I decided to do a little round of up 10 of our favorite fine motor activities in our classroom.
Some of these activities can be made with materials you probably already have, some will require you to make simple things, and others will require you to buy some things. But they're all sure to make your students excited!
1) Heart number matching:
We used a paint stick from Home Depot, paint swatches and clothes pins to make this pin. You can make variations of this task by having students match letters to build words or their names too!
2) Pattern beading/ threading
We use Lakeshore products for this activity, but you don't need to! You could use any colored beads and make your own colored picture strips for students to copy or complete the pattern!
You can do SO many things with color links! You can have students sort by color, attach a certain number of links to a card, or attach links to measure items!
4) Play dough and stamps:
We love using play dough with letters stamps! I found these letter stamps at Lake Shore but you can also find cheaper rubber stamps on Amazon. You can have students practice stamping sight words, their names, vocabulary words or building sentences!
5) Building toys:
Any STEM or building toys are great to use for fine motor activities!
6) Word/ Letter Beading:
Just like with play dough stamping, there are a ton of possibilities with letter/ word beading! You can have students thread: their names, vocabulary words, spelling words, sentences, etc.
Tip: If your students are struggling to bead with string, give them pipe cleaner instead! It's much sturdier and easier to string beads on! I also hot glue a small bead on the end so the beads don't fall off as students string beads.
7) Perler Beads
Every kid loves making fun designs with Perler Beads, but did you know that they have "Biggie Beads" that are a little bigger?! They're perfect for younger students or students who are still working on their fine motor skills!
8) Marble Gumball Machine
I found the mini gumball machine and marbles at the Dollar Tree. Students have to turn the gumball machine to get a marble out and then put the marbles into the can. They absolutely LOVE this activity!
I got the idea from the AMAZING Jenn at Teach Love Autism!
9) Tweezers Tasks
You can instantly make any task more fun by having students complete it with tweezers!
10) Frog Snacks
I reused Parmesan cheese containers and glued on eyes for a TON of different frog eating activities. Students feed the "frogs" pom poms, pieces of pipe cleaners, small bugs, and so many other little things I can find around the classroom!
