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While listening to this book, think about the different shapes that you see. The different Attributes that each shape has. Attributes of a shape are the number of sides the shape has for example, a square has 4 sides and 4 vertices All sides are equal Opposite sides are parallel. So look around you and see what shapes you see and tell us the attributes of the shapes that you see!

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City Shapes Written by Diana Murray Illustrated by Bryan Collier

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Good Afternoon! What letter can you find in a newspaper. When you find a letter in the newspaper, send us a picture of what letter you found. We would love to see what letter you found. After you found letters, you can see if you can find your name. You can send us a picture of that too.

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Recycled Newspaper Letter Hunt for Kids | Learning games for preschoolers, Learning abc

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Jul 6, 2018 - Simple letter recognition activity for toddlers and preschoolers. Help your kids learn letters with this recycled newspaper letter hunt game! Easy ABC learning activity you can do at home!

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Go outside and see how many different items in nature you can find! Take a picture and share it with us and your friends!

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Marvin K. Mooney, Will you Please Go Now!

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While playing hopscotch you can work on number recognition

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You can make hopscotch boards to working on letter recognition with upper and lower case letters or with different shapes and work on shape recognition and working on the attributes of different shapes!

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Cup Stacking
See how many cups you can stack  to top of each other. While doing this, you can count to see how many cups you got. You can send us a picture of your cup stacking.

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"Ice Sculpting" Cup Stacking | Motor skills activities, Fine motor skills activities, Motor skills

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Dec 17, 2019 - This Pin was discovered by Erica Riffner. Discover (and save!) your own Pins on Pinterest

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Written by Lisa Bullard Illustrated by Holli Conger

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🌮Marco’s Cinco de Mayo by Lisa Bullard, illustrated by Holli Conger 💃 - Children's Books Read Aloud

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You can use things in your house to make a collage that are the same colors.

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Kids Crafting 101 - Preschool Color Collage Art Activity (With images) | Preschool colors, Preschool color activities, Color collage

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Sep 8, 2019 - Kids Crafting 101 - Preschool Color Collage Art Activity

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Using Marshmallow see what shapes you can form, draw a picture of the shape you create, how many sides does the shape have? What is the name of the shape you created & if you rotate the shape is it the same shape?

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Biscuit’s Day at the Farm

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Nature Name Activity - Mrs. Jones Creation Station

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My kids love being outside...LOVE it. We could be playing in the backyard, walking to the park, playing baseball, going on hike, or just enjoying nature and my kids are as happy as can be. One of our favorite outdoor activities to do as a family is going camping.

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If you give a pig a pancake

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Big Bear, Small Mouse

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Look around to house to see what opposites you can find and post it to share with your friends!

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Kindergarten Round-Up / Welcome to Mountie Nation

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You don't have to use spoons for the memory game, you can use whatever you have at your house.

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There is a new Preschool Letter Matching Game you have to try. This alphabet activity is as fun as it is simple. It takes just minutes to set up, stores easily, and is a big hit with kids.

Letter recognition and matching is an important preschool skill. Most incoming kindergartners are tested for their knowledge of the alphabet. However, it can be hard to get kids that age to sit and review them over and over again.

That's why having a variety of fun games and activities to practice is very helpful. Our favorite games, of course, are the ones that are cheap or free, easy to set up, and very interactive for busy little minds. This game meets all of those criteria.
*This post may contain affiliate links. Affiliate links are a great way for us to show you awesome products we love. The best part is, when you buy something you need through an affiliate link, they give us a small cut (at no extra cost to you) which helps us keep this blog running.
Preschool Letter Matching Game

Supplies:

You'll need plastic spoons. That's it - not a huge list. We assorted rainbow spoons, because colors make us happy. Plain white works though too.

To Play:

Write the alphabet letters on top center of each spoon. Make a capital and lowercase spoon for each letter.

Turn the spoons upside down, and lay them out in a grid. You may want to only do 8-10 letters at a time so that the memory game size is manageable.

Then, have the kids play their preschool letter matching game. Turn over two spoons. If they are a pair, you have a match. If not, turn them back upside down, and it's the next child's turn.

When you find a pair, you get to keep the spoons. The goal is to see who can find the most matches by the end of the game.

Make it Harder:

If your child is already an expert at letters, turn this into a reading game. Write sight words or CVC words on the spoons. Have the children read the words out loud as they work to find matches.

When the game is over, pop the spoons in a zip lock bag, and keep them for another day.

We hope you love the preschool letter matching game as much as we do. Let us know if you try it. Leave us a comment below or on Facebook or Youtube.

Happy Learning!

Have you tried these activities yet?

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Preschool Letter Matching Game - Planning Playtime

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There is a new Preschool Letter Matching Game you have to try. This alphabet activity is as fun as it is simple. It takes just minutes to set up, stores easily, and is a big hit with kids. Letter recognition and matching is an important preschool skill.

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If you don't have food coloring for this activity, you can always use paint.

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My kids love doing science experiments. They don't do anything fancy: some of their "experiments" are mixtures of dirt water and sticks in the backyard. I realized years ago that you can use the good old baking soda and vinegar "eruption" to make a variety of fun experiments. We have built a clay volcano and let it erupt, we made "exploding hearts" for Valentine's Day and most recently I thought up this science experiment for kids: A Rainbow Eruption.

