These were purchased at the Dollar Tree.) Children use a finger grasp to squeeze one drop of colored water into each little bowl on the dish. [Idea borrowed from Montessori]

Water Droppers

Beads with Suction Cups

These are the same bathtub shapes as in the above activity. Children use their thumb and forefinger to grasp each little bead and place it on a bowl on the shape. The beads are pony beads purchased from a craft store. [Idea borrowed from Montessori]

Tweezers & Beads

Clothesline

Children use their fine motor muscles to squeeze the clothespins to clip each piece of clothing to the clothesline. I tied a piece of thick string to the handles of a wooden tray to make the clothesline, and used mini clothespins (although the regular sized clothespins can be used as well). The clothes are Barbie doll clothes purchased at a dollar store. As an alternative, you could cut out shapes of shirts and pants from felt.

Clothesline

Clothespins on a Box

Children squeeze the clothespins and clip them to the sides of the box. To make the activity more interesting, I wrote letters on dot stickers and placed the dot stickers around the sides of the boxes. I wrote letters on the clothespins so the children would match the letters on the clothespins to the letters on the boxes. Other skills could be used, e.g. colors, numbers, beginning sounds. This is similar to activities where children clip clothespins to a paper plate or cardstock circle; however, in my experience, those were flimsy and awkward to use, which is why I like the box better. Any sturdy box could be used (shoe box, postal box). The boxes in this picture were stacking gift boxes that held chocolate covered nuts (a Christmas gift), and they worked out perfectly.

Clothespins on a Box

Nuts & Bolts

These larger nuts and bolts can be purchased individually at hardware stores. The cost is usually no more than $0.40 to $0.50 each. Children use their fingers, hands, and wrists, coordinating both hands while grasping and twisting the metal nuts onto the bolts.

Nuts and Bolts

Sewing/Lacing Cards

These can be purchased or made with poster board and a hole puncher. Use shoe laces or plastic lacing. Tie one end of the lace to one hole of the card. Children lace the string through each hole. These can be made to match different themes or holidays.

Lacing Cards

Plate Sewing

Tie lengths of yarn to plastic yarn needles, and knot the end. Children “sew” the yarn on a styrofoam plate by pushing the needle in and out through the plate.

Sewing a Plate

Stringing Cut Straws

Cut plastic drinking straws into small pieces, about 1-inch. (Cutting the straws is another great fine motor activity for kids.) Tie yarn to a plastic needle, or use plastic laces, and knot the end. Children string the straws onto the yarn or lace.

Stringing Straws

Stringing Beads

Children string pony beads onto pipe cleaners.

Stringing Beads

Bean Gluing

Children draw a simple picture on a piece of construction paper with a pencil. They trace the pencil lines with glue and glue the beans onto the design. Gripping the beans with their fingers is good fine motor practice.

Beans

Seeds and Tweezers

Children pick up different types of seeds with tweezers and sort them by type into the cups.

Seeds and Tweezers

Unifix Cubes or Interlock Cubes

Children push the cubes with their hands to hook them together. Unifix cubes connect on one end and can make a long “train”. Interlock Cubes connect on different sides and can make different things, for example the dogs the children were making in the photo.

Interlock Cubes

In advance, cut construction paper into 1-inch long strips. Children “snip” the strips into smaller pieces and glue them onto their paper to make a mosaic. This activity is great for children who are not yet skilled with scissors, but need cutting practice because they can snip the paper with one cut.

mosaic

Eyedropper Art

Children use eyedroppers to drop liquid watercolor onto a coffee filter or paper towel. (I use Colorations Liquid Watercolor from Discount School Supply.) If liquid watercolor is not available, you can color water with food color. Also see my blog post for adapting this activity for holidays or themes.

eye droppers

Paper Clips

The children in my class are always wanting to use paper clips because they see me use them, so I set up this activity in the fine motor center. I cut squares of colored construction paper and placed them on the tray along with colored paper clips. Children stack the papers (all of the same color) and clip them with the matching colored paper clip. This was challenging for some children to manipulate the paper clip, but they loved doing it, and it gave them an opportunity to use paper clips with permission.

Paper Clips

I printed out the Geoboard Dot Paper from the Math Their Way website for this activity (I used the size on the second page). I added Pip Squeak markers, which are great for young children because they are short. Children draw lines with the markers to connect the dots on the paper.

Dot to Dot

Toothpick Punch

To do this activity, cut squares of construction paper (I cut mine 6×6 inches). Draw a numeral, letter, or simple shape with a Sharpie. I placed a stack of these papers in the fine motor center, along with toothpicks and a carpet square. Children place the paper on the carpet square and use the toothpick to punch holes all along the black lines. When they are done, they can hold their paper up to the light and see the light shining through the holes. Kids enjoy it and it’s great fine motor practice!

Toothpick Punch

Pinching Sand

Sand art is a great fine motor activity because children can pinch the sand with their fingers to apply it to their art work. Provide a simple outline (or have the children draw one), a small bowl of white glue, a small bowl of colored sand, and a “glue brush”. I buy the cheap paintbrushes with stiff bristles that are sold in a package for $1 at dollar stores. These brushes are not a good enough quality for painting, but they make great glue brushes. Children paint the glue on their paper with the brush, pinch some sand with their fingers, and sprinkle it over the glue. Place a pan, tray, or paper plate on the table for children to shake off the excess sand.

Sand Art

Insect Wrapping

Children wrap the plastic insects with pieces of white yarn (“spider webs”). When they are finished wrapping all of the insects, they unwrap them and place the yarn back in the bowl. We do this activity during a study of bugs and spiders.

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Birds Eating Worms

Cut pipe cleaners into smaller pieces and shape them to make several “worms”. Place the worms on a brown carpet square (this represents the dirt). Children use a clothespin as a bird beak and catch the worms with their beak. As they catch worms, they place them in a basket until all of the worms have been collected.

pipe cleaners & clothespins

Marbles and Melon Scoops

Children scoop the marbles with melon scoops and place them in the ice cube tray. This ice cube tray was found at a kitchen discount store. Also posted at  Fine Motor in the Sensory Table . See my blog post for a Halloween adaption to this activity.

Marbles and Melon Scoops

Children pour something from one bottle to another. I started out having them pour popcorn seeds. They can later try pouring sand, and then water.

Pouring

Color Mixing

Children mix primary-colored water to make secondary colors. The bucket in the middle is for dumping the water when finished, or to start over. Also posted on the Sensory Table page.

Colored water & eye droppers

Knobbed Puzzles

Children exercise the fingers used for a pencil grasp when picking up puzzle pieces that have knobs or pegs.

Knobbed Puzzles

A bit obvious, but should not be forgotten.

Legos

An old stand-by. Also see my webpage for more play dough activities .

play dough

Another old stand-by.

