Fine Motor Development- Fun Activities for Your Preschooler

As a parent, you enjoy watching your child grow and master new skills. As they approach the preschool years, you can take an active role in helping them develop their fine motor skills. Activities that build the muscles in the hand that are responsible for cutting and writing are crucial for your child's educational success, and different activities can be fun to do while preparing them to succeed.

Moldable Dough Activities

Most children love playing with moldable dough, and it is a great way to strengthen the muscles in their hands. Invest in a pair of plastic scissors and encourage your child to cut the dough into smaller pieces. You can have your child roll out long snakes and then have them roll little balls into eyes for the snake. Making small eyes will require the use of just the thumb and forefinger, which will strengthen the small muscles in the hands.

Dry Erase Marker Fun

You can work on prewriting skills without wasting paper by using transparent page protectors to hold worksheets. Start with pages that have dashed lines on the page in simple shapes. A straight line, wavy line, large cross, or an X are several great options to try first. You can find these shapes online or create your own in most publishing or paint programs. Then let your child practice tracing and erasing as much as they want. Get markers in different bright colors to give your child fun choices and, as they master each worksheet, you can substitute a more challenging one. Include sheets where your child has to identify similar items, such as circling all the red pictures or drawing lines between two matching items. These exercises will develop their fine motor skills as well as prepare them for learning how to write letters.

Tissue Paper Art

Use tissue paper to create great three dimensional art projects. Cut colored tissue paper into small squares and show your child how to roll each square into a tight ball and glue it onto heavy paper or cardboard. For holidays, you can cut out a symbolic shape and use matching tissue paper, like a red, white and blue rectangle flag for Independence Day. Most children enjoy crumbling the tissue paper and the bright colors and unique texture of the finished art is an added bonus.

Finally, it's important to remember that preschoolers learn through play, so try to make learning activities fun. With a little creativity and a few good ideas, you can give your child a head start on learning while also enjoying quality time together. And if all else fails, invest in packs of stickers and let your preschooler go wild peeling and sticking them everywhere!