Fine Motor Activities for Home

Please refer to the following activities to increase fine motor skills while at home. 

Remember to let your child do as much of the activity/task as possible and help only when absolutely necessary.  Keep the activities light and fun!

1. For promoting appropriate pencil grasps use the child's favorite coloring pages or characters:

• Using shorter pencils
• Using broken 1-2" crayons
• Coloring activities with shorter crayon

2. Pre- scissoring skills include:

• Using tweezers to pick up small items
• Using a turkey baster to blow cotton balls
• Tape paper on a vertical surface to encourage student to cut in an upright direction or tape the top end of paper to a table and cut along
• Glue paper on a CD and teach child to cut around while turning the CD to practice cuttitng around a circle
• Use squeeze or spray bottles to encourage the opening and closing of hands for scissoring (Clenaning tables spray and wipes)

3. For cutting:

• Begin cutting skills with materials that require a snip only (i.e. straws, card stock paper into 1" strips, Play-Doh, Fruit roll-ups, Licorice)
• Progress to contruction paper that is 1-2" across.  Construction paper is easier to hold than regular paper as it is more sturdy
• Progress and grade activity by cutting across 1", 2", 4" and then 6".
• Vary the thickness of the line they have to cut on from 1" thick to 3/4" and 1/2" thick line
• Start with the straight lines, than progressing to curved lines, S-curved and then zigzag lines and eventually square and circle

4. Openng and closing: Any activitiy that allows the child to open and close his/her hands into a fist or a pinch.  

• Clothespins, Tweezers, spray bottle, Eye droppers, or Turkey baster, silly putty
• Crumpling up the paper and shooting baskets
• Playdough, clay play
• Sress balls and squishy balls

5. To increase translation of objects:

• Stringing beads or lacing cards
• Playing with cards
• counting coins and small manipulatives
• Putting large coins in a piggy bank
• Pegboards

6. Encourage opposition of the thumb

• Unbuttoning and buttoning large buttons
• Unzipping (put things in Ziploc baggies for children to open and close such as snacks)
• Lacing edges of paper plates
• Clip clothespins on and off the edge of a can
• Pegboards
• Blowing bubbles
• Fingerplays (songs with hand movements)

7. To encourage bilateral hand use:

• String beads
• Beating two sticks
• Large puzzles
• Push-pull toys
• Locking toys: Legos, pop-up bead
• Winding: yarn, wind-up toys, kites
• Pouring from jug toa glass: pour sand, rice, beans, water
• Ripping newspaper, tearing paper
• Folding paper
• Opening/closing containers: bottle, container