We had to bring something to the preschool science fair and since everyone is rainbow obsessed lately, I thought this would be a cool experiment. It is really easy and you mostly likely have everything you need at home. It's also something the kids can do on their own. Do it outside for less mess OR inside at the science fair, I put all of the cups for the "rainbow" in a large baking pan and simply dumped all the "eruption" out when the kids were done. A shallow storage bin would work to catch the mess too. I made this printable for the fair and you can print it out and give it to the kids to let me them make it on their own!

Rainbow Eruption Science Printable (free printable, click here to print).

(Visited 6,224 times, 7 visits today)

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Easy Science Experiment for Kids: A Rainbow Eruption

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My kids love doing science experiments. They don't do anything fancy: some of their "experiments" are mixtures of dirt water and sticks in the backyard. I realized years ago that you can use the good old baking soda and vinegar "eruption" to make a variety of fun experiments.

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Good Afternoon! Here is a link to practice making patterns. Take a picture of your child during the pattern and post it for us to see.

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LEGO Pattern Cards | Math patterns, Lego math, Card patterns

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Activity for ages 3 to 6. Have some LEGO fans in your home or classroom? These free LEGO pattern cards make math super fun for kids. Just print the pattern cards {below}, grab your stash of LEGOs and you’re ready for some motivating, hands-on pattern building. Getting Ready To prep, I printed the free pattern cards {HE

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wikiHow is a "wiki," similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 13 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. Together, they cited 7 references. This article has also been viewed 148,021 times. Learn more...

Leaf prints are fun and easy crafts for kids of all ages. They're also a great scrapbooking idea or a way to enhance gift wrap, cards and other paper crafts.

As an added bonus, you get two activities in one in that you'll need to take a nature walk and collect leaves of all shapes and sizes. Return home and use your leaves for your craft projects.

1. Choose leaves that are still fresh and pliable. Leaves that are dried will not work, as they'll snap and crumble when pressed or worked on.

Make sure that the leaves are dry before using.

2. Lay newspapers down to protect your work surface.

3. Select a piece of paper for your leaf print. Squeeze a little paint onto a small plate or palette.

4. Paint the surface of the leaf with paint. This is best done by placing the leaf on kitchen paper towel and painting over using a small paint roller suitable for craft projects. Make sure the entire leaf is covered.

5. Gently flip the leaf paint side down onto the paper. Carefully but firmly press on the leaf to ensure that the entire leaf comes into contact with the paper.

6. Peel the leaf from the paper and you should have a printed mirror image of your leaf.

7. Repeat with the same leaf and different leaves. The same leaf can be used up to six times before it ceases to leave an acceptable imprint. And by adding different sorts of leaves, you can build a pretty pattern or design for gift paper, cards, a painting, or any other paper craft project.

Add more leaves of different sizes and in different colors.

8. Let the paintwork dry. Then frame or use your masterpiece for whatever purpose intended.

Community Q&A

Some ideas for adding leaf prints to include:

A gift card and envelope

Gift wrapping paper

Paper book covers

Posters for a nature themed room

Small paper mementos for visitors who have gone on a nature trek with you

Scrapbooking designs

Diary covers

Gift tags

Add several along a string to make a decoration or bunting

Menus.

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Things You'll Need

Various shapes of leaves

Paper, card, etc.

Acrylic craft paints

Small craft paint roller; brushes can also be used

Paper towels for clean up and for laying the leaves on when painting them

Newspaper

Cup of water for cleaning roller or brushes

wikiHow is a "wiki," similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 13 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. Together, they cited 7 references. This article has also been viewed 148,021 times.

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 148,021 times.

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Leaf prints are fun and easy crafts for kids of all ages. They're also a great scrapbooking idea or a way to enhance gift wrap, cards and other paper crafts. As an added bonus, you get two activities in one in that you'll need to take a...

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Days of the week - Adam's Family (Dr. Jean)

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Fine Motor Skills impact function and hand use in small motor tasks. You may have heard the term fine motor skills before. If you are familiar with occupational therapy, then you know that fine motor activities are an integral part of OT interventions. The hands play an important role in most occupations that we perform. From writing, to tying, getting dressed, feeding ones self...most of our day to day tasks involve using our hands. So, when fine motor control and dexterity impacts functional performance, it can be a reason to work on motor control of the hands.

Here, we are covering all aspects of fine motor skills when it comes to children. We're covering fine motor development, each aspect of fine motor skills, and fine motor activities that are rooted in play and learning to develop these essential skills of the hands.

What are Fine Motor Skills?

Fine motor skills are the refined movements and actions of the hands, fingers, and wrists that enable precision and dexterity of movement. Fine motor skills can be broken down into different motor components that impact the ability to use the hands in functional tasks and tool use.

Fine motor skills are necessary for every task that a child completes. From play, self-care, to managing clothing fasteners, and coloring, motor skill development is needed for every aspect. Fine motor skill development is essential to pencil grasp and handwriting. Fine motor skills make up a huge part of learning and the school day (Read about the various fine motor skills needed at school.)

Motor skills like pincer grasp and hand strength are essential for a child's development and ability to use their hands in small motor movements.

what are the fine motor skills

Fine motor skills are made up of several components of motor skills using the fingers and hands. Related, and an important piece of the fine motor puzzle, are the core stability, strength and positioning of proximal positioning, strength, and gross motor skills. Developmentally proximal positioning, strength and stability and motor skills enable distal mobility and coordination.

So, what are the fine motor skills that make up overall fine motor dexterity and skill work?

Fine motor skills are made up of various motor components. These sub-areas impact mobility, tool use, manipulation of objects, strength, and endurance. These examples of fine motor skills are needed for everyday tasks like cutting with scissors, tying shoes, fastening buttons and zippers, coloring, and holding a pencil.

