Every child develops differently and comes to Kindergarten with different
skills. One skill that many children have difficulty with is called “fine
motor” skills. Fine motor refers to those muscles that help us grip and pinch.
In an academic setting this includes cutting and developing coloring/
handwriting skills. If you note that your child has difficulty cutting (cuts
around a picture instead of on the lines), has difficulty staying in lines or
coloring whole picture (“scribbly” coloring) or has a hard time controlling
writing (letters are shaky, difficulty writing on lines or presses down too
much/doesn’t press enough) then here are some helpful hints to develop these
muscles. We do some of these in class and the kids love them! Just like any
exercise these skills need to be completed on a regular basis to make a
difference.
Activities to Develop Fine
Motor Coordination
*Using thumb and index finger
pick up small items (beans, coins, seeds, buttons, etc.) and sort.
*Using tweezers, tongs or
clothespins pick up objects (blocks, cotton balls, pom-poms, crumpled paper).
*Screw and unscrew objects like
nuts and bolts or lids on empty bottles.
*String beads onto a shoelace.
*Play with a LiteBrite toy.
*Practice cutting
curved/straight/zig-zag lines on paper.
*Crumple paper and flick with
the finger. Play with a friend & have a finger soccer game!
*Roll a pencil between thumb and
finger without dropping it.
*Stick small objects in Silly
Putty or Play-Doh to dig out.
*Put rubber bands around objects
and containers
*Move spoonfuls of objects from
one container to another.
*Do up buttons, zippers, hooks,
etc.
*Tie shoes!!!!
*Line up clothespins on the edge
of a box or container.
*Use sprayer bottles filled with
water and sponges to have child clean a desk or table and squeeze out the
water from the sponge.
*Play with Play-Doh. Poke,
squeeze, pound, knead, roll or cut the Play-Doh.