Fine Motor Control - Page 5 of 74

The Hidden Meadow Rescue

Steps:

First, grab a piece of cardboard to use as your meadow floor.
Draw a few colorful bugs on the board with your markers.
Cut your green tissue paper into several long, thin strips.
Glue the bottom end of each strip to the cardboard base.
Let the top of the paper flop over to hide your bug drawings.
Place some colorful buttons or stickers underneath the tissue paper grass.
Invite your child to go on a bug hunt in the meadow!
Show them how to lift the grass with one hand while the other picks up a button.

Safety Tip:
CHOKING HAZARD: This activity uses small buttons and stickers. Always supervise your toddler closely and ensure they do not put these items in their mouth.

The Upright Clip Fence

Steps:

First, cut a rectangular piece of cardboard to use as your sturdy base.
Lay a long strip of masking tape across the cardboard with the sticky side up.
Secure the ends of the tape so the strip stays perfectly flat.
Use your markers to draw a winding path directly onto the sticky tape.
Hand your child the tweezers and a pile of colorful paper clips.
Challenge them to pick up a clip and press its narrow edge onto the tape.
They should follow the marker line until the path is covered with standing clips.
Once finished, they can use their fingers to pluck the clips off.

Safety Tip:
Always supervise your child during play. Small paper clips are a choking hazard, so keep them away from younger siblings.

The Wobbly Straw Slalom

Steps:

Roll several small balls of playdough and press them onto a table to make steady bases.
Cut your straws into pieces about four inches long.
Stick one straw piece vertically into each playdough base to create slalom poles.
Line up your poles in a straight or zigzag row.
Tie a single large bead to the end of a long piece of string to act as your weight.
Hold the string with both hands and weave the bead around each straw pole from start to finish.
Challenge your child to go faster or weave the string in a specific pattern you call out!

Safety Tip:
Always supervise your child during play. Beads and playdough are choking hazards, so keep them away from younger siblings.

Paper Cup Balance Track

Steps:

Line up six paper cups upside down in a row on a flat table.
Use masking tape to secure each cup base to the table so they do not move.
Use a bright marker to draw a simple line across the top of all the cups to create a path.
Place a ping pong ball on the first cup in the line.
Hand your child a spoon and ask them to hold it with their dominant hand.
Challenge them to use the spoon to gently push the ball along the marker path from one cup to the next.
See if they can reach the final cup without the ball falling off the track!
If the ball falls, have them pick it up using their pincer fingers and start again.

Safety Tip:
Always supervise your child during play to ensure they use the spoon and ball safely.

Bottle Galaxy Weaver

Steps:

Wash and dry an empty plastic bottle.
Remove the label so you can see inside clearly.
Use a hole puncher to make six holes around the top of the bottle.
Punch six more holes near the bottom of the bottle.
Cut several pieces of yarn into long strips.
Tie a bead to one end of a yarn piece to act as a star.
Thread the yarn through a top hole and pull it across to a bottom hole.
Add more beads as you weave through different holes.
Crumple small strips of index cards and push them into the bottle first to act as planets.
Challenge your child to weave the yarn so the stars rest on the planets.

Safety Tip:
Always supervise children when using a hole puncher. Beads are a choking hazard. Keep them away from younger siblings.