Let's cover all of these fine motor areas in more detail:

Also called bilateral integration, the movements of both hands together in activities requires processing and integration of both hemispheres of the brain to enable both hands working together at the same time, or bilateral movements. Without bilateral coordination, a child might appear to be clumsy or drop items, use primarily one hand in activities, or switch hands during tasks that require a dominant hand and a helper hand. Development of bilateral coordination skills is powerful in functional skills like self-feeding, handwriting, self-dressing, grooming, and more.

Gross grasp- Gross grasp is used when squeezing all of the fingers shut around an object, like when holding the handle of a suitcase. Gross grasp is important in tasks like handwriting and scissor use. To do these activities, you need to squeeze your whole hand shut and maintain endurance to complete the activity. Development of hand arch and thumb web space is important for these functional skills and gross grasp plays a part.

1. Translation is using your fingers to moving a little item from your palm to your finger tips (or your fingertips to squirrel the item into the palm). When you hold a coin in your palm and manipulate it to your finger tips to push it into a piggy bank or vending machine, you are demonstrating palm-to-finger translation.

2. Shift is moving an object using the pads of your fingers...adjusting the pencil grip is demonstrating finger shift. Another example might be manipulating a button or a zipper with the finger tips.

3. Rotation is rolling an object using the fingertips. Examples of rotation are rolling a pencil in your fingertips, turning a pencil over to use the eraser, or opening a bottle top by rotating the lid on your finger tips.

These fine motor skills are needed for functional tasks like managing a pencil or crayon during handwriting, opening containers, managing coins or small items, manipulating a spoon/knife/fork, adjusting the paper when cutting with scissors, and fastening buttons or shoe laces.

Neat pincer grasp- Neat pincer grasp uses the tips of the thumb and pointer finger to stabilize objects. When using a pincer grasp, children use the pads of the thumb and finger to stabilize the object. Neat pincer grasp is used to pick up very small items such as perler beads, a thread from a surface, or a needle. You might see the tip-to-tip grasp to pick up a sequin or fuzz from clothing.

Open thumb web space- The thumb web space is that space between your thumb and pointer finger that makes an "O" when you make the "OK" sign. In order to grasp small items with your thumb and index finger, you need to oppose the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pointer finger. Not only do the tips of the fingers need to touch, but the thumb must rotate at the joint closest to your hand. This opposition is needed to manipulate and grasp small items like shoe laces, buttons, and zippers.

Separation of the sides of the hand- Separation of the sides of the hand refers to the imaginary line drawn from your wrist directly down the middle of your hand and between your ring finger and middle finger, separating the precision side of the hand (thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger) with the power side of your hand (pinkie finger and ring finger). These two sides work together in skilled activities with precision and power grasp in functional activities.

Eye-hand coordination- Eye-hand coordination, or Visual motor skills, refers to the coordination of visual input and the processing of that visual information for coordinated movement of the hands. These skills impact fine motor dexterity and motor movements in functional tasks for so many tasks while manipulating movements and objects. Eye-hand coordination is essential in handwriting, scissor use, threading beads, reading, throwing a ball, placing a cup on a shelf, coloring in lines, feeding, self-care, and much, much more.

Arch development- Arch support in the hand is related closely to the separation of the sides of the hand. Refinement of fine motor skills in the hand (the radial side) happens when the power half (the ulnar side) is stabilized. A functional fine motor grasp and manipulation of objects is more accurate when the ring and pinky fingers are flexed (bent) into the palm. This positioning stabilizes the MCP arch and allows for control of the pointer and middle fingers. Separation of the two sides of the hand allow for more precise use of the thumb. Hand separation starts when a baby bears weight through their arm and ulnar side of the hand while carrying a toy in the radial side. This simple activity developmentally lengthens the muscles of the ulnar side.

Thenar eminence strength (thumb side of the hand)- Separation of the sides of the hand divides the hand into halves. The thumb side has a fleshy mass below the base of the thumb called the thenar eminence. These muscles pull the thumb into a bent, flexed position and opposition. positioning stabilizes the MCP arch and allows for control of the pointer and middle fingers.

Hypo thenar eminence strength (pinkie side of the hand)- That same separation of sides divides the pinkie side of the hand. Along the length of the pinkie side is the power muscles which help with stabilization of the hand during precision tasks such as writing with a pencil or cutting with scissors. A cupped palm requires engagement of the hypothenar eminence in order to hold objects in the hand. Hand separation starts when a baby bears weight through their arm and ulnar side of the hand while carrying a toy in the radial side. This simple activity developmentally lengthens the muscles of the ulnar side.

Cylindrical grasp- A cylindrical grasp is one in which the whole hand is in contact with an object, and curved with thumb opposition. A common term for this grasp is gross grasp. A cylindrical grasp requires use and strength of the extrinsic muscles and intrinsic muscles of the hand in order to flex the fingers around curved objects. The thumb is positioned in flexion and abduction. A cylindrical grasp is needed in order to hold a broom handle, baseball bat, and ice cream cone.

Spherical Grasp- A spherical grasp is one in which the hand curves to hold a round or sphere-shaped object. The intrinsic muscles of the hands play a big part in this grasp. In order for the hand to curve, the metacarpal phalangeal joints need to abduct. Involved in this action are the interossei muscles and the hypothenar eminence. The interossei include the palmer interossei and the dorsal interossei. These allow the fingers to abduct and adduct in order to grasp smaller and larger sphere shaped objects. The hypothenar eminence includes three intrinsic muscles that allows the pinkie side of the hand to flex, rotate to oppose the thumb, and create the bulk of the pinkie side of the palm when curving around shapes like spheres.