Peg boards

Additional Fine Motor Posts

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

About Karen Cox

Karen is the founder of PreKinders.com. She also works as a full-time Pre-K teacher in Georgia. Read more...

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5 Activities to Develop Fine Motor Skills in Children

5 Activities to Develop Fine Motor Skills in Children

Fine motor skills involve fine movements of the hands, such as using pencils, and scissors, building with Lego blocks, and more.

The efficiency of fine motor skills influences both the quality and the speed of the task outcome. It requires a number of independent skills to effectively manipulate an object or accomplish a task using fine motor skills. It’s important that your child acquires effective fine motor skills at an early age.

Fine motor skills are important for a variety of reasons:

Fine motor skills are necessary for both academic and everyday activities, as they are essential for performing tasks that require precision and dexterity. When children cannot perform these everyday tasks, their self-esteem suffers, their academic performance is compromised, and their play options are severely limited. Furthermore, they cannot develop appropriate independence in terms of life skills (such as getting dressed and eating), which has social implications for both the family and peers.

We can help our children develop fine motor skills at home or in childcare/classroom settings by setting up simple activities that help develop their fine motor skills. Before using scissors and pencils in a classroom setting, young children should be able to hold and use them appropriately. If a child’s hand and fingers haven’t yet gained the strength necessary for writing, we can’t expect them to be able to do it. Best kindergarten schools  incorporate these activities in their curriculum for pre-primary and primary children.

PLAY DOUGH:

One of the best open-ended toys is playing dough since it allows children to create almost anything they can imagine. As it encourages a variety of methods to use their hand strength, it’s also a great approach to train their fine motor skills.

But, simply placing a cup of play dough in front of them may be insufficient to hold their attention. Instead, lead them through easy play dough exercises before letting their imaginations run wild. You can give them a child friendly knife to cut the dough, make small balls by rolling it in their hands, roll the dough to make ‘snakes’, and mix different colours to the play dough will make it more attractive.

DRAWING AND PAINTING:

Children exercise and build the small muscles in their hands, wrists, and fingers as they manipulate various painting and drawing tools.

This is crucial for teaching children how to hold pencils and pens for writing in school and for turning pages of books while reading. Children who paint with brushes, learn how to hold a brush and have more control over it when they use it as a tool.

STRINGING BEADS:

Threading or stringing beads is a great activity for young children. Threading can be challenging for children when they start and will take time for them to master it. It also depends on their maturity and their fine motor development. However, with practice and over a period of time they will develop better control and be able to thread even smaller-sized beads. Threading is a great technique to build their finger muscles and learn how to control their fingers as they work together.

 PLAYING WITH SPONGES AND WATER:

All that is required is a clean piece of sponge, two bowls, and water. Fill one bowl with water and let another bowl be empty. Encourage your child to dip and soak the sponge in water and then transfer it to the empty bowl by squeezing the water. This simple but fun activity helps strengthen hands and forearms.

 TEARING PAPER :

Most parents are looking for easy ways to develop their children’s fine motor skills, and the very material that can accomplish this is right in their own homes. Are you aware that you can improve your fine motor skills by tearing paper? The only thing you need for this fine motor activity is scrap paper and your hands. Tearing a piece of paper improves hand strength and endurance in the small muscles in the hand. Fine motor skills, such as handwriting and coloring, rely heavily on these intrinsic muscles.

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activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Back to School Theme | Fine Motor Activities for Preschool

Description.

Introducing our fine motor activities for preschoolers! Our collection of fun and stimulating activities are designed to help young children practice their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. From lacing cards, geoboards, play dough mats, line tracing, and more; your kids will be engaged with hours of entertainment and learning. The sturdy construction allows these activities to be used time and time again while the vibrant colors make them visually appealing. With these fine motor activities, your preschooler can practice basic shapes, numbers and letters – setting them up for success in their academic journey!

Set includes:

Supply list with everything you will need for each activity Full-color photos and instructions for each activity How to find and print your file instructions 10 pages of play dough mats in color and b & w 16 pages of pom-pom picture patterns in color and b & w 6 pages of geoboard patterns color and b & w 6 pages of punch 10 cards color and b & w 8 pages of lacing cards color and b & w 14 pages of push pin pictures 18 pages of tracing pictures 5 pages of basic shapes cutting practice pictures 6 pages of bead pattern practice 6 pages of tracing line patterns 10 pages of unifix count and stack 12 pages of dab-a-dot mystery pictures 8 pages of perler biggie beads templates 16 pages of snap-cube patterns color and b & w

Fine Motor Activities for Preschool that are fun and engaging!

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Fine Motor Skills for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Ann Logsdon is a school psychologist specializing in helping parents and teachers support students with a range of educational and developmental disabilities.

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Lyndsey Garbi, MD, is a pediatrician who is double board-certified in pediatrics and neonatology.

Tatyana Tomsickova Photography / Getty Images

What Are Fine Motor Skills?

Many of a child's daily activities involve the use of fine motor skills like getting dressed, opening a lunchbox, and using a pencil. These skills, which involve coordinated efforts between their fingers, hands, and eyes, begin with grasping a rattle and the raking finger grasp as a baby and eventually evolve to more complex skills like using scissors, manipulating a computer mouse, and even playing a musical instrument . Learn why these skills are important and how to help your child build on these skills.

Fine motor skills refer to the coordination between your child's small muscles, like those in their hands, wrists, and fingers in coordination with their eyes. Fine motor skills involve the small muscles of the body that enable such functions as writing, grasping small objects or toys , and fastening clothing. They also involve strength, fine motor control, and dexterity.

These skills are important in most school activities as well as in life in general. Weaknesses in fine motor skills can affect a child's ability to eat, write legibly, use a computer, as well as turn pages in a book and perform personal care tasks, such as dressing and grooming.

Milestones for Fine Motor Skills

Although children develop at different rates, having an approximate timeline when they reach certain milestones can be useful in helping you determine if your child is progressing at a normal rate. Here are some general guidelines for fine motor skill development.

Birth to One Year

During your baby's first year of life, they will develop a number of fine motor skills. For instance, a newborn typically has a primitive hand grasp and by 2 months of age they can hold a rattle when it's placed in their hand.

By 6 months of age , babies can typically hold one block in two hands and can shake a rattle. At 9 months , most babies display the raking pincer grasp and by 12 months of age they have perfected the pincer grasp, can hold a bottle, and can drop a block into a cup.

One to Two Years

At 18 months old , many babies can insert different shapes into toys as well as stack two to three cups. They also should be able to feed themselves with their fingers and scribble with a crayon in their fist. By 2 years old, a toddler usually can copy a vertical line, use a spoon, and stack six cups. They also are beginning to learn how to help dress themselves.

Two to Three Years

During the time period between their second birthday and their third birthday, most children are learning to make circles as well as copy a horizontal line. They also are mastering drinking from an open cup as well as using a fork and a spoon. Kids this age also can undress themselves as well as remove their socks and shoes.

