Fine Motor Control - Page 71 of 79

Fine Motor Beads Kids

For this activity, you will need 2 pipe cleaners to form the body structure.

Shape the Body

Twist 2 pipe cleaners together in the middle – about 2/3 of the way up.

The twisted part will be the body.

Thread 3 large beads through both pipe cleaners to form a body.

Create Arms and Hands

Take both pipe cleaners and separate them, pulling each stick to either side of the body.

Thread about 5 medium beads onto each arm.

Curl and wrap the end of the pipe cleaner around the last bead to secure it in place.

These will be the hands.

Create Legs

Thread about 8 medium beads onto each leg.

Curl and wrap the end around the last bead to secure it in place.

These will be the feet.

Head Shape

To form the head shape, using the scissors cut one pipe cleaner in half and bend to form a circle shape with the ends twisted and touching.

Insert the ends of the pipe cleaner head into the top bead of the body to secure it in place.

Paper Flower

Provide the child with one pipe cleaner and 5-6 paper baking cups. You can use colorful baking cups or white ones.

Instruct the child to pile up the baking cups. Pierce a small hole in the middle of the stacked paper cups, using the edge of the pipe cleaner.

The child might need your assistance when completing this step.

Insert the pipe cleaner through the hole, and bend the tip, to secure the pipe cleaner from coming out.

Have the child lift and pinch the top paper cup towards the middle.

Then, repeat this step with the rest of the baking cups, until all paper cups are held up altogether.

To secure the baking cups from sliding down, instruct the child to hold the last paper cup at the bottom, right where the pipe cleaner inserts, and twist the pipe cleaner around a couple of times to create a stopper.

Once the flower is ready, the child can loop the remaining pipe cleaner on a pencil or a pen, like a pencil topper, or he can make additional flowers to make a bouquet.

Acorn Stamper

Draw an acorn on the construction paper (see images for example) or you can let the child trace an acorn stencil to promote fine motor control and visual-motor skills.

Let the child cut the acorn shape using scissors.

Using a piece of small sponge instruct the child to pinch it and dip it into the paint then stamp and paint the bottom part of the acorn cut out. You can also use q-tips or cotton balls to paint.

Encourage the child to fill in the entire bottom part of the acorn.

Have the child spread glue on the top part of the acorn.

Provide the child with a few dry leaves. Instruct the child to crumble the leaves inside the palm of his hand and then spread them on the glue. This will promote finger strength and finger translation.

You may also use beans to cover the top area of the acorn.

Fine Motor Marble Maze

In this activity, we create a marble maze to promote fine motor skills.

Start by gluing the straws on the cardboard. You will need to glue each straw on the opposite side as follows:

Glue the 1st straw aligned to the left edge of the cardboard
Glue next straw aligned to the right side of the cardboard
Keep gluing straws all the way to the bottom of the cardboard
Make sure to create a space for the marble to go through between the straws
The end result should look like this:

Let the glue dry.

We used a gallon size zip lock bag but you can use a smaller zip lock bag to create a smaller maze.

At the bottom edge of the zip lock bag, cut a small slit. Make sure you cut it on the side the marble will come out from.

Once the glue is dry and the straws are secured, insert the cardboard into the ziplock bag.

Close the ziplock bag almost all the way, leaving a small opening for the marble to fit in.

Put the marble through the opening and start moving it with your finger through the maze until it comes out at the bottom.

You can alternate the fingers you use to move the marble or you can use both hands to hold the cardboard and move it from side to side, letting the marble slide out.

Paper Roll Caterpillar

Using the pencil and the ruler, mark the toilet roll every 2 inches and draw around the tube. These will be cutting lines we will use to create the paper roll caterpillar body.

Take the scissors and cut around the marks you have made so that you are left with several short tubes.

Paint the tubes both on the inside and outside, it is more effective if you paint the outside a different color to the inside.

Glue the tubes to each other, end to end, putting one tube aside to use for the head later.

Glue the head tube on the top of the last tube in the chain.

Using the glue, stick the two wiggle eyes on the head.

Draw a mouth just below the wiggle eyes.

Using the felt or the pipe cleaners, cut two short pieces and stick onto the top of the head to make antenna.

Cut two more pieces for each body section the caterpillar has and stick these onto the bottom to create legs.