If you’ve followed early childhood sites for even a short amount of time, you’ve likely seen a lot of fine motor activities. But you may be wondering, “What’s the big deal?”
Fine motor muscles are those small muscles in the body that help us do things like pick up small objects, fasten clothing, tie shoes, and write. The more opportunities we give kids to practice using those muscles, the more small motor control they gain. As they gain more control of those fine motor muscles, the easier it will be to do fine motor tasks.
The great news is there are tons of fun fine motor activities for kids, so it’s easy to helps kids get the practice they need. Below are a few of the fine motor activities available on Fantastic Fun and Learning.
Fine Motor Activities
LEARN MORE ABOUT FINE MOTOR SKILLS
Looking for more detailed information on supporting fine motor development? In Basics of Fine Motor Skills, you’ll learn which skills are important for fine motor development, plus what fine motor development looks like in children at all age levels. Your go-to-guide for everything fine motor related, it’s the perfect resource for parents, teachers, and therapists.
Low-Prep Fine Motor Activities
This Quick Fine Motor Activity with Q-Tips is a great way to keep your kids busy and let them practice their fine motor skills. Try it with toddlers and preschoolers.
Your kids will love putting together this fun and colorful Magnetic Letter Rainbow.
Figuring out which keys go to which locks with this Lock and Key Play activity is a fun fine motor challenge for kids.
There are so many great uses for marshmallows and these Marshmallow Letters and Sculptures are no exception!
This Bottle Cap Fine Motor Fun is a great low prep activity for when you’re short on time. Squeezing the pipette to transfer water is a great way to strengthen fine motor muscles and work on fine motor control.
Fine Motor Math
This Fine Motor and Sorting~Seed Tray will allow you to have so many different math and seed activities but also give your kids a chance to work on their fine motor skills.
As kids move the numbers on this fun DIY Number Line they are working on pinching and releasing the clothespins as well as important math concepts.
This Feather Color Sorting and Fine Motor Activity will work on fine motor skills and also teach kids about color recognition and sorting.
Fine Motor Messy Play
These fun Watermelon Sculptures are a great summer activity to use your leftover watermelon for!
Your kids will feel like a wizard with this Mixing Potions activity.
Fine Motor Art
Forget the paintbrushes and Paint with Pom Poms instead! Not only is this more fun for toddlers and younger preschoolers, but it’s great fine motor practice too.
This Tissue Paper Art is a great process-based art activity that weaves in tearing and pinching to work on fine motor skills.
Q-Tip Painting is another fun alternative to using traditional paintbrushes that helps with fine motor development.
This Paint with Spiders is a great creative art activity that also helps build fine motor skills!
Fine Motor Crafts
This Spring Flower Butterfly Craft combines fine motor practice, math, art, and science all into one fun activity.
This Sticky Birthday Hat Craft provides a great chance for your kids to practice fine motor skills without even realizing it!
This Torn Paper Cave Craft will give your kids a chance to practice their fine motor skills in a fun art project.
The folding process in this Spider Headband Craft is a great chance for your kids to practice their fine motor skills, and kids have so much fun using them for pretend play when they are done.
To add in some fine motor practice to this Torn Paper Christmas Arts and Crafts, have your kids help tear the paper!
Fine Motor Pretend Play
This fun Itsy Bitsy Spider Sticky Wall is a great spider theme fine motor activity or a fun Halloween activity that incorporates fine motor skills.
Play dough activities are another great way to strengthen those fine motor muscles. You can use play dough on its own or create invitations to play related to your child’s interests. Some of our favorites have been spider play dough, flower garden play dough, and apple play dough.
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