Three to Four Years

As preschoolers approach their fourth birthday, they are perfecting their drawing skills. They should be able to copy a cross as well as draw a two- to four-part person. They also are learning to cut paper and can dress themselves but may still struggle with buttoning buttons.

Four to Five Years

By the time a child is 5 years old, they should be able to copy a square and draw a 10-part person. They also are likely more adept at holding a pencil using the tripod position and can color between the lines. Kids this age also should be able to wash and dry their hands thoroughly.

How Fine Motor Skills Develop

Your child's fine motor skills will develop through every day actions and at playtime with activities that involve grasping, holding, and pressing. They also will perfect the pincer grasp first through feeding and then through play and eventually by dressing themselves.

As your child grows and their fine motor skills improve, they will move on to more advanced skills. For instance, they will learn to tie their shoes, button buttons, use scissors, write their name, open and close plastic baggies, put a straw in a juice box, and open their lunchbox.

If you feel your child is falling behind or not meeting certain milestones, be sure to talk to your child's doctor.

They can evaluate your child and offer suggestions of things you can do at home to help improve your child's fine motor skills. They also can refer you to a specialist if needed.

Activities to Build Fine Motor Skills

When it comes to helping your child develop their fine motor skills, you don't have to do anything fancy nor do you have to buy expensive toys. Most kids can practice and improve their fine motor skills through play and normal every day actions.

For instance, you can invite your child to help in the kitchen by making cookies, setting the table, or pouring their own milk. You also can let them practice fine motor skills by using tweezers to pick things up or practice putting rubber bands around a cup. Here are some other ways to practice fine motor skills at home.

Toys and Games

Many toys develop fine motor skills, including those for infants and toddlers. For school-aged children, puzzles as well as board games with pieces and parts to pick up and move are ideal for developing these skills. For instance, Jenga is a strategy game using fine motor skills that focus on the pincher grip, which is necessary for writing.

Remote control cars are great for preschool and elementary kids. Video games also can be helpful but watch out for carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, be sure to check the video game ratings to ensure they are appropriate for your child.

Drawing and Coloring

You can help your child practice their fine motor skills by drawing with them using markers, crayons, colored pencils, and chalk. Drawings needn't be perfect, and scribbling is just fine for developing fine motor skills.

Scratch Magic kits have the cool factor older children like. Make your own by coloring paper with multiple colors and shapes and then covering the sheet in black crayon. Scratch off with an orange stick or safety scissors.

Paper-cutting activities build skills and muscle control and can be as simple or complex as you want them to be. Beginners can start with cutting out paper chains and progress to more complex projects.

For older kids try origami, a fun paper-folding art. Use construction paper, wrapping paper, or other decorative papers to make origami shapes. Or, try these crafts with your child:

Problems With Fine Motor Skills

There are some warning signs that your child may have issues with fine motor skills such as frequently dropping things, difficulty holding spoon, as well as trouble writing or using scissors. As your child gets older, even the inability to tie their shoes could indicate a problem. To determine if your child has issues with fine motor skill development, it's important to ask your doctor for an evaluation if you suspect an issue.

If your child is identified with fine motor weaknesses that may affect their education, discuss your concerns with your child's teacher. Or, if your child has an individualized education plan (IEP), discuss the issue with the IEP team .

Evaluation by a physical or occupational therapist can determine if their fine motor skills are a concern and if therapy can improve them.

Your child's team will use the therapists' assessments and other evaluation data to determine if your child needs regular therapy as a related service. If your child needs therapy to benefit from specially designed instruction , these services will be written into the IEP.

A Word From Verywell

When it comes to the development of fine motor skills, most of your child's development will occur naturally as they learn and play. But you can help your kids improve these skills by choosing activities, toys, and games that support fine motor skill development.

If you start to notice some delays or suspect that your child is experiencing challenges learning or perfecting these skills, talk to your child's pediatrician. Early diagnosis and intervention is important in getting your child the support they need.

U.S. National Library of Medicine. Fine motor control .

Dosman CF, Andrews D, Goulden KJ. Evidence-based milestone ages as a framework for developmental surveillance .  Paediatr Child Health . 2012;17(10):561-568. doi:10.1093/pch/17.10.561

By Ann Logsdon Ann Logsdon is a school psychologist specializing in helping parents and teachers support students with a range of educational and developmental disabilities. 

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12 Fine Motor Skills Activities for Preschoolers

Fine motor skills activities for preschoolers are an essential part of early learning but what are they?

Fine motor skills refer to the coordination of small muscles in the hands, wrists, and fingers.

You are using your fine motor muscles when you hold a pencil to write, bead a necklace, cut with scissors, button your shirt , etc.

But there are plenty of fun and easy ways to build up little hand and finger muscles that you can do with your little one with things you already have around the house.

shows examples of two of the 12 activities for fine motor skills

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Fine Motor Milestones by Age

When kids are 3-4 years old , fine motor skills they should be able to do include:

Once kids hit 5-6 years old , they'll be expected to reach these fine motor milestones:

Don't worry if your child doesn't reach a milestone at the exact age! Everyone is different. The more you practice fine motor skills with your child, the easier these milestones will be to reach, and it's never TOO late.

For a wider age range of fine motor skills milestones you can check out understood.org.

if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'forwardwithfun_com-box-4','ezslot_2',168,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-forwardwithfun_com-box-4-0'); 12 Hand and Finger Strengthening Activities to do at home:

To help you find what you're looking for, I'm going to separate these fine motor activities into hand strengthening activities and grasp developing activities.

Hand Strengthening Fine Motor Skills Activities for Preschoolers:

Hands strengthening activities work the wrist and hand while developing the skills needed for cutting with scissors, stacking blocks, squeezing glue, eating, opening containers, putting on shoes/socks, typing, and more.

Scoop and Transfer Sensory Bins

Any activity where your child is using precise movements to scoop and transfer items increases coordination and strengthens the hands and wrists.

Sensory bins are great ways to explore using the senses while also using different fillers like rice, beans, cotton, chickpeas, water, and other materials perfect for scooping. I just give my kids spatulas, spoons, and other kitchen tools and bam, it's a hit.

dyed rice sensory bin with pink rice and erasers

Tongs Letter Rescue

Create a "web" of blue tape around a baking dish before placing in items such as magnetic letters to be rescued. Give your child some kitchen tongs to rescue each letter as you call it out by name or sound. (Find 13 more fun alphabet activities like this HERE .)

Kids will use their hand muscles in an opening and closing motion similar to the motion needed to operate scissors. Since the tongs release on their own, kids only need to focus on the closing motion.

hands strengthening fine motor skills activity

Hole Punching

Do you have a one hole punch handy? It's an extremely enticing tool to children and it works a whole other group of hand muscles that tongs and scissors don't really get to. Kids can hole-punch anything that is thin enough. My favorite is leaves!

