Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers and Early Elementary Students

Activities to promote pencil grasp in small children

  • use pincer tools to pick up small items including pom poms, small erasers, mini marshmallows, cheerios or pony beads

  • use eye droppers with colored water to decorate coffee filters. Turn your coffee filters into butterflies

  • tear and crumple paper to create a picture (flowers on a tree or bumble bees on a flower)

  • use pegs or toothpicks to make designs in play dough

  • roll play dough into little balls, squish the balls with pincer fingers

  • place pennies into a slotted container

  • "squirreling" ...pick up as many pom poms with pincer fingers one at a time with one hand, squirreling them away into the palm of the hand

  • place the above pom poms one at a time into a container with one hand

  • make a pasta necklace

  • practice buttoning/ snaps and zippers during dress up

  • practice tying skills on a spare shoe or a craft project

  • make pony bead necklaces


Activities to strengthen fingers and hands

  • Mr. Potato Head

  • connecting miniature pop beads

  • use putty/ silly putty

  • play dough activities. Roll play dough into a snake, pinch the snake

  • cut play dough into small pieces

  • legos

  • popping bubble wrap

  • tearing construction paper

  • squeezing sponges

  • water toys you squeeze in the bath or sink

  • use clothes pins. squeeze clothes pins to place on a container, to connect two socks or mittens or to connect matching pictures

  • use hole punchers (mini hole pinch for thumb, big hole punch for fist)

  • use a turkey baster

  • place rubber bands onto a dowel or geoboard

  • create sensory balloon stress balls to squeeze

  • Adults cut a tennis ball to create a munchy ball mouth (picture above), child squeezes tennis ball to open mouth, feed the ball.


Toys that promote fine motor skills

  • Legos

  • Mr. Potato head

  • Perfection

  • peg board

  • geoboards

  • Knex

  • Lincoln logs

  • Tinker Toys

  • Jacks

  • spinning tops

  • wind up toys

  • stacking and building with blocks

  • lacing cards

  • stringing beads

  • wikki stix

  • Operation

  • Thumbs Up game

  • cup stacking

  • Play Doh