Finger isolation- Finger isolation is the ability to isolate and use the fingers one at a time in functional tasks. Finger isolation is using one finger to perform a task. Pointing with the index finger, wiggling all of the fingers individually, and counting out the fingers on your hand are finger isolation. This finger isolation is needed for many functional activities, like dexterity in managing pencils, paintbrushes, and other tools, typing on a keyboard, tying shoes, finger games like "Where is Thumbkin?" and many other skills.

Core strength and stability- A weak core leads to weak fine motor skills distally. The engaged and strong muscles of the abdomen and upper body allow for strength and engagement of the upper arm, and in turn leads to dexterity and motor control of the hands. When the core is weak the hands can not effectively do their job to hold the pencil and manage tasks such as eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, and in-hand manipulation.

Precision- precision refers to the fine movements of the hand. Precision release is needed for stacking blocks without toppling them over, placing cards on a pile, opening scissors just a small amount, or placing small beads into a bowl. Precision is needed for a child to let go of an item in a controlled manner. If they are not exercising precision in release, you might see them rolling or tossing an object as they let go. They will knock over a stack of blocks, or over open the scissors when cutting lines, making their accuracy very choppy. Precision in grasp is related to the picking up of items. A graded lateral grasp is needed to cut with scissors and only squeeze the scissors halfway shut for accurate cutting lines in some situations. Around 3-4 years, a preschool aged child typically develops a greater variety of grasping patterns, including precision. They begin to grade their scissor strokes so that they can cut a line or shape without opening and closing the scissors completely. Precision in this skill occurs when the child is able to pick up very small items like beads with accuracy and graded movements.

Shoulder stability- Proximal stability of the shoulder is needed to support and stabilize distal movements. Activities that challenge the shoulder against gravity such as working on an inclined surface can strengthen and stabilize the shoulder girdle.

These are just a few examples of fine motor skills that are essential for functional development and effective manipulation of tools.

Fine Motor Activities

Almost every activity you see here contains developmental information and explanations of what skills your child will be working on with the activities. I love to discuss the basics of playful activities and why it helps with developmental skills and functional tasks like handwriting, scissor skills, dressing, and shoe tying.

The fine motor skills that we share in the creative activities below are some of our favorite ways to play! Read specifics about building fine motor skills through play.

This page is a huge resource of fun ways to play and learn while working on fine motor skills. Most activities here are easy prep and use recycled materials or items you might find around the home. Occupational Therapists can use these activities in treatment and parents can do these projects at home for quiet time or developmental skill-building.
Add these fine motor activities to your therapy tool box:
One way to work on fine motor skills is to use one material for a variety of skill areas. We've put together some resources to just that! Try these specific tools to work on fine motor skill development in kids:

1. Fine motor development with clothespins

2. Fine Motor Activities with Play Dough

3. Fine Motor Activities with Paper Clips

4. Fine Motor Activities with Craft Pom Poms or Cotton Balls

5. Fine Motor Activities with Playing Cards

6. Fine Motor Activities with Beads

7. Fine Motor Activities with Chalk

Fine Motor Skills Activities for Kids

Click around for fine motor fun and learning. At the bottom of this post you'll find fine motor activities sorted by category.

Pencil Grasp Trick Thumb IP Flexion- This simple strategy builds hand strength, flexion of the thumb IP joint, opposition, and rotation of the thumb CMC joint for functional use and an open thumb web space.

Fine Motor Play Dough Intrinsic Muscle Strength- Work on hand strength of the intrinsic muscles using play dough balls. Work on finger isolation as well and endurance needed for functional tasks such as coloring and handwriting.

Pencil Control Exercises- Work on functional grasp and eye-hand coordination, or visual motor skills with these pencil control exercises that will impact handwriting legibility in big ways.

Benefits of Stickers in Occupational Therapy - Work on precision, strength, and dexterity, as well as other ways to build motor refinement using stickers.

Neat Pincer Grasp Fine Motor Activity- Address fine motor dexterity and precision with neat pincer grasp activity you can do right now.

Buttoning Tips and Tricks- Build the skills needed to fasten and unfasten buttons using this fine motor activity that works on opposition, eye-hand coordination, open thumb web space, separation of the sides of the hand, and more.

Travel Sensory Diet Bag- Use these fine motor activities to add proprioceptive input in the form of heavy work through the hands.

Homemade Pencil Grip - Improve tripod grasp, open thumb web space, thumb IP joint flexion, and eye-hand coordination using this DIY pencil grip.

DIY Pick-Up Sticks- Address precision, graded grasp and release, motor skills, and more.

Gross Grasp with Recycled Containers- Build hand strength, cylindrical grasp, opposition, translation, and even in-hand manipulation using objects you have in the home.

Finger Isolation Fingerprint Activities- Work on finger isolation, separation of the side of the hand, arch strength, and refined motor skills.

Hand Dominance and Fine Motor with Scooping and Pouring- Build eye-hand coordination, precision, grasp and release, laterality, directionality, hand dominance, shoulder stability, crossing midline, and motor planning skills.

Clothes Pin Exercises and Pinch Grasp Types- Improve pinch and grip strength, eye-hand coordination, grasp and release, arch development, separation of the sides of the hand, hand dominance, and bilateral coordination.

Homemade Pegboard Activities- Improve precision, visual motor skills, tripod grasp, open thumb web space, in-hand manipulation skills, and more.

Creative Scissor Skills Practice- Develop scissor skills and the graded grasp and release needed to operate scissors through a variety of paper textures and cutting lines. Also provides resources for the visual motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and wrist stability, proximal stability needed for distal mobility in scissor use.

Precision in Grasp and Release of Fine Motor Skills- Picking up and releasing small objects or objects of differing weights requires precision, proprioception, and grasp dexterity. Work on refinement of these skills with a simple material.

Chain Link Counters Color Sort- Address bilateral coordination, hand strength, eye-hand coordination, and pinch skills.

Handwriting Warm Up Exercises- Use play dough to work on pinch and grip strength, tripod grasp, eye-hand coordination, wrist strength and stability, open thumb web space, flexed thumb IP joint, and opposition.

Homemade Lacing Cards- Address bilateral coordination, wrist extension, open thumb web space, tripod grasp, pincer grasp, eye-hand coordination, and more.

Motor Planning Fine Motor Maze- Improve finger isolation, motor planning, eye-hand coordination, motor control and other skills.

Hand Strengthening Building Activity- This activity develops hand strength, arch development of the intrinsic hand muscles, pinch, and grip strength, endurance, arch development, and opposition, as well as motor planning and problem solving skills. It's a fantastic fine motor STEM activity for children.

Fall Leaves Craft- Work on eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, pinch, grip, pincer grasp, wrist mobility and extension, and motor planning challenges.

Scarecrow Math Craft- Strengthen scissor skill development, eye-hand coordination, visual motor skills, direction following, motor skill development, and more.

Homemade Lacing Cards- Address bilateral coordination, wrist extension, open thumb web space, tripod grasp, pincer grasp, eye-hand coordination, and more.

Alphabet Discovery Bottles- Work on bilateral coordination, eye-hand coordination, pinch, grasp, and release.

Crayon shaving art- Work on finger isolation, hand strength, motor planning, arch development, wrist extension and stability, and more with this creative art activity kids won't forget!

Shape building- All you need are lollipop sticks to make this therapy tool! Work on hand eye coordination, motor planning, precision, grasp and release, problem solving, and more.

Dyed lollipop sticks- This activity helps with visual motor skill development, precision, grasp and release, and much more.

Block sculptures- Use blocks to work on grasp and release, precision, opposition at various grades, eye-hand coordination, motor planning, crossing midline, with an easy fine motor STEM activity.

Robin fine motor busy bag- Address tripod grasp and wrist extension with this fun feed the robin activity. Work on eye-hand coordination, grasp and release, open thumb web space, and more.

Cherry blossom patterns- Use a cherry blossom theme to work on precision, bilateral coordination, pincer grasp, eye hand coordination, open thumb web space, opposition, and hand strengthening skills.

DIY stacking cups - This activity helps with cylindrical grasp, motor planning, crossing midline, bilateral coordination, problem solving, wrist stability, proximal strengthening and stability, grasp and release, and motor planning skills.

Cotton Swab Letters- This coordination activity involves motor planning, eye-hand coordination, precision, grasp and release, and the ability to manipulate items located on a flat table surface.

Learn with Legos- Building with LEGO is such a powerful way to foster hand strength, manipulation skills, eye-hand coordination, and add heavy work through the hands and finger joints. Therapists often recommend using building blocks like LEGO to strengthen the hands, arch development, and adding heavy proprioceptive input through the hands.

Bubble Wrap Maze- Bubble wrap is another fine motor activity that offers heavy work feedback through the hands. It's a great way to fidget or to "wake up" the hands before a handwriting task. This bubble wrap activity also works on visual motor skills, coordination, and bilateral skills.

Foam Workout- This sensory play experience is a workout for the hands. Kids can make this sensory play material and work on upper extremity strength and coordination as well as stability needed for distal mobility. Especially addressed is wrist support and strengthening which enables a supported wrist when writing or cutting (or any fine motor manipulation activity).

Water Bead Sensory Box- This fine motor activity helps with manipulation skills of a slippery material so it can be a challenging eye-hand coordination, pincer grasp, and graded resistance task.

Handwriting With Cookie Cutters- Work on bilateral coordination, crossing midline with precision and a supporting hand, motor planning, and visual scanning across a midline.

Cursive Lines Fizzy Dough- Work on fine motor strength, arch development, opposition with resistance, eye-hand coordination skills, and more.

Empathy Beads- Threading beads is a great way to work on precision, eye-hand coordination, tripod grasp, bilateral coordination. Other skills that are addressed include pincer grasp, tripod grasp, open thumb web space, in-hand manipulation, and holding and manipulating loose objects within the palm of the hand.

Butterfly Craft- This fine motor craft challenges scissor skills with cutting a variety of resistances in papers. Work on placing materials to form the butterflies and picking up small pieces of paper against a flat surface. Glue skills are also challenged with this butterfly craft.

- Snap and connect blocks to work on hand strength, wrist stability against resistance, shoulder and elbow stabilization skills. This is a great way to work on fine motor strength and endurance. You'll find more Snap Block Light Sabers (Star Wars occupational therapy theme)Star Wars themed OT ideas in this post.

Handwriting with Foam Strips- Writing on a resistive surface offers feedback to improve strength and endurance when writing. The activity also builds motor planning skills.