Here's an example from the OT Toolbox on how to make fine motor lanterns with a hole punch!

Shaping Play-Doh Activities

Develop muscles in the whole hand with Play-Doh shaping. Making towers, letters, faces, you name it, it's all going to help build those hand muscles.

Download these free blank faces and build fine motor skills while also developing your preschooler's understanding of feelings, with Feelings Faces.

Sad emotion play dough mats

Shoe Tying Practice

Grab those sneakers and start practicing tying loops and knots to build coordination, motor planning, and fine motor skills. Have you heard of the Cheerio Method? It takes out that tricky bunny loop and replaces it with a cute as a button Cheerio. Check it out.

Tying shoes the Cheerio way is highly recommended by OT's (occupational therapists) because it doesn't require as much double handed dexterity as more "traditional" shoe tying methods.

how to tie shoes fine motor skills activities for preschoolers

Grasp Developing Fine Motor Skills Activities for Preschoolers

These activities focus more on the development of muscles in the thumb, pointer, and middle finger used to grasp items. Kids will use need to master pincer and tripod grasps for writing, buttoning, zipping, drawing, and more.

Find the Beads in the Play-doh

Our very clever school OT (occupational therapist) made up this favorite game for our transitional kindergarten centers. Hide beads in the dough and have kids dig for treasure.

At home I make each little play-dough ball into an egg and the kids love "cracking" each egg and digging out the beads.

By picking out the beads kids are working on their pincer grasp and manipulating the play-dough builds all the muscles in the fingers, hands, and wrist making this activity a DOUBLE fine motor skills builder and it's perfect for preschoolers!

find the beads fine motor activity

Pipe Cleaner Beading

Often the beads that come in typical jewelry making kits have frustratingly tiny holes that can lead to meltdowns, especially for preschoolers who are only beginning to develop their fine motor skills.

To avoid that frustration, I recommend using large beads that will in turn, have a larger hole like these . For kids who have a bit more precision, pony beads come in all different colors are quite simple to lace.

My second secret for teaching your child how to bead without frustration is to use pipe cleaners instead of string. The point on the end is much easier to put through the hole, leading to more success.

beading fine motor skills development, preschool activity

Sticker Peel and Decorate Activities

I love grabbing whatever stickers I can find in the Target dollar section, but hiding in their office section are one of my most favorite, inexpensive stickers: dot stickers!

Dot stickers are an excellent teaching tool, but they're also a way to enhance your child's fine motor abilities. Peeling the stickers off a page requires kids to pinch and pull the sticker, using tiny finger muscles.

If this is really taxing for your child, I recommend removing the sticker backing, usually the white outline around the stickers, to make it easier to peel them.

fine motor skills activity for preschoolers christmas lights

Want another dot sticker peeling activity? In this phone number activity , kids practice number recognition while also developing fine motor skills.

Cheerios on Spaghetti

This one is just like it sounds and is a great fine motor skills activity to keep your preschooler busy while you cook dinner!

Grab a ball of playdoh and stick some dry spaghetti in, then use that pincer grasp to place cheerios or even penne pasta onto the spaghetti. Precision is key!

fine motor skills activities for preschoolers snack activity

Measuring with household items

Part of measuring accurately is through lining up items end to end. When kids are using small items, they're working that pincer grasp or two fingered grip they need for beginning writing skills.

To learn more about how to teach your child how to measure while incorporating fine motor movements check out my post on Measuring Me.

Measurement activity for kids

Flower Threading Craft

Try these fine motor skills activities for preschoolers who love nature! Draw a picture on some cardstock or cardboard and poke some holes through to have your little one decorate with any stem.

As they place the flower or leaf in the holes, preschoolers will work on placing the small stem with accuracy and that elusive pincer grip using the thumb and pointer finger. The product is always beautiful!

flower threading and 11 fine motor skills activities for preschoolers

Tape Shapes Line Up

This great quiet time activity engages preschoolers in fine motor play with plenty of organic opportunities to learn about shapes while practicing fine motor skills.

quiet time fine motor activity

Combine shapes with fine motor skills in quiet time activity for preschoolers

Simple reading, math, and fine motor activities delivered to you weekly in The Fun Club:

If you are looking for ways to teach your 4-5 year old from home with fun, hands-on activities that are fun for kids and easy to do, look no further than The Fun Club .

As an educator and mom, I know how little time we have to create elaborate activities and I also know that kids don't like worksheets (at least mine don't), so I crafted this program especially for kids 4-5 years old.

The progress is astounding, and the crazy part, is they only do one 20 minute activity a day. It's packed with fine motor skills, reading, writing, math, and social emotional fun that kids LOVE.

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60 Amazing Fine Motor Activities for Kids

Categories Fine Motor

Are you ready for some amazing Fine Motor Activities for Kids ? Here are 60 fine motor play ideas for toddlers and preschoolers. There are play ideas for specific seasons (such as Christmas or Halloween), as well as activities for everyday of the year. Which one will be your favorite?

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

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What are fine motor skills and why are they important?

Fine motor skills describes the use of the muscles in the hands and fingers. The term includes strength, dexterity as well as hand-eye coordination. Fine motor skills are important because they allow children to complete complex tasks. The most common example is writing and drawing, which is essential for school age children. However strong hands and fingers also help children to be more independent. For example, doing up buttons, feeding themselves, and picking up toys are all tasks that require fine motor skills.

What are some examples of fine motor activities?

Fine motor activities describe anything that involves the hand and fingers. Play ideas that use squeezing, pulling, pinching or manipulating (such as playdough) will help children to develop fine motor skills.

Everyday Fine Motor Activities

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

1. DIY Ball Drop Box Recycle an old box and learn how to make this DIY Ball Drop Box for Babies. A fun and easy fine motor activity for babies and toddlers.

2. Fridge door pom pom drop Develop fine motor skills in babies, toddlers, and preschoolers with the Fridge Door Pom Pom Drop Activity. This play idea is quick and easy to set up.

3. Egg Carton Color Sort Have 5 minutes to spare? Learn how to make this egg carton color sorting activity for toddlers. Develop fine motor skills, vocabulary, and more.

4. Magnetic color sort puzzle Learn about colors, fine motor skills, and problem-solving with this easy DIY Magnetic Color Sort Puzzle, a fun activity for toddlers and preschoolers.

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

5. Paper plate color match activity Create this Paper Plate Color Match Activity in less than 10 minutes. Toddlers and preschoolers will love matching colors as they develop fine motor skills.

6. Farm Lacing Cards Grab your copy of these Farm lacing cards. A free printable for toddlers and preschoolers to help develop fine motor skills.

7. Alphabet Puzzle Fine Motor Activity for Kids Help preschoolers and kindergartners learn their ABC’s with this hands-on Alphabet Puzzle Fine Motor activity for Kids. A fun and easy play based learning activity for early years classrooms.

