As I sit here racking my brain for a way to begin this post about fine motor skills, my Miss K (2yo) is banging away in our writing and art area. She’s got a tub filled with markers and stamp markers, and is happily creating, with stamps and scribbles on a bright blue piece of paper.

Seems like an ordinary thing, and I’m grateful that we get to have moments like that regularly, so it is very much part of our every day. Surrounding kids every day with opportunities to develop their fine motor skills helps them strengthen the hand muscles they need for fine movements.

Here is a fun and engaging fine motor skill activity that is used regularly in my kindergarten classroom. It was new to me, and I love it so much that I’ve wanted to share it here on the blog for awhile now. I’m glad I am finally putting this post together!

We use pin pricking activities to help children build up their fine motor skills. The stronger their fine motor skills, the easier it will be for them to manipulate and control a range of materials and tools, like pencils, scissors, brushes, etc.

The pin pricking activity shown here, was put together by one of the other kindergarten teachers at my school. We used it as one of our phonics activities for “i”. The idea behind a pin pricking activity is very simple. Children use something sharp, like a toothpick or pin, to prick a hole at every dot on the page.

We were out of pins and toothpicks at home, so Mr 3 used one of our bento food picks.

I encourage children to use a pincer grip during the activity by asking them to create a quacking duck with their thumb and index finger. I then place the pick in between their thumbs and index finger.

To create a pin prick activity of your own, simply find either a letter, a word, or a picture, or a combination of these. Draw large (or small) dots on the letter, words, pictures.

To play, find a spot on the carpet. With Mr E, I also placed a cork board that came with our tap tap set as a base for the activity. However, in my classroom, the children comfortably do the activity on the carpet. Your child will also need a pin, toothpick or food pick. They have to prick a hole at every dot on the page. When the activity is done, it’s fun to flip the page over and see the image they have created with their holes. It’s also lovely to have light shine through the finished page, after the pin pricking has been done.

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Fine Motor Skills: Pin Pricking by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

I am a klutz. I will walk into the side of doorways as I enter a room, bump the side of the dining table as walk past it on my way to the kitchen, and dancing?! Forget that! But… I am a pianist. My mother was a piano teacher and I was playing Fur Elise by the age of four. So, what I lack in gross motor skills, I thankfully make up for in my fine motor skills.

I am ever mindful to encourage and foster my children’s fine motor skills because I know the impact it will have on their writing skills.

As I mentioned in my previous post, (our prewriting activity – painting with cotton swabs), we don’t fill our days with loads of prewriting worksheets. Instead, they have built up their prewriting skills mainly through play. Hours of building up their fine motor skills through:

• Creative Play
• Art Activities
• Messy Play
• Outdoor Play
• Play Dough

Here are 20 fun and creative fine motor activities for kids. Happy playing, because #playmatters.

	← Prewriting Activity, Cotton Swab Painting via Lessons Learnt Journal → Tweezers Fine Motor Activity via Lessons Learnt Journal
	← Fine Motor Tap Tap Set via Lessons Learnt Journal → Rosewater Play Dough via Lessons Learnt Journal
	← No Glue Collage via Lessons Learnt Journal → Paper Mache Bowls via Lessons Learnt Journal
	← Tin Foil Pasta via Lessons Learnt Journal → Drawing Circles via Lessons Learnt Journal
	← Patty Pan Mobile via Lessons Learnt Journal → Exploring Painting Tools via Lessons Learnt Journal
	← Play with Pom Poms and a Mirror via Buggy and Buddy → Weaving for Kids via Highhill Education
	← Cutting with a Knife via Living Montessori Now → DIY Tugging Box via Laughing Kids Learn
	← Pom Pom Rainbow Collage via Danya Banya → Montessori Inspired Toddler Activities via Racheous
	← Pipe Cleaners on a String via Learn with Play At Home → Hungry Monster Color Sorters via Two-Daloo
	← Printable Pre-writing Cards via My Little Bookcase → Leaf Threading via Octavia and Vicky

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Most of these ideas are from our Kids’ Co-Op. If you have a child focused post to share, be sure to come back and visit the Kids’ Co-Op link up here at Lessons Learnt Journal, (published and live here every Wednesday at 10PM CST or Thursday 2PM AEST).

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you.
If you are new here, you might like to subscribe to our RSS feed or receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post 20 Fine Motor Activities by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

“Your sons have a really nice pencil grip”. I can’t help but beam ear to ear at such comments about their prewriting skills because these boys, my 5 year old twins, are as rough and tumble as they come. If I could bottle up their energy levels and sell it, I would be a rich, rich lady.

So, for these boys’ to come to a point where they can sit long enough and build up their prewriting skills so they can hold that pencil in that beautiful tripod grasp, is no mean feat.

We don’t fill our day with loads of prewriting worksheets; simply because they aren’t engaged for very long with such prewriting activities. Instead, they have built up their prewriting skills mainly through play. Hours of building up their fine motor skills through:

• Creative Play
• Art Activities
• Messy Play
• Outdoor Play
• Play Dough

Here is fun way to build up prewriting skills using a very simple art activity: painting with a cotton swab.

You will need:

• A large A3 sized piece of paper. If possible, use a thick heavy weight paper.
• Cotton swabs
• Food colouring in a small bowl or tub.

For our prewriting activity, we started by drawing wavy lines. I left it up to their discretion which direction the wavy lines would go along the page. N decided to draw his wavy lines vertically down the page, whereas M drew his wavy lines horizontally across the page from left to right.

After the wavy lines have been drawn, we then practised drawing circles and then filling those circles in.

Using food colouring instead of paint was great because there was no drying time required. Although hands were stained during the activity, it washed off within a day or so.

Here are some prewriting strokes children can practice:

• Straight lines, slanted to the right and slanted to the left
• Curved lines, in an anti-clockwise direction and clockwise direction
• Circles, in an anti-clockwise direction and clockwise direction.

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Prewriting Activity: Cotton Swab Painting by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

When kids are involved in creating art, they are surrounded by many opportunities for them to develop their fine motor control. Fine motor skills refers to the strengthening of small muscles in the hand which are used in fine movements. These skills are demonstrated in grasping, manipulating and hand-eye coordination.

Encouraging children to build up their fine motor skills is important. Poor fine motor skills can affect the legibility of their handwriting, which contributes to the development of their literacy / communication skills. The stronger their fine motor skills, the easier it will be for them to manipulate and control a range of materials and tools. The easier they find handwriting, the less obstacles there will be to the (already complex) process of learning to write.

Exploring Painting Tools

Here’s a very simple, open ended art activity for kids, that builds up their fine motor skills.

You’ll need:

• A3 sized paper (or larger)
• A selection of paints
• A selection of unusual things to paint/print with. We have used a few bottle cleaning brushes, plastic forks, plastic knives, sponge nerf gun bullets, novelty shaped sponges.

Divide the piece of paper into four by folding it into quarters.

Paint each quarter using a different painting tool. Experiment with different ways to use the tools.

I also let the boys mix up their own colours – (eventually we got that standard brown/grey paint happening).

What are some painting tools your kids enjoy using?

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Fine Motor Activities: Exploring Painting Tools by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.