FINE MOTOR SKILLSThe following list of activities have been recommended as beneficial to the development of fine motor skills. The activities serve only as ideas for improving fine motor skills and should not be seen as comprehensive. If you have concerns about your child's development of fine motor skills, please speak with you child’s teacher and/or seek professional advice from an Occupational Therapist.

What are fine motor skills and why are they important?Fine motor control is the ability to precisely utilise one’s hands and fingers in a skilledactivity. Fine motor activities occur in almost every single activity we do throughout the day. Good fine motor skills stem from having developed solid sensory, motor and perceptual foundations, something which we develop from birth and continue to develop right throughout our life span. Fine motor activities are very important in the classroom, as almost every academic task requires students to engage in fine motor activities.

Hand StrengthThe following activities promote development of strength in the small muscles of the hand and the muscles of the forearm. Adequate hand strength is essential for maintaining grasp (eg – holding pencil and drawing/writing for long periods) and manipulating objects with our fingers.

Activity ideas: Scissor activities Squeezing clothes pegs Painting with spray bottles Squeezing tubes Hammering Using pop beads and other interlocking toys Stirring and kneading dough Using tweezers/tongs to pick up objects/materials Play musical instruments Constructing with Lego, Duplo Using stapler and hole punch in craft activities Tearing and crumpling paper Squeezing sponges Screw/unscrew jars

Using water pistolUsing wind up toysPutting buttons into an opening of tennis ballPlaydough activities: Rotate a small ball of plasticine with finger tips; roll

plasticine into a sausage shape using fingers, not palm; Hold up playdough sausage and pinch between index finger and thumb without breaking sausage; Pinch playdough into a peak using three fingers; Cutting playdough with scissors;

Interweave a large rubber band between fingers and stretch fingers.Pick up beads between fingers and drop one by one.

Finger isolationThe term finger isolation refers to the ability to use certain fingers in isolation from the rest of the hand/fingers. It is an important skill for children to develop as it increases and improves their ability to control their pencil when writing and drawing.

Activity ideas: Draw in wet sand with finger (eg – index finger) Finger painting Finger puppets Music keyboard Push button activities Using eye-dropper for painting Picking up coins & cards Sprinkling rice ,sand etc Card games Spray bottles Connect Four Origami Intrinsic colouring-in Playdough activities Using stickers as part of activity (peel off backing & place down)

General upper Limb strengthening and control activity ideas:“Push Ups” – child completes sit ups or push ups by pushing against a wall, a

chair or on the floorAll Fours Shoulder pressure: child kneels on all fours. The adult applies gentlecompression through shoulder, straight down, for 10 to 15 seconds. This force

should not be great enough to fatigue the child’s muscles, and should be immediately followed with shoulder control activities

Scooter Board Activities: child propels themself along with arms; child holds onto a rope or hoop and is pulled along by an adult

Freeze Tag: like ordinary tag, but the child has to freeze when tagged and hold their position until tagged by someone else

Seesaws and swingsMonkey bars, climbing the fortTrampolines – kneeling; standing; hands and kneesEasel PaintingRacquet and ball gamesRibbon dancingSkipping with a skipping ropePainting large pieces of paper with roller brushesDrawing on a blackboard – wavy lines, straight lines, diagonal lines, circles,

two hands drawing together at the same time

ProprioceptionJoint Movement Awareness, Body Position Sense or Proprioception is the sense that lets us know the position of our body parts without using our vision. This sense is essential for the execution of smooth and co-ordinated movements and also impacts on our arousal level. In addition, the proprioceptive sense has a regulating effect on a child’s nervous system and can influence a child's attention to task.

Children who experience difficulties with Proprioception may appear ‘clumsy’, use heavy movements, they may use heavy or fluctuating pencil pressure and seem, ‘wriggly’ or ‘on the go’ all the time. These activities can be great to use as a “warm up” to fine motor activities.

Activity ideas:Animal walks (crab walks, bear walks, seal walks) and commando crawlsWheelbarrows or walking on your handsTug of war games, hanging/swinging on monkey bars, climbingPushing/pulling games (e.g. row, row, row your boat)Rolling along the ground in a tunnel, rug or mattressClapping songsHand exercises - prayer pushes (push hands together), monkey grip (link

fingers and pull), push, pull, squish, squeeze etc

Hammering activities or games like snap or hand pile upsPlaying with play dough/plasticine, push, pull, squish, squeeze, bang, poke

etc.Practice drawing shapes first with eyes open and then trying it with eyes

shut. This can then be tried with shapes and letters Drawing in the sand pit, on a blackboard or on the pavement, with chalk, use

a pencil or finger to draw into flattened playdoughRubbing arms and legs firmlyTry heavy work activities such as pushing chairs into desks, stacking chairs,

opening heavy doors, wiping down desks or cleaning the blackboard

If you have suggestions for Fine Motor Activities that we

could share with other parents/carers, please

contact us on

(07) 3264 0111

or drop in to the SNAP room