Fine motor activities-images

1: Feed the ball

Get your child to holds marbles in one hand and the ball in the other hand. Encourage your child to manipulate from palm of hand to finger tips. Using their hand holding the ball encourage the child to squeeze the ball and open the slit and then place the marble through the slit.

This activity develops:

• Strengthen of the hand

• Eye and hand co-ordination

• Dexterity and co-ordination

• Control of Fingers to grasp and hold several marbles in palm while using pincer grasp to place one of the marbles

• Bilateral Skills (using both hands together)

2: Shave the sheep

Use blown up black balloon encourage your child to squirt shaving foam over the sheep and using lolly sticks, teaspoons encourage the child to shear the sheep by scraping off the foam.

This activity develops:

• Handling of tools

• Dexterity and co-ordination

• Eye-hand co-ordination

• Sensory awareness

• Experimenting and problem solving

3: Shaving Foam in a tray

Squirt shaving foam onto a tray or let your child squirt the foam encourage your child to explore the foam in their hands and around the tray encourage making patterns and practise pre-writing shapes.

This activity develops:

• Dexterity and co-ordination

• Eye-hand co-ordination

• Sensory awareness

4: Creepy crawlies

Using a bandage about 75cm long. Child to be seated at a table place. The unrolled bandage in front of them, stretching it out vertically. Ask the child to place their hand on the end of the bandage nearest them to anchor it. The child tries to gather the bandage up keeping the wrist still and using the fingers of that hand only. The fingers move to- gether to pull the bandage in.

This activity develops:

• Hand-Eye co-ordination

• Strengthening of fingers and thumbs

• Keeping wrist still whilst using other parts of the hand

5: Creeping thumbs

Bandage about 75cm long. Child to be seated at a table place the unrolled bandage in front of them, stretching it out horizontally. Ask the child to put their writing hand at one end of the bandage. The hand should be positioned with the fingers resting on the bandage and palm on the table. Ask them to see if they can gather up the bandage tucking it under their hand using the thumb of that hand only and keeping the wrist still.

This activity develops:

• Hand-eye co-ordination

• Strengthening of fingers and thumbs

• Keeping wrist still whilst using other parts of the hand

6: Clothes pegs

Use plastic clothes pegs and then move onto wooden pegs which require more strength. Place around cardboard plate to make the sun or for hair and draw a face or peg paintings/clothes.

Encourage opening with the thumb and index finger to help strengthen to develop pincer grip.

This activity develops:

• Hand-eye co-ordination

• Strengthening of fingers and thumbs

7: Play-doh hedgehog

Using play-doh make the body use beads for eyes and nose and use cocktail sticks for the spikes and place into the play- doh. Encourage picking up these and positioning objects by using thumb and index finger.

These activities help develop:

• Strengthen hands by squeezing the dough.

• Hand-eye co-ordination

• Isolate index finger to push beads into play dough.

• Develop pincer grasp.

• Judging pressure when pushing sticks into play dough.

Other activities using play-doh.

Encourage your child to use both hands when rolling the play-doh.

• Roll it into a snake or snail

• Roll the play dough into a long sausage shape and then coil it round to make a nest. Pinch off some more play dough and roll it between fingers to make eggs.

8: Tissue paper

Encourage tearing of tissue paper and scrunch pieces of paper into small balls by rolling using finger tips.

• Start by rolling tissue paper between two fingers and thumb

• Aim to roll the tissue paper between thumb and first finger of one hand only

9: Removing lids of jars and tubs

Encourage opening and closing tight jars or bottle tops.

Put toys or sweets in the jar so they want to open it.

This activity develops:

• Bilateral Skills

• Rotating of hand/wrist

• Gripping whilst making an action.

10: Popping bubble wrap

Pop plastic bubbles using index finger and thumb.

This activity develops:

• Strengthening of pincer grasp

• Hand eye co-ordination

• Sensory awareness to texture

11: Marbles in play-doh

Hide marbles in the play-doh and encourage your child to find them using finger tips to remove.

Make this task trickier by moving onto smaller objects to find.

This activity develops:

• Using pincer grasp

• Dexterity and co-ordination

• Eye contact in task.

• Sensory skills

12: Using scissors to cut straws and make a necklace

Encourage your child to hold the straw in one hand and using the scissors in the other get your child to snip the straws then get the child to push the straws through string to make the neck lace adult to make a knot.

This activity develops:

• Bilateral skills

• Scissor skills

• Eye and hand co-ordination

• Threading Skills

• Pincer grasp

13: Feely game

Hide everyday objects in a box of sand/rice/pasta.

Encourage your child to find everyday objects beads/Lego bricks/small spoon/toothbrush. Make this task trickier by moving onto smaller objects to find such as coins, paper clips, marbles, and miniature toys.

This activity develops:

• Bilateral Skills

• Tactile awareness.

• Recognise size, shape, and weight of object.

14: Sponge crab

Use thin washing up sponge, clothes pegs, hole punch and pipe cleaners.

Cut a round shape out of the sponge. Punch holes around the edge of the sponge (adult help may be needed) and thread through pipe cleaners to make the crabs legs. Add two pegs for the crab's claws. Draw on some eyes with marker pen. Let your child play with theses in the water. Use sleeves or small fishing nets to catch the crabs. Add pebbles to the water for added effects.

This activity develops:

• Handling tools

• Dexterity and co-ordination

• Eye-hand co-ordination

• Construction

• Assemble and join materials

15: Picking up objects with tweezers

Use cubes, cheerio's, marshmallows, raisins, plastic buttons etc to pick up using the tweezers.

This activity develops:

• Hand-eye co-ordination

• Squeezing and releasing of pressure in hand

• Gripping using finger tips

• Dexterity

16: Posting

Use small box with lid (adult to make a slit). Encourage your child to hold the box using one hand and post coins into the box.

Encourage using thumb and index finger when picking up coins.

Also practice picking up large coins one at a time and holding as many as you can in your palm whilst you post them back into the box, one at a time.

This activity develops:

• Hand-eye co-ordination

17: Hand shape pictures

• fish, hen and octopus

Using coloured paper encourages your child to draw round their hand. Cut around the outline and decorate by colouring or collage materials.

This activity develops:

• Hand-eye co-ordination

• Bilateral Skills

• Fine motor skills

• Scissor skills

18: Hand strength exercises

• Finger Flexion Make a roll of putty and place it in the palm of the hand. Bend fingers around it making a fist.

• Thumb and finger Abduction Place a piece of putty between two fingers or thumb and index and squeeze through until the digits meet.

• Individual Pinch Place a piece of putty between the pads of the thumb and index fingers. Squeeze through until the digits meet. Repeat with each of the other fingers.

• Gross Opposition Shape the putty into a pancake and stick it to a flat surface. Place the fingers and thumb lightly on the edge of the pancake. Draw them together toward the centre