Toddler and Preschool Fine Motor Fun:
In the toddler and preschool years, your child is preparing for the fine motor challenges of the school years through play, creative, and self help activities. Listed below are some suggestions for fine motor play activities that toddlers and preschoolers usually like, and that you can have fun with together.
Pointing and Poking: Pointing to pictures in book, objects, people etc develops individual finger movement, as your child isolates his index finger. Poking fingers in holes, pushing buttons, doorbells etc. are good strengthening activities for the index finger, which is important for developing pincer grasp.
Hammering and banging: Your child strengthens his grasp and develops control of his arm movement in activities such as play hammer benches, banging a toy drum with a drumstick, etc.
In and out: Grasp and release control develop by placing toys in and taking out (eg: shape sorters). Scooping sand into a pail and pouring water into cups are great for helping shoulder, elbow and wrist movements.
Apart and together: The coordinated use of both hands develops using apart/together toys, such as pop beads, duplo, Velcro food, stacking cups etc. Your child is also developing matching and discrimination skills in these activities.
Sensory play: Sensory materials, such as sand, water, playdoh, fingerpaint, helps develop important sensory discrimination in the hands.
Self Help: Finger feeding, using a spoon and fork, drinking from a cup, and dressing skills are all meaningful daily activities that help develop fine motor skills.
School Age Fine Motor Fun:
Manipulative toys: Building toys, lacing, pegboards, blocks, transformers and puzzles are just a few examples of toys that require small finger movement and develop strength and control.
Painting, Colouring, Drawing: Children love being given creative license to change a plain piece of paper into one filled with colour! Lots of opportunity to do this will heap them develop their “pencil” grasp and eye-hand coordination.
Multi-sensory visual motor activities: If printing practice with paper and pencil gets boring, using a variety of materials may be more fun: Finger painting, sponge tracing/drawing, drawing in sand with a stick, stickers, stencil tracing, magna doodle, wikki stix.
Cutting: Ripping paper and using tweezers can help prepare the child for holding and using scissors. Learning to cut is a long process. Sometimes small child-sized self opening scissors can help. Begin with single snips on stiff paper and gradually progress to cutting lines etc.
Self help: As children progress in their dressing skills and begin to attempt fastenings, they improve their fine motor skills. Teaching step by step and making some adaptations (such as a zipper ring) can make this process more successful. Spreading and cutting with a knife strengthens the index finger.
Computers: Using a mouse and keyboard develops eye-hand coordination. Sometimes adaptations can make computer use more successful (mouse alternatives, keyboard adaptations etc).
Source: Maryanne Bruni, OT Reg(Ont) – Nov. 1998; Revised: Oct 2004