8. Cardboard Roll Letter Match Puzzle for Kids Develop fine motor skills with this fun and easy Cardboard Roll Letter Match puzzle for kids. Preschoolers and Kindergartners will love these play ideas.

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

9. Sticker Shapes Fine Motor Activity This sticker shapes fine motor activity is a fun way for toddlers and preschoolers to learn shapes and develop fine motor skills.

10. Rainbow Sand Writing Tray Create this fun and easy Rainbow Sand Writing Tray to develop your kids’ fine motor skills. Draw, write and play with this colorful sensory sand idea.

11. Dinosaur stickers matching game This dinosaur stickers matching game takes 2 minutes to set up and is a great fine motor and quiet time activity for preschool or kindergartners.

12. Paper plate Dinosaur number match Introduce your preschooler to math with this fun Dinosaur Number Match activity. This is a fun and easy fine motor and number recognition activity for kids.

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

13. Storm Cloud Threading Storm Cloud Threading is a fun and easy fine motor activity for toddlers and preschoolers, and perfect for teaching about the weather.

14. Pirate treasure posting activity for kids Develop fine motor skills in toddlers and preschoolers with this pirate treasure posting activity for kids. They’ll love this fun and easy pirate game.

15. Easy Fine Motor Work Station – Learning 4 Kids Trace the lines with buttons, pom pom or mini erasers. This is an easy way to practice pincer grip without the worksheets.

16. Taped Toys – Laughing Kids Learn Tape some toys down using painters tape. The kids will need to rescue their toys by peeling (or pulling) the tape off.

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

17. Loom Bands Fine Motor Activity – Laughing Kids Learn Stretch loom bands over the spikes of a spiky ball. This is an easy 3D geoboard that will get kids developing fine motor skills while they play.

18. Colorful Rainbow Hair – Toddler Approved Thread beads onto pipe cleaners to make rainbow hair. This is a fun play idea for classroom fine motor stations.

19. Wash The Socks – Days With Grey Turn an old cardboard box into a washing machine and get your kids to put the socks inside. This is a fun way for the kids to mimic you doing chores, and hopefully encourage them to help you out around the house.

20. Pom Pom Color Sort – Active Littles Fine motor activities for kids don’t get more simple than this. Pick up the pom poms and drop them in the ice cube. To make it more tricky, use tongs or spoons instead of fingers.

Valentines Fine Motor Activities

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

21. DIY Valentines Peg Board Did you know that you can turn an old cereal box into a custom peg board? Let the kids decorate the heart any way they like as they practice pincer grip and hand-eye coordination.

22. Heart Lacing Cards These heart lacing cards are completely free, and so easy to prepare. They’ll make a perfect addition to your valentines themed curriculums.

23. Valentines Day Cutting Tray Develop fine motor skills with some fun Valentines-themed cutting materials. Don’t forget to save the pieces to make your own valentines collage with the kids.

24. Fishing for Hearts Valentines fine motor activities aren’t all about worksheets. Make some heart out of foam sheets and go fishing with pipe cleaners fishing hooks. This game is a fantastic way to practice pincer grip and hand-eye coordination.

25. Clothesline Hearts Activity – And Next Comes L Peg the hearts onto the clothesline. This is a fun activity for kids who love to help out with chores. Create their own clothesline out of tring and let them hang up the hearts again and again. For more ideas, visit 20 Valentines Fine Motor Activities for Kids

Spring Fine Motor Activities

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

30. Vegetable garden fine motor activity This is another free printable for you to download. Glue the vegetables onto some craft sticks and plant them into a tissue box garden. This is a wonderful way to talk about healthy food and how plants grow.

31. Spring Bugs Fine Motor Activity Turn dot stickers into cute garden bugs. Then stick the bugs onto a toilet roll garden scene. This can be used purely as a fine motor activity for toddlers, or a number matching activity for preschool and kindergarten.

32. Cut the Grass Activity This scissors activity gives the kids a wonderful surprise. As they cut the grass (green craft paper), they’ll discover different flowers and insects hiding underneath. The spring scene hiding under the grass comes as a free printable to make this activity easy to prep, even for a large class. Visit the Cut the Grass post to get your free copy.

33. Bee fine motor activity This activity starts with bee tongs flying around a garden of cupcake liner flowers. The flowers are filled with yellow rainbow rice which acts as pollen while in the flowers. Transfer the pollen into the beehive and turn it into honey.

34. Spring Flower Fine Motor Activity Tray – No Time for Flashcards Use a colander and fake flowers to make this Spring themed fine motor activity. This is a great busy box activity for toddlers and preschoolers.

Easter Fine Motor Activities

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

31. Feed the Bunny – Easy Fine Motor Activity for Easter Roll and dice and see what number you needed to feed the bunny. This free printable is both a math game and a fine motor activity. The difficulty can easily be adjusted, so that you can use it with toddlers, preschoolers or kindergarten.

32. Easter Scissor Skills break out the scissors and get your kids cutting into these colorful easter eggs. This free printable comes with easter eggs containing different cutting patterns to try.

33. Washi Tape Egg Rescue – Happy Toddler Playtime This Easter fine motor activity is a fun indoor toddler activity. Free the egg from the washi tape to reveal the treat inside.

34. Easter Egg Peg Board Learn how to turn an old cereal box into a DIY peg board. With a few simple supplies your kids can decorate their easter eggs again and again, developing fine motor skills as they play.

35. Easter Lace By Number Cards Lacing is one of my favorite fine motor activities for kids. However, these cards come with an additional level. You need to recognise and and then lace from the numbers 1 – 10. This is a fun way for preschoolers and kindergartners to practice some basic math. Grab your copy of this free printable to use in your early years classroom.

Summer Fine Motor Activities

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

36. Fine motor ice transfer It doesn’t get much simpler than this Ice Transfer activity. Kids can use tongs or their hands to move the ice around. Playing with something cold on a hot day is always refreshing and adds a wonderful sensory experience to this summer play idea.

37. Octopus fine motor activity This is without a doubt one of my favorite summer activities for kids. Toddlers and preschoolers can practice doing and undoing buttons with this fun octopus fine motor activity. The legs will get longer and your kids will learn some essential life skills.

38. Rainbow Fish Fine Motor ACtivity Practice color matching with this DIY Rainbow Fish Peg Board. All you need are a few simple craft supplies and your toddlers will be ready to play with this colorful sea animal.

39. Sun Fine Motor Activity Cutting around shapes sounds like such a simple activity, and it is. But don’t forget how important it is for kids to practice their scissor skills. Draw a sun on some yellow paper and grab some scissors. This activity is one of many fantastic summer fine motor activities.

