Fine motor development skills

Fine motor skills

Finger Mobility

• Caterpillar fingers across the table, progressing on to scrunching up a crepe bandage with each hand in turn – could be competitive and timed
• Play musical instruments e.g. keyboard, recorder
• Screw paper into a ball with one hand and aim at target or bin
• Screw and unscrew nuts and bolts
• Wind yoyos, wool into balls or onto a large cotton reel
• Make pom poms from circles of card and wool
• Spin hoops and different sized balls

Isolated Finger Opposition

• Use thumb + each finger in turn to pick up dried beans, peas, etc and put in cups
• Use tweezers to pick up paper clips, buttons, rice, sequins, dried peas etc.
• Take off and replace tops of pens
• Flick ping-pong ball, screwed up paper or Maltesers at a target
• Open and close clothes pegs with thumb and forefinger
• Place pegs into peg board, marbles onto the marble run etc.
• Turn over buttons and coins without moving them to the edge of the table.

Dynamic Pencil Grip

• Encourage pencil to be held in tripod grasp, “pinch it” or with “froggy legs”
• Strong elastic band around the fingers and thumb of each hand, open and close
• Hold pen in tripod grasp draw imaginary circles, lines and figures of 8 in the air.
• Practise scribble patterns on paper or whiteboard. Discourage heavy handedness and tense grasp.

Learning how to use scissors

• Before holding scissors the child needs to be able to move their thumb, index and middle finger independently – bending and straightening
• Open and close tools e.g. tongs to pick up different objects
• Dress tongs with socks or material and a face to make a crocodile or dinosaur
• Squeeze turkey baster to make bubbles in a bowl or draw up water and squirt
• Use sponge, small pipette or eye dropper to pick up coloured water for mixing
• See how far you can squirt water with squirt guns or washing up bottles
• Move onto scissors – could try the Easy Grip, Self – Opening Scissors if needed
  • Correct hold gives control – thumb on top and scissors pointing away body
  • Open and close without attempting to cut
  • Stick a set of paper teeth on ‘jaws’ for fun
• Start by cutting across 1cm strips of thin card, progressing to 3cm then 10 cm
• Snip fringes in newspaper, then once able to cut across the paper
• Cut within a band of 4cm then gradually reduce to cut within a thick pen line
• Put a bend one way into the 4 cm band then reduce width, repeat the other way
• Simple straight lined shapes and progress to curved lines, e.g. semicircle, circle
• Gradually develop skill by cutting out more complex shapes

 

Activities for encouraging the use of both hands

Anything requiring the use of both hands will help develop bilateral skills e.g.

• Construction, Duplo, Lego, Meccano, Mega Bloks, Stickle Bricks etc
• Magnet games e.g. pull magnets apart after fishing with magnetised bait & fish
• Use Velcro in games so that it has to be pulled apart afterwards e.g. ball & target
• Wind-up toys / timers
• Use a hula hoop – will take 2 hands to hold it steady to get started
• Dressing and feeding dolly / teddy etc
• Squeeze marble or button through small tube of material
• Open and close containers, making sure a high level of success can be achieved
• Open and close more complex containers e.g. screw top jars, draw strings bags
• Playing musical instruments e.g. keyboard, drum, recorder
• Clapping / catching a feather / bubble etc between 2 hands
• Use empty squeezy bottles to blow a ping pong ball across the room / table
• Use squeezy bottle filled with water to draw on concrete wall outside

Use non-preferred hand to hold item steady (Holding Hand & Doing Hand)

• Templates – holding paper and template in place and drawing around template
• Make rubbings with leaves or textured objects
• Hold paper up against a wall or whiteboard for writing activity

Threading Activities

• Place rings / hoops etc on the handle of a wooden spoon
• Thread washing line and large beads, buttons, pasta, Cheerios, Hula Hoops
• Thread pipe cleaners or ribbons through a colander or tennis racquet

Creative Activities

• Papier mache, junk modelling, pom pom making
• Pick out number of small items from bowl of e.g. salt / sand. (Eyes closed increases sensory awareness in the hands. Try finding paper clips in rice!)
• Hide small objects in play dough for children to find and pull out
• Cutting up pieces of paper / snipping bits off from a strip of card
• Use potato and paint or stamps and an ink pad to stamp on small pieces of paper
• Finger puppet play
• Cooking – whisking, mixing, beating, mixing or egg-beating. Wind up a timer
• Woodwork – hammering, sawing, sand papering, screwdriver / manual drill

Ball skills

• Catch balls of different weight and size that are impossible to hold with one hand
• Throw a ball up in the air, clap and catch the ball. See how many times the child can clap and still catch the ball. A balloon ball (Balzac) would be easiest as it moves more slowly
• Throw a ball up in the air with 1 hand and catch in a plastic cup with the other
• Bounce a ball on the spot alternate hands
• Carry a tray with balls on and don’t let them roll off