FINE
MOTOR ACTIVITIES & FINGERPLAYSFINE
MOTOR ACTIVITIES & FINGERPLAYS
From
Stormie Self-Help Skills Board: Find a child sized pair of pants (thrift store). Cut off the legs so that only the zipper, snap/button & button hole, and belt loops remain. Place a stiff piece of cardboard into the pants to maintain the shape. Children can then practice zipping, snapping, and placing a belt through the loops.
Show children how to chain paper clips together.
Grasp objects with spring-snap clothespins.
Flour & Beans: Provide two large bowls,one empty, and one having a flour and dried beans mixture in it. Children place a sifter into the empty bowl then spoon out some of the flour/bean mixture into it. They sift out the flour, while the beans, of course, won’t go through. When done, they dump the beans back into the flour and start over again.
Silly Putty: Pour one part liquid starch into two parts glue, a little at a time, and mix. Add more starch if needed (if the mixture is sticky). Cover and refrigerate it overnight. This stuff feels great!
Tweezers Fun:
1.
With tweezers, children pick up paper clips (colored ones make it more interesting)
from a bowl, one at a time, and place one in each compartment of a 12-cup muffin
pan. They then place the clips back into the bowl, again one at a time,
using the tweezers.
2. Purchase a small
bag of tiny craft items in lots of colors (tiny beads, pom-poms, buttons, etc)
from a thrift shop. Place them all in a bowl with a pair of tweezers.
Children use the tweezers to transport each tiny item individually to another
bowl. This is such great exercise for those small finger muscles.
Pre-Math Extension: Provide enough bowls so that
children can sort the items (beads in one bowl, pom-poms in another, and
so on). Children can also sort the items by color.
Quick
Puzzles: Have children bring a cardboard product box from home that features
a picture on the front that they like (cereal box, cat food box, cookie box, etc).
Cut the front from it then cut it into pieces to form a puzzle. Children
can take their puzzles home.
From
Kathy, in Leicester, England From
Quincy From
Maria S., Florida From
Teacher Dot From
Natascha, in Sydney, Australia ---------------------------------------------------
From Stormie
Here's an old recipe from my files that I made with a college friend during my
ECE training. It's been around for many many years, and if you ever made
these with your mom or grandma, you'll remember how much work they were for your
hands, and therefore, a great fine motor activity. And their name alone
begs for them to be made on a day when there's lots of penned-up frustrations
in the classroom -- like when you can't go outside because it's been raining all
week. And hey, they're good too! I also like to call them "Comfort
Cookies!" :-) :
Aggression
Cookies
3 cups margarine -- 3 cups brown sugar -- 3 cups flour --
6 cups oats
1 tablespoon baking soda -- 2 cups chocolate drops (or butterscotch
or peanut butter drops)
Mash, knead, squeeze, pound, pinch, etc. all
ingredients in a large bowl until completely blended. Form into small balls
about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in size and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Butter
the bottom of a small juice glass and then dip it into white sugar, then pound
the cookies flat with it. Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for approx. 10-12
mins.
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From
a preschool teacher in El Salvador, Central America 
From Teresa,
in N.S.Canada
A really cheap activity is to have
a basket of clothespins on hand to just squeeze and clip to each other.
From a preschool
teacher in Richmond, BC
To Encourage Cutting:
A great way to encourage children to cut is to have them place their cutting "pieces"
into an envelope so they can take "special mail" home to their families.
We write "my cutting" on the envelope and they decorate their envelopes with small
stickers or paper shapes.
From
C. Walker
Find the Jewels: For small
motor skill development, I like to bury small pieces of cosmetic jewelry in balls
of Play-Doh and then let the children extract them.
From
R Stratton
Recipe For Sensory Fun and
Beautiful Art: Make a half-and-half mix of shaving cream and Elmer's glue.
This is the best feeling stuff! Childen can use sticks, fingers, or brushes
in it. They absolutely love it. It dries well, making a pretty bulletin
board or take home project.
From
Sheryl C. in Portland, Oregon
Sorting
Trays: Tired of the same old plain boring sorting trays? Check out your
local thrift store for those ice cube trays that have different shapes in them.
Children will enjoy the trays as much as the objects they're sorting.
