Fun and Easy fine motor Activities for kindergarten
Fun and easy activities for kindergarten students to increase fine motor skills. Students will need to strengthen their finger grasp to ensure they can form letters and write accurately. You can increase cutting skills and handwriting with some fun and easy fine motor activities.
#1 Use Play Doh
Kindergarten and preschool kids LOVE play-doh. I always make sure I have a large supply on hand for back to school. Play-doh is a fun and easy activity for kindergarteners on the first day and weeks of school. It’s open-ended and non-threatening to students who need help increasing their fine motor skills. Having kids roll play-doh, form a ball, create shapes, and even cut play doh is fun for kids and easy for you. If you want to assess your students’ fine motor level give them scissors and a lump of play-doh and watch what they do.
#2 Cutting Straws
Cutting straws is a great way to increase fine motor skills as well as increase cutting skills. Straws stay stiff while your kindergarten and preschoolers hold them. Being able to firmly hold onto an item is a requirement for cutting. When kindergarteners hold a straw the straw does all the work, so your students can focus on opening and closing the scissors. Add the cut-up pieces of straw to your playdoh center and see how fast they make a birthday cake. You can also reuse the cut-up straws in an extra fine motor center. Just add some string and create a jewelry store where your students make necklaces.
#3 Paint The Walls
Kids love this center. Bring some paintbrushes outside at recess and have the kids “paint” the wall with water. Having your kindergarten students use their arms while “painting” increases their strength. It also is fun! You can also do this fine motor activity inside if you have a chalkboard. Give them a paintbrush and some water and let them go. The water dries quickly and other than a few drops it’s mess-free.
#4 Eye Droppers
Eye droppers are a wonderful tool to increase fine motor skills. You can use the eye droppers to water some plants and make art on coffee filters or paper towels. Encourage your students to increase their control by giving them some caps from water bottles and having them fill them with colored water using the eye dropper. Additionally, you can add some science to your fine motor activities by counting the number of drops it takes for a cotton ball to absorb water. Another idea is to add a few drops of oil into the colored water and watch how they separate
#5 Pipe Cleaners
Pipe cleaners can be used in so many ways to create fun and easy activities for kindergarten students to increase fine motor skills. Just like straws, the pipe cleaners stay straight so your kindergarten students can focus on the fine motor task. Adding beads to pipe cleaners is an easy way to increase fine motor skills. Your kindergarteners will need to use both hands to complete the task and it’s fun for them and easy for you. Combine fine motor and literacy by having students use beads with letters to create words.
Moving On To Cutting Paper
An easy way for kindergarten students to increase their cutting skills is to have them cut index cards. Index cards give stability to the task and make it a great way to introduce cutting. Next move towards cutting construction paper. Give your students strips of colored construction paper so they can begin by making snips. Use the pieces in an art activity. Finally, your students are ready to cut copy machine paper. I always start with just half a page. Use this example below to give students a visual cue. Remind them to keep their thumb on the apple. It helps remind your student to use 2 hands.
Tracing Letters
Now that your kindergarten students have developed some fine motor skills they are ready to start tracing letters. it’s best to start with large bubble letters so it’s easy to trace.
The key is to give your students many opportunities throughout the day to increase their fine motor skills across a variety of activities. Putting the time in now will help when they begin writing.
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