Scissor Skills Flowers- Work on scissor skills with graded stopping and starting without cutting through a cupcake liner. This is a fine motor task that helps with scissor control and motor manipulation skills that carryover to many scissor skill tasks.

Caterpillar Math- Make a cute caterpillar craft with fine motor benefits!

Folded Paper Animals- Did you know that folding paper offers a powerful fine motor advantage? Skills addressed are finger isolation, graded resistance, finger strength, eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination skills, and much more.

Fine Motor And Auditory Fireworks- This fine motor exercise works on bilateral coordination, thumb strengthening, finger isolation, eye-hand coordination, and offers heavy work input with auditory processing benefits.

In Hand Manipulation Ideas for Kids- These fine motor ideas include different ways to build dexterity and in-hand manipulation skills. The activities challenge translation, rotation, and manipulation of small objects from the palm to the fingertips and the fingertips to the palm.

Color Matching with Play Dough- Work on separation of the sides of the hand, in-hand manipulation, and heavy work feedback with resistance to place paper clips into different colored play dough. This is a great hand strengthening activity that improves strength and stability in the wrist as well.

Feather Beading- This fine motor task helps with bilateral coordination, pincer grasp, tripod grasp, and motor planning skills.

Crayon Play Dough - Play dough offers great heavy work feedback through the hands, as well as strengthening and an opportunity for heavy work through the fingers and hands. This crayon play dough recipe adds bold and vividly colored play dough and silk smooth resistance that kids will love to make AND play with!

Fine Motor Play with Tissue Paper- This fine motor activity for toddlers and preschoolers adds an auditory feedback component to developing grasps. Work on eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, motor planning, grasp and release of thin materials, and much more.

Golf Tee Hammering- Work on bilateral coordination, motor planning, hand eye coordination, strengthening of the shoulder and elbow. Hammering golf tees also offers wrist strengthening by holding the hammer in a neutral position against the resistance of hitting the hammer on the golf tee. This is a great fine motor activity that kids love!

Fine Motor Table Top Play with Tape - Working with tape offers a pincer and neat pincer task with resistance. When placing the tape, kids need to manipulate the sticky material and position it on the surface, building coordination skills and motor planning, bilateral coordination skills, and more.

More Fine Motor Activities

Pencil Control Worksheets - Build the motor planning skills needed to manipulate and maneuver a pencil within a writing space.

Manipulating Coins- Work on in-hand manipulation skills to hold and move coins from the palm of the hand to the fingertips and vice versa.

Pipe Cleaners Cardboard Box - Address bilateral coordination skills in a fine motor challenge that kids love. Work on shoulder and wrist stability as well as tripod grasp.

Icicle Scissor Skills- Work on scissor skills with a visual motor activity that helps kids with crossing midline, cutting simple shapes, and graded resistance.

Sunflower Craft- Pick up and manipulate handfuls of seeds with in-hand manipulation skills, arch development, and hand strengthening with this sunflower craft.

Even More Fine Motor Activities:

Need some specifics? Fine motor skills are essential for independence in handwriting and scissor skills.

Fine Motor Skills and Handwriting

Read more about fine motor skills and how they impact handwriting.

Fine motor skills are essential in the classroom, and they can impact learning. For more information, check out this resource on fine motor skills needed in the classroom.

Here is a resource on cursive writing, much of which requires pencil control, in-hand manipulation, and motor planning of fine motor movements in order to form letters. While there is evidence of cursive handwriting being a more efficient and functional form of written work in the child with dysgraphia or other handwriting concerns, there is a component of fine motor dexterity needed for cursive writing.

Fine Motor Skills and Scissor Skills

A s an occupational therapist, working on scissor skills with kids is one of my favorite goal areas. There are so many ways to get creative with modifications to paper, lines, and scissors. The fine motor activities that work on the muscles and dexterity needed for scissor use are fun, too! Stop back soon as we add new activities all the time.

Fine Motor Activities based on Skill Area:

How to Practice Fine Motor Skills

Simple activities that use the small muscles of the hand are ideal for practicing fine motor skills. While child development and age level plays a role in the practicing of fine motor activities, these fine motor practice ideas can be simple ways to develop hand strength, coordination, pinch, and dexterity:

Use tweezers to drop crumbled paper into a cup

Pinch, squeeze, and roll playdough

Manipulating clothing fasteners: zipping zippers, buttoning buttons, snapping snaps, connecting belt buckles, tying shoes

Placing beads into ice cube trays

Squeezing colored water with pipettes into cups

Tracing stencils

Cutting straws into small pieces and threading them onto a pipe cleaner

Cutting yarn and gluing it onto paper

Positioning rubber bands around small toys...and then taking the rubber bands back off again.

Playing board games. These board games are great for developing pencil grasp.

Why is Fine Motor Important?

We've already covered many of these areas, but in the world of occupational therapy, fine motor development is essential for functional participation. SO many daily tasks are impacted by fine motor development. This functional participation allows us to learn, grow, and interact with the world around them.

In children, fine motor skills allow them to experience the world around them.

Fine motor skills enable feeding- Development of fine motor skills through play enables grasp of food, utensils, and the ability to scoop food, hold a cup without spilling, cut with a knife, spread butter or peanut butter, cut food, use a fork. Other considerations include opening food containers, managing a lunch box, opening and closing plastic food baggies, holding a tray of food, and much more.

Fine motor skills enable grooming and hygiene- With the development of fine motor skills, we are able to hold grooming utensils such as combs and toothbrushes, squeeze toothpaste, pick up small objects, use tweezers, open containers, squeeze out a "just right" amount of shampoo, conditioner, or lotion, use and wash with a washcloth, manipulate and hold soap, and much more.

