Cara had her first session with an occupational therapist yesterday. One of our main aims with these sessions will be developing fine motor skills.
Fine motor skill (or dexterity) is the coordination of small muscle movements—usually involving the synchronization of hands and fingers—with the eyes. Source
I want to do all I can at home as well, but honestly, I need ideas. Thank goodness for Google! There are so many great resources on the web and I have quite a few activities planned.
Developing fine motor skills activities
- Tearing paper into small pieces (for a collage or just for fun)
- Making macaroni necklaces and bracelets
- Popping bubble wrap
- Use clothespins to pick up small objects
- Tracing and drawing in rice/sand
- Building puzzles
- Making shapes with pipe cleaners
- Cut out shapes and patterns
- Folding paper into shapes
- Playing with building blocks
- Threading buttons and cards
- Making and playing with play dough – awesome DIY recipe over HERE.
Acornkids also has a great range of products that can aid in developing fine motor (and other skills) in fun and creative ways.
Please note that this is not a sponsored post. I asked Acornkids for info and suggestions and feel it is worthy of sharing as this is a brand that I have much love and respect for.
Surfs-Up Fun Foam – Provides an opportunity for children to use pincer grips to pick up the objects floating in the foam.
Snow Dough – Younger children make larger models or cover larger objects, that require less finger and hand finesse and older kids make more delicate models, with more details, that require a higher level of finger agility.
Push ‘n Pull Putty – This non-toxic putty comes in a variety of colours and is perfect to encourage creativity and hand/eye coordination.
They also have great Snow Dough and Mosaic craft kits which is great for older kids (and non-creative moms like me!).
Please feel free to share your ideas with me in the comments!
xoxo