Supporting fine motor skills at home
Fine motor skills enable us to control and co-ordinate our hands, for precise movements.
They are also linked to many other skills that form the building blocks of development, not only writing.
Gross motor skills need to be developed in order to support fine motor skills i.e holding your body still and remaining stable while you grasp an object. Gross motor skills can be supported through: Climbing, yoga, dance, trampolines, balloon and bubble play, bikes and pedal cars, hop-scotch, throwing and catching, animal walks large playground equipment, ‘Simon Says’.
There are lots of opportunities to practice fine motor skills around the home.
Bathroom
- Opening/closing toothpaste, shampoo bottles, wipes and other bathroom items
- Squeezing/pinching toothpaste, pumping hand soap from a bottle
- Turning taps on and off
- Wetting and squeezing out a facecloth
- Dip a sponge into water and squeeze it out into a cup - repeat until the cup is full
- Small squirt toys - (often look like fish or animals), encourage pinching with 1 or 2 fingers opposite the thumb
- Water guns - can also be used for outdoor summer fun as well as in the bath
Kitchen/mealtimes
- Pulling open zip lock bags and closing them - encourage using fingertips to press and seal
- Twisting or pulling open plastic containers (and closing them)
- Unpeeling plastic wrap or tin foil
- Pushing the Start button on an appliance with guidance
- Peeling bananas
- Stirring a thick mixture
- Knead dough and roll it out with a rolling pin
- Pouring an ingredient into a mixture
Dressing
- Pulling open drawers
- Zips and press-studs
- Pulling shoelaces or drawstring
- Velcro
- Buttons
Games
- Finger games/rhymes - Incey Wincey Spider, This Little Piggy (on fingers rather than toes), ‘Peter Pointer’
- Pop the bubbles bubble wrap by pinching with thumb and index finger or by pushing down on bubbles when sheet is placed on a hard surface
- Pick-up sticks or Jenga
- Wind-up toys
- Tong games - Operation, Crocodile Dentist, Bedbugs ect.
- Use pointing finger while reading books and looking for objects in pictures
- Counting on fingers one at a time
- Place coins or counters in narrow slots; a piggy bank is perfect or Connect Four game