40. Sunflower Seed Sweep – Little Pine Learners This beautiful flower is actually 3 activities in 1. The sunflower is a fun way to practice pencil grip and work on those fine motor skills. See how you can use sunflower seeds to play in 3 different ways. For more ideas, visit 15 Summer Fine Motor Activities for Kids

Fall Fine Motor Activities

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

41. Playdough hedgehog and echidna Have some fine motor fun this Autumn with a Playdough Hedgehog. Toddlers and preschoolers will love this sensory and fine motor activity for kids.

42. Toilet Roll Sticky Tree This Toilet Roll Sticky Tree is a fun and easy craft tube twist of the classic sticky wall idea. Toddlers and preschoolers will love doing this fine motor activity this Autumn.

43. Fall tree threading activity Are you looking for easy fine motor activities you can do at home with the kids? Try this Fall Tree Fine Motor Threading Activity a try. It’s easy to do at home with your toddlers and preschoolers, using supplies you probably already have in your craft box.

44. Playdough Turkey With some brown playdough and craft feathers, you can also make a playdough turkey. I used the same brown playdough as I used with the playdough hedgehog. It was great watching the kids make their different animals.

45. Printable Lacing Cards for Fall – Living Life and Learning

Develop hand-eye coordination with these leaf-themed lacing cards. Talk about the different leaves and what trees they come from while developing fine motor skills. For more ideas, visit 15 Fall Fine Motor Activities for Kids

Halloween Fine Motor Activities

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

46. Mummy fine motor activity Learn how to make mummies that need to be wrapped up. This Mummy Fine Motor Activity is a marvelous Halloween themed activity for kids. Preschoolers and kindergartners, who need to develop fine motor skills, will love creating their own yarn wrapped mummies.

47. Shape match spider Are you looking for some easy Halloween activities to do with your kids? This spider is a shape matching activity that is perfect for children aged 2 years and older. It helps to develop fine motor skills, shape recognition, language, and more. But the most important thing about it is… it’s FUN. Learn how to make a Shape Match Spider with common items already found at home.

48. Spiderweb fine motor activity Try to navigate this Spiderweb to rescue the toys hiding underneath. This Spiderweb Fine Motor Activity is a fun and easy Halloween play idea for toddlers and preschoolers. They’ll need fine motor skills, and problem-solving to rescue all of the toys.

49. Halloween writing tray Looking for some spooky fine motor activities to do with your class? This Halloween Writing Tray is so easy to set up and perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten. Whether you want to practice correct letter formation or just want a different way for toddlers to explore mark making, this is the perfect way for kids to learn through play.

50. Feed the Ghost Fine Motor Activity – Happy Toddler Playtime Feed the Ghost is a fun Halloween fine motor activity for toddlers using recycled materials and pom poms! It makes a wonderful and not too scary Halloween activity for little ones! For more ideas, visit 20 Halloween Fine Motor Activities

Christmas Fine Motor Activities

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

51. Count and Clip Christmas Lights Cards Learn how to make some DIY count and clip cards. These Christmas trees all have a different number of Christmas lights on them. Your kids need to count the lights, then place the clothespin with the same number onto the bottom, to complete the tree. This is a fantastic activity for the maths center this holiday season.

52. Christmas Tree Fine Motor Activity How do you feel about making toys for your kids? What if I told you that it could be as easy as punching holes into an old cereal box? That’s exactly what this Christmas Tree peg board is. An old cereal box that the kids can decorate again and again. With this on hand, hopefully the kids will leave the real tree alone.

53. Christmas Scissor Skills Activity You can’t have a list of Christmas fine motor activities without including some scissor skills. These Christmas cutting practice images come as free printable templates for you to download. Cut out the shapes, or along the lines within. Go to Christmas Scissor Skills Activity to get your free copy.

54. Christmas Sweater Fine Motor Activity Stickers are one of my favorite fine motor activities for kids. Pinching, peeling and sticking are all skills that they’re practicing. Draw a sweater onto a piece of paper and hand the kids some Christmas themed stickers. They can place the stickers onto the paper to make their own Christmas sweater art.

55. Pine Cone Christmas Tree – The Imagination Tree Use some pinecones to create some easy kids Christmas activities. These pinecones look like mini trees, and decorating them with different objects is going to take a lot of hand-eye coordination and dexterity. For more ideas, visit 30 Christmas Fine Motor Activities for Kids

Winter Fine Motor Activities for Kids

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

56. Threading Snowflakes All you need for this easy fine motor activity is some pipe cleaners and wooden beads. Create a snowflake out of the pipe cleaners and decorate them with the beads. If you are doing this activity with preschool or kindergarten, you can also use it to practice pattern recognition skills.

57. What’s In The Snow What kinds of animals live in the snow? Find out with this free printable discovery tray. The animals are hiding under the snow (regular salt) and the kids need to brush the snow away to find the animals. This activity is also great for science centers as the kids learn about the harsh polar climate and the amazing animals that can live there.

58. Playdough Snowman Create a playdough snowman and practice developing fine motor skills. You can make a 3D or 2D snowman depending on if you’re working with toddlers and preschoolers. They’ll love this activity, especially if you don’t live anywhere near snow and they still want to make a snowman.

59. DIY Lacing Snowflake Cards Turn a regular paper plate into a lacing card. Lace a shoelace or string through the holes and turn it into a beautiful snowflake. These will look beautiful hanging up in your preschool classroom this winter.

60. Jumbled Snowman – Playground Parkbench You won’t believe how easy this sensory and fine motor activity is to set up. Use a permanent marker to draw a snowman outline on your bag. Next, cut out foam shapes to create the hat, scarf, nose and arms. Get the kids to move the foam shapes around until they’ve created their own snowman.

For more ideas, visit 15 Winter Fine Motor Activities

Are you going to try any of these Fine Motor Activities for Kids? Don’t forget to pin the idea for later.

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

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6 fine motor skills activities for kids

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

By Amanda Morin

activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

Kids develop motor skills at different rates . But when young kids struggle with fine motor skills , they can have trouble with key tasks like grasping utensils (like pencils), moving objects with their fingertips, and using tools like scissors. They may also have difficulty learning to tie shoes . If your child’s fine motor skills need a little extra help, try these fun activities.

1. Play-dough and putty

Play-dough and putty are often used as part of the heavy work component of a sensory diet . They can also help improve a child’s fine motor skills. Encourage your child to squeeze, stretch, pinch and roll “snakes” or “worms” with the play clay. You can even have your child try to cut the play-dough with scissors. (Learn how to make three types of sensory-friendly slime , including putty slime.)

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2. painting.

Different types of painting can help strengthen your child’s hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity. Finger painting gives kids an opportunity to use their hands — and to get messy. Painting with a brush helps kids learn to hold a brush and gain greater control using it as a tool. (Paint-by-number kits are great for brush painting.) To add a little sensory play to the mix, you can even try scratch-and-sniff painting .