Fine motor skills enable handwriting skills- holding a pencil, using a functional pencil grasp, coloring, writing at the correct pencil pressure, erasing, and much more.

Fine motor skills impact scissor use- This includes holding scissors, cutting shapes, manipulating paper, cutting with correct speed, starting and stopping scissors at the appropriate place, and much more.

Fine Motor Skills and Clothing management- Getting dressed is greatly impacted by fine motor development. Tasks such as managing buttons, zippers, snaps, buckles, shoe tying, hair ties, and other clothing tasks require fine motor strength and dexterity.

This is only the beginning. Relatively every functional task that we do includes aspects of fine motor. Consider your daily tasks. In every way, fine motor skills are included in some manner or another. From seat belt buckles to typing a message on your phone. Fine motor activities are a part of every day, all day long.

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The OT's Guide to Fine Motor Skills - The OT Toolbox

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This massive collection of fine motor activities includes everything you need to know about fine motor skills in kids.

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You can use things like sugar, salt, small rocks, sequins, shaving cream, etc. then have your child practice writing different letters.

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How to Make a Salt Tray for Exciting Alphabet Tracing Activities

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Help kids who are learning the alphabet work on letter recognition and letter formation with a simple DIY salt tray. Learn how to make an exciting sensory writing tray for letter tracing activities.

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Good afternoon! With the nice weather out we wanted to start our online learning with a fun Spring scavenger hunt! While you are out looking for the items look around at the different colors of flowers you might see and see if your child can recognize their colors! Take pictures of your child doing the scavenger hunt and post them for us to see.

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Dinosaur Stomp /// Dance-A-Long /// Koo Koo

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At Starfall, children have fun while they learn. Educational games, movies, books, songs, and more for PreK and Kindergarten learners.

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Educational games and videos from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Wild Kratts and other PBS KIDS shows!

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Looking for a fun new way to engage the little ones? There are a variety of fun kids activities available here! These activities are a great way to keep them occupied and help them learn new skills. What's more, parents and teachers can also use printable kids' crafts and activities that kids of all ages are bound to enjoy.

JumpStart has a variety of fun activities for kids. Engage the young ones with these activities and make learning fun!

Activities for Kids - Fun, Simple and Educational

To ensure that kids are learning the right things and not whiling away their time aimlessly, parents and teachers can keep the little ones busy with educational and beneficial activities for kids.

With activities available for a wide variety of subjects including math activities, science activities and reading activities, to other adventure activities, music activities and art activities, parents and teachers have plenty of options. These help kids recognize their interests and abilities and mold their personalities. Most activities for kids are simple, easy, and not even messy. They are also a great way for parents and teachers to bond with the kids as they guide the little ones through these activities, sometimes even participating along with them.

Preschool Activities

You can spark a preschooler's imagination with interesting preschool activities. Simple, easy and fun, activities for preschoolers set the foundation for better learning and development. Both informative and productive, fun preschool activities will build your preschoolers' confidence and plant the seed for a lifelong love of learning.

Activities for Kids of all Ages

Kids of different ages have different requirements, abilities and levels of skill. Keeping in mind the unique characteristics of kids of different ages, you can choose from our age-specific and grade-based kids activities. Watch kids learn and develop new skills as they play a host of different activities!

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Looking for a fun new way to engage the little ones? There are a variety of fun kids activities available here! These activities are a great way to keep them occupied and help them learn new skills. What's more, parents and teachers can also use printable kids' crafts and activities that kids of all ages are bound to enjoy.

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Color Y E L L O W yellow song   Kindergarten   YouTube

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color P-U-R-P-L-E purple song - Kindergarten

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Party Freeze Dance Song - THE KIBOOMERS Preschool Songs for Circle Time

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We are having so much fun this summer already and it's just begun. For days when you want to relax at home, the kids can still do this fun Bubble Art Activity. It's perfect for all ages and we do them outside so they can get messy if they so desire.

There are so many creative ways you can make this art. The color combinations are endless, frame the design and hang it for everyone to enjoy.

Amazing Bubble Art Activity

What you need
Food coloring
Bubble Solution ( can also be made easily with dawn dish soap and water)

Bubble Wands - we make our own but you can use ones that come with the solution.
White card stock Small plastic cups
How to make this Bubble Art Activity

Pour a small amount of bubble solution in each cup.

Add about 5 drops of food coloring to each bowl, making each bowl of bubbles a different color.

Stir your bubbles well.

Lay your paper onto the grass or sidewalk, dip your wand into the colored bubbles and blow onto your white card stock.

Amazing Bubble Art Activity

For days when you want to relax at home, the kids can still do this fun Bubble Art Activity. Perfect for all ages and takes mere minutes to set up.

1. Pour a small amount of bubbles in each bowl.

2. Add about 5 drops of food coloring to each bowl, making each bowl of bubbles a different color.

3. Lay your paper onto the grass or sidewalk, dip your wand into the colored bubbles and blow onto your white card stock.

.

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Amazing Bubble Art Activity | My Home Based Life

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We are having so much fun this summer already and it's just begun. For days when you want to relax at home, the kids can still do this fun Bubble Art Activity. It's perfect for all ages and we do them outside so they can get messy if they so desire.

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Simple Science Experiments for Preschoolers - Active Littles

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Simple and fun science experiments, sensory fun and STEM activities for preschoolers. These science activities are sure to be a hit!

