By Angela García | Elementary Teacher
Preschool is an important time for developing fine motor skills. Fine motor refers to the small muscles in the hands and fingers. As parents, we can help to increase these fine motor skills with easy and fun exercises. But, why are they important? Well, young children need to be able to hold and use scissors and pencils appropriately before using them in a classroom. Once they are able to do this they will have developed the strength needed to grab a pencil and begin taking those steps to write.
There are plenty of easy ways to strengthen these muscles, practice coordination and develop hand: eye coordination using simple, everyday materials and a bit of creative fun!
Here are some materials that promote fine motor skills:
Tweezers
Toothpicks
Syringes
Pasta
Straws
Stickers
Rubber Bands
Pom Poms
Play Dough
Pipe Cleaners
Paper Clips
Nuts and Bolts
Kitchen Tongs
Hole Punchers
Eye Droppers
Clothespins
Buttons
Simple Activities
Here are some simple activities that kids will enjoy while strengthening their muscles.
Pom Poms and an Ice Cube Tray
Simply put a bunch of craft pom poms on the table with an ice cube tray. Then add some fine motor tools like tweezers or clothespins. Children will use the fine motor tools to pick up the pom poms and place them in the tray.
Play Dough and Buttons
Hide the buttons in the play dough and then dig them back out. This process helps strengthening hand muscles!
Paper Clips
All that is needed is paper clips. Just paper clips. Kids simply go to work hooking the paper clips together to make a simple chain.
Stay tune for more ideas!
*The author is the English Specialist of Require’s team of experts.
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