3. Playing with sponges

A new, clean sponge, some water and two bowls are all you need for another activity to build fine motor skills. Fill a bowl with water and leave the other empty. Your child can soak the sponge in the water and then squeeze out the sponge into the other bowl. It’s a simple game that can strengthen hands and forearms. If you cut off a cube of the sponge and have a small chalkboard and some chalk, you can also do a “Wet-Dry-Try” multisensory handwriting activity .

4. Rice races

Divide a handful of uncooked rice into two plastic bowls and have an empty bowl handy. Give your child small plastic tweezers and grab a pair for yourself. Then, have a race to see who can be the first to transfer their rice into the empty bowl using the tweezers. If your child is struggling because the grains of rice are too small, you may want to begin with O-shaped cereal or pony beads.

5. Water play

Fill a cup about a quarter full of water. Give your child an empty cup and an eyedropper or a clean medicine syringe. Have your child try to transfer the water from one cup to the other by drawing the water into the dropper or syringe and then dropping or squirting it into the empty cup. You could also give your child more cups, add food coloring to the water, and make this a color-mixing experiment.

6. Gardening and planting

Digging and gardening may seem like activities more suited to building gross motor skills , but there are parts of it that require smaller muscle control, too. For instance, transferring seedlings into a garden requires hand-eye coordination skills to safely carry the smaller plant to the new hole. Your child will also need to be able to grasp a trowel to dig and to use a pincer grasp when picking up seeds to plant.

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About the author.

Amanda Morin is the author of “The Everything Parent’s Guide to Special Education” and the former director of thought leadership at Understood. As an expert and writer, she helped build Understood from its earliest days. 

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Keri Wilmot is an occupational therapist who works with children of varying ages and abilities in all areas of pediatrics.

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Fine Motor Task Card Boxes for Preschool and Kindergarten- BUNDLE

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Preschool Fine Motor Printable Activities | Morning Tubs / Bins BUNDLE

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Also included in:  Fine Motor Task Card Boxes for Preschool and Kindergarten- BUNDLE

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Kelly McFarland from Engaging Littles

Also included in:  Theme Centers and Activities for Preschool and PreK

Spring Crafts Q Tip Painting Fine Motor Activity

Spring Crafts Q Tip Painting Fine Motor Activity

Preschool Packets

Also included in:  Q Tip Crafts Seasonal Bundle Fine Motor Activities

Hot Chocolate Fine Motor Activities for PreK and Preschool

Hot Chocolate Fine Motor Activities for PreK and Preschool

Teaching Pre-K with Ms Melanie

Also included in:  Fine Motor Activities Bundle

March Centers | Math Literacy Fine Motor Skills | Preschool Kindergarten

March Centers | Math Literacy Fine Motor Skills | Preschool Kindergarten

ChalkDots

Gingerbread Fine Motor Activities For PreK and Preschool

Zoo Preschool Centers

Zoo Preschool Centers

Also included in:  Back to School Preschool Centers MEGA BUNDLE

Playdough Pack: Math, Literacy, and Fine Motor Fun!

Playdough Pack: Math, Literacy, and Fine Motor Fun!

Preschool Wonders

Christmas Tree Fine Motor Activities for PreK/Preschool/K

Turkey Fine Motor Activities for Pre-K/Preschool/K

Turkey Fine Motor Activities for Pre-K/Preschool/K

Also included in:  Turkey Activities for Thanksgiving Growing Bundle Pre-K/Preschool/K

Fine motor skills workbook for preschool  || March Morning Work for Kindergarten

Fine motor skills workbook for preschool || March Morning Work for Kindergarten

Smart Ressources

Spider Activities for Preschool

The Curious Hippo

St. Patrick's Day Fine Motor Activities for March

PreKPages

Christian Preschool Activities & Centers Bundle

Little Lilac Preschool

SPRING MARCH PLAYDOUGH MATS FINE MOTOR SKILLS PRESCHOOL ST. PATRICK'S DAY

FREE YOUR HEART

Spring Fine Motor Activities for PreK and Preschool

COLOR BY SIGHT WORD WORKSHEET PRACTICE KINDERGARTEN MARCH COLORING PAGES

COLOR BY SIGHT WORD WORKSHEET PRACTICE KINDERGARTEN MARCH COLORING PAGES

Simply Educational Activities

Dental Health Preschool and Toddler Fine Motor Activities

Fluffy Tots

Also included in:  Dental Health Preschool Activities BUNDLE

Preschool Progress Report Fall and Spring

Preschool Progress Report Fall and Spring

Cherise Cotter

Fine Motor Skills Bundle: A Year of Instant Thematic Centers Holidays & Seasons

St. Patrick's • Pre-Writing, Scissors • Lines, Paths, Shapes • Spring

St. Patrick's • Pre-Writing, Scissors • Lines, Paths, Shapes • Spring

Simply Motor Skills

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activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

IMAGES

  1. 55+ Fine Motor Activities to do at Home

    activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

  2. 10 Everyday Fine Motor Activities for Preschool

    activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

  3. Fine Motor Skills Activity with Beads

    activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

  4. Easy Fine Motor Activity for Toddlers

    activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

  5. Favorite Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

    activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

  6. Summer Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

    activities for preschoolers fine motor skills

VIDEO

  1. Fine Motor Skills Activity for Kids! 🍊 #toddleractivities #kidsactivities #easycraft #montessori

  2. 5 Ice Cube Tray Hacks #shorts

  3. Easy Fine Motor Activity

  4. Pre writing Activities for Preschoolers

  5. Teaching Patterns To Your Preschooler

  6. Super fun n easy Fine motor activity for kids

COMMENTS

  1. 20 Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

    One of the most popular fine motor activities for kids is lacing beads. When it comes to developing fine motor skills in the preschool classroom, lacing beads are the gold standard. Young children also develop important hand-eye coordination skills when lacing beads. More Fine Motor Ideas

  2. 18 Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

    What items are helpful for practicing fine motor skills for preschoolers? Stickers Tweezers - pinching these and picking up objects with them is a great activity. Pipettes or droppers - use these to draw up and release water in a cup. Ice cube tray - for sorting Lego toys - helps to work the pincer grasp while kids are pulling them apart.

  3. 40 Fine Motor Skills Activities

    Threading, posting and slotting toys for babies and toddlers Poking straws into holes Pasta necklaces Monster play dough Weaving around cardboard Fairy sparkle playdough Pipe cleaners and colanders Beads on spaghetti Hair rollers sticky construction First sewing basket Edible fingerpainting Making marks in fairy dust Decorating play dough eggs

  4. 75 Fun Fine Motor Skills Activities for Kids (Free PDF Activity

    Modeling clay (little hands making small objects is perfect for building hand strength) Modeling with playdough (kneading, pinching…) Simple origami activities Dot to Dot pages Making dot art with paint dotters Cutting construction paper into different shapes with child-safe scissors Building animals with pipe cleaners

  5. Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

    Developing fine motor skills is vital in young kids as they are the foundation of many activities including writing, drawing, cutting, grasping, buttoning, tying laces, zipping, and even using utensils. As adults, it's easy to take these fine motor skills for granted.

  6. Fine Motor Skills for Toddlers and Preschoolers: Tips and Activities

    Here's a brief timeline of fine motor milestones for babies and toddlers: 0 to 3 months places their hands in their mouth hands become more relaxed 3 to 6 months holds hands together moves a...

  7. 13 Easy DIY Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

    There are many ways to develop and improve fine motor skills, including playing with play dough, threading beads, cutting with scissors, and drawing or painting. Fine motor skills are the ability to control small muscles in the hands and fingers in order to perform tasks.

  8. 28 Fine Motor Activities That Get Little Hands Moving

    3. Button Squiggles and Swirls. Draw squiggles and swirls on card stock, then let students line buttons of different shapes and colors along those lines. Learn more: Learning 4 Kids. 4. Counting With Elastics. We love that this is a fine motor activity that also teaches counting.

  9. The OT's Guide to Fine Motor Skills

    These fine motor skills are needed for functional tasks like managing a pencil or crayon during handwriting, opening containers, managing coins or small items, manipulating a spoon/knife/fork, adjusting the paper when cutting with scissors, and fastening buttons or shoe laces.

  10. 5 Fine Motor Skill Activities for Preschoolers

    Stringing beads: Stringing beads onto a piece of string or pipe cleaners is another great fine motor activity for preschoolers. This activity not only helps with fine motor skills, but also improves concentration and hand-eye coordination. Cutting and pasting: Cutting out shapes with scissors and gluing them onto paper is a fun way for ...

  11. Favorite Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers

    This fine motor activity for preschoolers is super simple to set up! Just draw lines on colored construction paper and have the kids trace along the lines with gems, buttons or beads. 10. Cutting Mazes If you are looking for ways to help your kids with scissor skills, this activity is for you.

  12. 12 Fine Motor Activities For Preschoolers

    The answer is to provide lots of activities to strengthen and build up the muscle tone in their hands and fingers. We need to give children lots of practice in precise hand movements such as: Squeezing Twisting Unscrewing Pinching Pushing Peeling Rolling Pegging Threading

  13. The 17 Best Fine Motor Activities for Kids

    Drawing is one of the most important fine motor activities and one that kids should have the opportunity to do daily. Drawing is the most important pre-writing activity. As kids progress through the stages of drawing, they eventually start developing the control to form letters and write.

  14. Improve Kids Fine Motor Skills with 30 Materials & Activities

    Fine motor skills can include small movements such as: holding a pencil. maneuvering a pencil. scissor skills. pushing Lego blocks together (and pulling them apart) manipulating play dough. getting dressed with belts, buttons, zippers and snaps. using silverware while eating. opening and closing latches.

  15. 27 Gross Motor Skills Activities for Little Kids

    Types of Gross Motor Skills Activities For Kids Indoor: Building, dancing, hopping, arts and crafts, pretend play, pulling, pushing Outdoor: Balancing, climbing, reaching, riding, swimming, playground play, walking, throwing, catching Games: Hit the target, jump the brook, paper plate skates, soccer, tag

  16. 12 Fun Hole Punch Fine Motor Activities

    Inside: these hole punch activities include crafts, math and literacy activities, and art projects.All of them are great fine motor skills work for kids! (Disclosure: Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.)

  17. 25 Preschool Fine Motor Activities

    Activity #1: Q-Tip ABC's. We love Q-tip painting! It's a great way for preschoolers to work on those fine motor and handwriting skills without a ton of pressure. This is a fun alphabet and tracing activity! The kids will have a blast painting with Q-tips to create the letters!

  18. Fine Motor Skills Activities

    (Cutting the straws is another great fine motor activity for kids.) Tie yarn to a plastic needle, or use plastic laces, and knot the end. Children string the straws onto the yarn or lace. Stringing Beads Children string pony beads onto pipe cleaners. Bean Gluing Children draw a simple picture on a piece of construction paper with a pencil.

  19. 5 Activities to Develop Fine Motor Skills in Children

    Fine motor skills are necessary for both academic and everyday activities, as they are essential for performing tasks that require precision and dexterity. When children cannot perform these everyday tasks, their self-esteem suffers, their academic performance is compromised, and their play options are severely limited.

  20. Back to School Theme

    Introducing our fine motor activities for preschoolers! Our collection of fun and stimulating activities are designed to help young children practice their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. From lacing cards, geoboards, play dough mats, line tracing, and more; your kids will be engaged with hours of entertainment and learning.

  21. Fine Motor Skills for Toddlers and Preschoolers

    Fine motor skills involve the small muscles of the body that enable such functions as writing, grasping small objects or toys, and fastening clothing. 1 They also involve strength, fine motor control, and dexterity. These skills are important in most school activities as well as in life in general. Weaknesses in fine motor skills can affect a ...

  22. 12 Fine Motor Skills Activities for Preschoolers

    Fine Motor Milestones by Age. When kids are 3-4 years old, fine motor skills they should be able to do include: draw lines using crayons. stack blocks. complete simple puzzles. bead a necklace (using large beads) Once kids hit 5-6 years old, they'll be expected to reach these fine motor milestones: write letters and words with a pencil.

  23. 60 Amazing Fine Motor Activities for Kids

    Fine motor activities describe anything that involves the hand and fingers. Play ideas that use squeezing, pulling, pinching or manipulating (such as playdough) will help children to develop fine motor skills. Everyday Fine Motor Activities 1. DIY Ball Drop Box Recycle an old box and learn how to make this DIY Ball Drop Box for Babies.

  24. 6 Fine Motor Skills Activities for Kids

    If your child's fine motor skills need a little extra help, try these fun activities. 1. Play-dough and putty. Play-dough and putty are often used as part of the heavy work component of a sensory diet. They can also help improve a child's fine motor skills. Encourage your child to squeeze, stretch, pinch and roll "snakes" or "worms ...

  25. Fine motor Skills Activities for Eye Hand Coordination & Concentration

    Fine motor skill is the coordination of small muscles, in movements—usually involving the synchronisation of hands and fingers—with the eyes. The complex lev...

  26. March Fine Motor Preschool Resources Teaching Resources

    5.0. (1) $6.75. PDF. This resource is full of hands-on March center activities to help your children work on their math, literacy, and fine motor skills. It includes fun Lucky Charm math activities that are perfect to use during the week of St. Patrick's Day! Some of the skills covered in this resource include patterning, counting, ten frames ...

  27. Color and Number Maze, Montessori Toddler Activities Counting Matching

    Montessori toys for toddlers to help develop their fine motor skills. 【Premium Material】The color and number maze board is made of natural basswood, with a smooth surface, natural and healthy, sturdy and durable. The rounded corners of the color sorting board are smooth and do not hurt the baby's hands. And the closed beads can effectively ...