Fine motor activities

  1. Rainmaker

Materials needed:

  • Long pringles can
  • Multi-coloured rubber bands
  • Rice

Instructions:

Have your child put the rubber bands around the Pringles can, one at a time, until the can is covered from top to bottom in rubber bands. Putting the rubber bands around their fingers and then opening their fingers to fit the top of the can allows the resistance of the rubber bands to exercise their hand strength. Pulling the bands down helps with finger isolation and strength. The fact that you have to use two hands to do this works on bilateral integration (getting the two sides of the body to work together).

Have your child take the lid off, pour the rice in, and close the lid again. Opening and closing the lid is good fine motor practice, too!

Let your child play with the rainmaker, seeing that the slower they tilt it, the longer it makes a sound.

  1. Snowflakes

Materials needed:

  • Hole punch
  • White paper
  • Scissors
  • Pen

Instructions:

Have your child fold the paper in half and in half again (folding paper and pressing it down is great fine motor practice), resulting in a rectangle a quarter of the size of the original paper

Have your child hold the folded corner down, facing the bottom left of the page, and draw a zig zag from the top left to the bottom right of the rectangle

Have your child cut along the zig zag line, making sure that they cut slowly, stay on the lines, maintain a good grip on the scissors, use their nondominant hand to turn the paper to help them stay on the line, and keep their dominant elbow tucked close to the side of their body

Have your child punch holes all over the paper (lots of bilateral integration in this activity!)

Let your child open the paper up and see the beautiful snowflake they have created!

  1. Tricky Treats

Materials needed:

  • Toothpicks
  • Grapes

Instructions:

Show your child how to insert the toothpicks into the grapes to make shapes or letters, show them a few examples of cool shapes they can make, and let their imagination run wild creating their own tricky treats!


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