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Raise a reader by getting the best book recommendations, reading tips, and discounts delivered straight to your inbox.

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Michigan families can get food, cash, internet during coronavirus crisis - Bridge Michigan

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Do you need help with food or cash through this coronavirus crisis? Want to know where to go to help? We have a list of Michigan resources.

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Tips for Families during the Corona Virus

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Tips for Families during the Corona Virus

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The following resources offer tips for families including age-appropriate responses to common questions, a guide to self-care, and activities for young children experiencing social distancing.

We want to hear how we can best support you! Let us know how coronavirus has impacted you by sharing your thoughts, experiences, best practices, and questions.

LATEST RESOURCES

COMIC: A Kids' Guide To Coping With The Pandemic (And A Printable Zine)
A short comic presents tips and advice to help kids through the pandemic.

Talking about the Coronavirus

Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus
NPR presents a comic developed from an interview with Tara Powell, Joy Osofsky, PhD, and Krystal Lewis on what kids might want to know about the Coronavirus.

Self-Care & Time at Home

Setting Limits
Try the Feel-See-Do method in response to metldowns and irrational insistence.

Parenting During Coronavirus: You Are Enough
Managing expectations as a parent is key during stressful times.

First Things First: Parenting in the time of coronavirus and social distancing Families have lots of questions, so First Things First, an early childhood agency, reached out ZERO TO THREE's parenting expert for her thoughts and advice for parents with babies, toddlers and preschoolers during this period of social distancing.

COVID-19: Advice for Caregivers of Young Children This infogram handout from experts at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center outlines common ways children react to stress, and ideas to help.

Staying Connected

Sesame Street Resources

Our neighbors on Sesame Street offer these fun activities and guides to staying safe and healthy as part of their new Caring for Each Other initiate :

My Healthy Week!
Chart a schedule of the ways little ones can stay strong with this free printable.

How to Wash Your Hands
Share the video featuring Bebe to show the right way to stop the spread of germs, and have a child show you how they use soap, then water!

H is for Handwashing
Read this storybook to explore the ways that children across the world stay happy and healthy. Invite children to think about how the ways we wash our hands that may be different and similar to our friends in other places.

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The following resources offer tips for families including age-appropriate responses to common questions, a guide to self-care, and activities for young children experiencing social distancing. We want to hear how we can best support you! Let us know how coronavirus has impacted you by sharing your thoughts, experiences, best practices, and questions.

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Demonstrate key math concepts in your classroom using our new virtual manipulatives!

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Science-backed early learning for children from birth to age 5.

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Vroom helps you add science-backed early learning moments to mealtime, bathtime, bedtime or anytime. By helping your child learn now, you get them ready for school, friends and life.

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Health Emergencies - Sesame Street in Communities

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Your care and support can make a huge difference in the life of a young child. Sesame Street is here for you with activities and tips for the challenges and joys along the way.

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Erikson Institute Early Math Collaborative

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Content Format: Download

The activities and games we provide align with our Big Ideas of math and are tried-and-true ways to engage children in thinking about them. We don't offer a curriculum, but instead, we hope these selected activities will complement your current math teaching or at-home play, enriching your understanding of the Big Ideas in action, and serve as examples of simple, yet powerful math learning in preschool, kindergarten, and the primary years.

Whether it's story time, game time, or family time, we hope these ideas will complement your routines as well as bring out the Big Ideas that support a lifetime of mathematical thinking.

November 17, 2021

Quantity is a particular amount of something, expressed as a number. Quantity cards for young children can have pictures of small sets such as dots, finger patterns, or 5- or 10- frames. The ones we have available on our site use a variety of pictures or "suits," since matching quantities such as fingers and dots can help develop ideas about equivalence.

Free videos.

Free newsletter packed with ideas.

Free professional learning modules.

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Download | Preschool and kindergarten activities for children

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The activities and games we provide align with our Big Ideas of math and are tried-and-true ways to engage children in thinking about them. We don't offer a curriculum, but instead, we hope these selected activities will complement your current math teaching or at-home play, enriching your understanding of the Big Ideas in action, and serve as examples of simple, yet powerful math learning in preschool, kindergarten, and the primary years.

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Unite for Literacy provides free digital access to picture books, narrated in many languages. Literacy is at the core of a healthy community, so we unite with partners to enable all families to read with their young children.

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If your recent transition to working from home every day was made all the more challenging with a house full of kids not able to go to school, Big Bird and his Sesame Street gang are offering a little relief by making 110 ebooks for kids absolutely free on all the major online book platforms.

Accessing the free titles, which include everything from books teaching kids timely lessons like sitting still to sparking an interest in becoming the President one day, does require access to a mobile device like a smartphone, tablet, or ereader. But the Sesame Workshop has extended this offer to platforms including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Google Play, Barnes & Noble Nook, and even Kobo, with no specified expiration date just yet.

Sesame Workshop has also pledged to regularly update its SesameStreet.org/caring portal with new content designed to help parents dealing with bored or anxious children including ideas for activities to do at home, guides for having virtual playdates, and even tutorials on hygiene and proper handwashing techniques. It might not keep kids distracted for months on end, but every little bit helps.

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Parents Rejoice! Sesame Workshop Has Made 110 Sesame Street eBooks Free

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If your recent transition to working from home every day was made all the more challenging with a house full of kids not able to go to school, Big Bird and his Sesame Street gang are offering a little relief by making 110 ebooks for kids absolutely free on all the major online book platforms.