Fine motor activities
& early learning
Program, resources, workshops & OT services
my Fantastic Fingers®
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Save time & confidently improve your child's fine motor skills with My 20 Top Fine Motor Activities. They're fun to do together & help with school readiness.
Build strength & coordination in little hands & fingers, improve pencil grasp, coloring & scissor skills plus early learning skills like alphabet & number knowledge. In my work as an occupational therapist, I have seen many benefits from using these 20 fine motor activities in play with 4 to 6 year old children. What you do & how you do it are key.
Watch the open video no. 5 Cardboard Crunchers & nos. 6 & 11 (2 songs from Fantastic Fingers® Fine Motor Program).
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1. Jumping Frogs - children love hopping these cheap plastic frogs in a jumping competition! We integrate colour, letter sound, & math concepts while developing upper body, wrist strength (for hand stability), plus tactile awareness - all so important for good fine motor skills.
11. Clever Caterpillar Song - this is an original, well loved song from the Fantastic Fingers® Fine Motor Program. It's about the life cycle of a caterpillar & develops very specific finger movements needed for good pencil control.
2. Squirtie Squeeze - getting those first three fingers strong is so important. Here's how you can use bath squirts to suck up water & squirt at special targets. If you don't want to use water, you can puff air & push table tennis balls along!
12. Fishing Fun - who doesn't love to fish for their letters or a surprise? Developing wrist stability is essential for good fine motor skills & this activity makes it fun.
3. Counting Pins/Pegs - this is one of the best ways to easily build finger strength. We need lots of repetition & resistance using good old-fashioned clothes pins/pegs. To make it even more fun, look out for the faces in the silly eating game!
13. Dancing Spider - this is a craft that is excellent for developing basic colouring & cutting skills with a fun end product to show.
4. Crazy Hair - one of the best ways to draw & colour is to make it silly & do it together. We're working up against the wall as vertical surfaces are excellent for developing shoulder & wrist stability.
14. Bead Burial - this is probably one of the most popular fine motor strengthening activities & uses red or soft resistance Theraputty.
5. Cardboard Crunchers - there're lots of benefits in cutting with scissors e.g. also develops strength & coordination. Here we making cutting a positive experience with this easy activity using a puppet. You can also use a sock & draw/stick on eyes.
15. Number Cards - children love to learn how to print their numbers. I like to provide a double outline for them to draw inside. It's also important to emphasis the correct starting points.
6. Wrist Rhymes Song - this is an easy to learn song from Track 3 of the Fantastic Fingers® Fine Motor Program. It develops stability in the hand through specific animal actions. When you do it feel how it works your wrist muscles!
16. Hungry Animals - feed plastic animals with special pieces of food. Scrunch & roll them small enough so that the animals don't choke!
7. Singing Pins/Pegs - another easy activity to develop strength and coordination while learning the alphabet song.
17. Super Spinners - when held in this way, old fashioned spinning tops, are an excellent fine motor activity.
8. Cute Caterpillar- this 4 year old so loved making this caterpillar & wanted to make a whole family of them. He kept on colouring and cutting which was just what we wanted!
18. Flick & Say - this is always a favourite fine motor activity but don't try it too early on without developing earlier skills. Toilet roll skittles are fun to knock down with our own balls!
9. Racing Cars - this 5 year old was very happy to use my crayons as cars to do laps. This activity is also in the Fantastic Fingers® Fine Motor Skill Builders product.
19. Zoo Keeper - we have got to keep those dinosaurs from escaping! Strengthen those little fingers by making the cage higher & feeding special food for lunch.
10. Weather Maker - there is nothing like chalk and a spray bottle to develop so many skills. He stayed motivated as I told a special story.
20. Alphabet Cards - after having developed their fine motor skills from the above activities, children will be ready to enjoy colouring. It will also be a lot more accurate.