From
Susan in Viola, Illinois
Puzzles:
I use my digital camera and computer printer together to create 8.5 x 11" photos
of the children, then glue them onto cardboard and laminate them. I then
use an exacto knife to cut them into "puzzles."
From
Cassie Leatherwood, in Attalla, Alabama
Old
Board Games: The parts from old board games can be great fine motor tools
for young children. For example, put out the game "Mousetrap"
-- just for fun, to see if the children can put it together. And just tossing
the dice from a board game can be good exercise for finger and hand muscles.
From
Aisha, New Horizons Nursery School, New York.
Spooning:
Provide two small bowls, one filled with dry rice. Children practice fine
motor skills by spooning rice from one bowl to the other.
From
Kathleen in Southern California:
Stringing Alternative:
Sometimes stringing beads or small blocks can be difficult for younger children,
especially those with physical impairments. Instead of using string, shoe
laces, yarn, etc. to string beads, try very small aquarium tubing. It's
inexpensive, stiffer than string and makes it less frustrating while still allowing
the practice of eye-hand coordination.
From
Jenn in Texas:
The Sticker Picker: Get a piece
of poster board (plain) and laminate it. Then place stickers, large and
small, all over it. The children sit and "pick" the stickers off!
They love it! (I sometimes use this for a child that is angry and
needs a way to cool down.)From
Lee:
Fine Motor Tools:
One thing I'd like to share - "Bug Catcher
Bubbles" from Discount School Supply:
http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/product/product.asp?sku=856
I
use them in the sensory table all the time with rice, beans, whatever I have in
there. They are great practice for fine motor, for the motion of cutting
with scissors, and they have little holes in them so they can pick up small items
in water and the water leaks out. They are awesome and cheap!
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FINGERPLAYS
From
Stormie From
Shannon White, McKenzie River Child Care Center, Blue River, Oregon
I've got another verse to "Open, Shut Them": ..."creep
them, crawl them, creep them, crawl them, right up to your
cheeks,
cover up your little eyes, then give a little peek! PEEK!" The kids
love it! They get a kick out of my covering my eyes and peeking at them!
From Lori
who teaches 2 yr olds but this could be done with 4's too:
Just
wanted to let you know something I do with my class with the "Open, Shut Them"
fingerplay. We always put our hands in our laps to be served lunch.
We first say our prayer then go directly into the fingerplay, then our hands are
already in our laps and ready to be served. Of course, being two, they need
reminders sometimes but it's wonderful! We love it! From
Jane Jack, Scotland
Hi Stormie, I work with
preschool children in Glasgow Scotland and have been taught this variation of
"Open, Shut Them." I hope you like it:
Open
shut them, Open shut them, Give a little clap
Shut
them open, Shut them open, Lay them on your lap
Roll
them roll them roll them roll them
Roll them
just like this (hand over hand up to
the sky)
Wave them wave them wave them
wave them
Blow a little kiss (blow
a kiss) From
Franceen Gabrielli, Montreal, Quebec, in Canada
Hi.
Just wanted to say it's nice to see the different versions of "Open, Shut Them."
I wanted to share mine too:
Open shut them, open
shut them, to your shoulders fly (crawl
fingers through air to shoulders)
Then
like little birdies, let them flutter to the sky (flutter
fingers into air)
Falling, falling, falling,
falling, almost to the ground (flutter
them to floor)
Slowly pick them up again
(bring hands up to chest level)
and turn them round and round (roll
hands round and round)
(then
continue rolling hands and say following:)
Can
you go faster faster faster faster? (roll
fast)
Slower slower slower? (roll
slow)
And faster faster faster? (roll
fast)
Slower slower ...CLAP!
(clap hands) From
Beth Bennett
I want to include "my" version
of "Open, Shut Them" which we use for going quietly down the hallway:
Open,
shut them, open, shut them,
Give a little clap
and put your hands behind your back
Give a little
shake (wiggle yourself),
Give a little smile, (whisper, "Oh,
those are wonderful smiles!")
(Then whisper......"Are
you ready for the hall?" (The
children whisper back, "Yes!")
(And
then we walk quietly down the hall to wherever we're going.)
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Reminder
from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom
ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you
can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards." Click here
to check them out.
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