I’ve written before about how we are all a little outside of the box. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Even my daughters, brilliant and beautiful girls that they are, have things that come easily to them and things that, well, don’t. So I thought I’d share with you how I’ve addressed one such issue in my home.
Shortly after I began doing preschool at home with my four year old this year, it became clear to me that writing was going to be a bit of a struggle for her. Tracing and writing letters on paper did not come easily and so I quickly had to come up with other things to work on her fine motor skills (*Note- The development of fine motor skills varies widely for young children. Many 4 year olds, and even 5 year olds, are not yet ready for lots of paper and pencil work!)
At any rate, I fortunately have a background in special education and was blessed to work with some fabulous occupational therapists during my tenure in the public school system. (Occupational therapists work with children to increase fine motor skills.) So I reached back into my teaching experience, did a little exploring on the internet, and came up with some fun activities to help my Piper out with fine motor skills. Here are a few of them!
Ripped Paper Art Ripping paper is not only lots of fun, it is also a precursor skill to cutting. Back in the Fall I wrote about some of our art projects that involved ripped paper. The ideas are endless, and ripping allows the child to exercise those muscles without having to be extremely accurate. It’s much easier and less frustrating than cutting!
Hidden Objects in Play Dough Playing with Play Dough is a great fine motor activity. This game is a fun one and we have used it to work on counting as well! I use popcorn kernels, but beans or small beads would work as well. Simply “hide” 5-10 kernels/beans/beads in a ball of play dough and then have your little one pick them out and count them. To make it more difficult, you could use modeling clay or Silly Putty instead of Play Dough.
Tongs & Tweezers This is another activity that doubles as math for us. I started with a pair of kitchen tongs and cotton balls. Piper would have to pick up a set number of balls using the tongs and place them in a bowl. Tweezers can be used to pick up smaller items, like little balls made from paper or clay. Avoid using slick items, like beads, because they will be difficult to grasp.
Giant Letters with Chalk Our chalkboard easel is an essential part of our school room. Chalk is great for working on fine motor skills because it provides more tactile input than pencil on paper. When we learn to write a new letter, I introduce it by helping Piper write it REALLY BIG on our chalkboard. Usually I show her one, then I tell her to close her eyes (more tactile input that way) and I write it with her, hand over hand. After we write together 5 times, I let her try it on her own. It sometimes takes a few days of practice, but this has been a really successful way for her to learn how it “feels” to write each letter. Sidewalk chalk on a driveway works well, too!
What are some of your favorite fine motor activities?
*This post is a part of the Mom’s 30-Minute Blog Challenge at Steady Mom.
Great ideas! I am definitely going to try some of them!
My girls like working with a wooden pegboard that has pretty skinny, tiny little pegs. Also beading work with beads on a bead board. We also have some of those “kid” chopsticks (that are attached and have fingerholes) and my oldest will spend quite awhile using them on her noodles (or pompom balls, similar to your tweezer activity).
I am just about to put up a post about fine motor skills and my preschooler! I’ll be back with a link for you. These are great ideas! The objects in the playdough (or therapy dough/clay) is something suggested by an OT we worked with, along with using clothespins and squirt bottles.
I love the squirt bottle idea! That is one we could definitely have some fun with. Thanks for sharing, can’t wait to read your post!
That ripped paper sounds like such a fun idea!!! I think there will be some paper ripping around here quite soon!!! Great 30 minute post!
Great post!! I also use to teach special education. I learned a lot from the occupational and speech therapists. I can’t wait to try the hidden objects in play-doh idea. Today I drew some big letters and my 3 year old put the glue on the lines and then sprinkled salt on them. It’s a nice tactile activity.
I was just noticing the same issue with Rylie!! But really…I think I am just going to drop them off at your house!! I notice my patience is not the best…oops!! So, when does school at the Nix’s start??