Fine motor ideas

[Jennifer-72]

I think both ds and myself are growing tired of our fine motor activities. Was wondering if any of you creative ladies could help me out with some new ideas.

 

Here is a list of what is generally in our line up of activities:

 

Rainbow letters - using the outlined image of a letter, I have ds trace inside the letter with pencil crayons. He uses each colour of the rainbow for each letter. He is really good with his letter formation now. I think this exercise really helped him with that.

 

Pebble letters - using clay, I have ds form small pebbles using only his index finger and thumb. We then form them into a letter shape and he presses down each pebble using his index finger.

 

Not sure if these are still available from crayola, we use the stamper markers to form patterns. You need to make sure that the elbow is out to the side ( like a chicken wing) this one really helps recruit and build those shoulder muscles.

 

I have him use window markers and then have him spray down the window afterwards with water to clean up.

 

We also use those inexpensive decorative hole punches from Michael's. The ones you can put between your thumb and index finger.

 

So what are some of your go to activities?

Edited October 4, 2011 by Jennifer-72

[merry gardens]

Cooking. In my home, we've been using old fashioned kitchen utensils a lot more lately in the interest of building better fine motor skills. The children rotate turns helping me in the kitchen, and I set my helper to work using hand tools like nut grinder, flour sifter, pastry cutter, cheese grater, egg beaters, rolling pin, etc. There's tons of hand work involved in cooking, and there get tasty rewards for their labor! They have a sense of pride in saying what they did to help with the meal.

 

And now that I'm thinking about it, I could started early this year and freeze cookie dough balls to bake later. Some of my favorite Christmas cookies involve rolling dough into little balls.

[FO4UR]

Monkey bars and wheelbarrow races.

 

Hide small treasures in playdoh.

 

lego

 

mazes (kumon are good for starters)

[kht2006]

activities with tongs of all shapes and sizes

[momtotkbb]

Lite Brite

 

Operation

 

Using clothes pins to pick up items

 

Push pins to punch holes in stencils

 

mazes

 

finger push-ups

 

jewelry making or beading - even the pearler beads are great

 

origami

 

cutting with scissors

 

finger painting in the bath or shower

 

painting w/ q-tips

[nitascool]

we are currently using:

 

tea strainer/infuser and pompom games.

 

Twisty game using these.

 

Wall Push-ups

 

Tongs and marbles transferring from one container to another.

 

Sponge Squeeze

 

Lemon Twists (literally twisting lemons) :lol:

 

Wire work (twisting wire into shapes like little people or animals)

[PeterPan]

http://www.amazon.com/Activities-Motor-Skills-Development-PreK-1/dp/0743936892

 

http://www.amazon.com/Didax-Unifix-Cubes-100-count/dp/B0007PC9CK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317702106&sr=8-1 Pop these apart and snap together, forming shapes, using your thumb and forefinger correctly to use the right muscles. We call it prissy popping.

 

Remember too that some overall things will help as well (wheelbarrows on your hands while someone holds your feet, playground equipment with lots of climbing and hanging, etc.).

[rafiki]

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[Jennifer-72]

Thanks! I have done some of these activities in the past, but I haven't had them in the rotation for a long time. We were so focussed with getting our vision therapy homework done, it is like my brain forgot everything else we use to do....

 

I love the cooking and baking ideas. Ds will love that! Although, now I will need suggestions on how to avoid eating all of the yummy baked goods:lol: