Pre-School Readiness Early Fine Motor Activity Suggestions - Min-Mod

Early Fine Motor – Min-Mod Readiness Level Activities

The variety of activities and ideas provided here are by no means the only things you can try - personalize, adjust, and modify to fit your lifestyle, and your child’s needs and abilities. Use the suggestions given as a “springboard” to coming up with more ideas you can try. Giving your child variety, exposure, change, and experience are ALL growth and learning opportunities. Stay Calm, Have Fun, and Keep Supporting Your Child!

Fine Motor Skill Development for Children with Min-Mod readiness issues

Development of the ability to isolate your index or pointer finger is an important stage in the development of gross grasp and early prehension. Isolated finger action is the ability to move fingers apart and separately from the rest of the fingers.

Children begin using their hands as a unit, where all their fingers move together at approximately the same time. As your child’s skills develop they begin to use their fingers separately when pointing or when playing.

Being able to use your fingers individually develops into the ability to hold and control a crayon, button and unbutton their jacket, play with toys, pick up finger foods, push buttons or levers on toys, point to what they want or to help tell you something.

Activities to promote use of their pointer finger, then working to develop more control and coordination follow.

Remember, as always, stay calm, have fun, allow your child a variety of experiences, and repeat, repeat, repeat the opportunity! There is no right or wrong – just learning experiences for your child. Never force a child to touch or feel something they find overstimulating or distressful. Work with what is tolerated and try to expand from there

Fine Motor School Readiness Activities for Min-Mod Level TheraPlay4Kids.com

o Drawing with their index finger – let them draw lines, circles, arcs, crazy shapes, while using finger paints, shaving cream, through the sand box, at the beach, on steamed up windows, and so on. Anywhere they can make a mark with their finger (not their whole hand or group of fingers) is a great early learning experience

o Have them trace with their one finger along a drawn line (you can draw lines that are straight, curved, looped, etc., using large colorful markers)

o Have them use their pointer finger to “erase” a chalk line on a blackboard

o If they will tolerate wearing a glove, or just the finger end of a glove, have them erase lines and shapes made with dry-erase markers on a white board

o Have them use their finger to follow a wide-spaced maze from start to finish

o Hide items in playdough (marbles, coins, buttons) and have your child try to dig them out only using their index finger

Continue on scrolling past picture for lots more activity ideas!

o Make small playdough “meatballs” and let your child smash them as flat as they can by using only their pointer finger

o Place a variety of dried pasta (elbows, penne, rotini) in a small bowl and let your child try to place their finger on a piece of pasta and drag it over to the side and up and over the edge of the bowl

o Play “finger songs” where they need to point and wiggle one finger at a time (“Where is Thumbkin" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" as examples)

o Finger paint across a large piece of paper only using their pointer fingers

o Pop bubbles with their pointer finger – let them pop them high, low, to the side, and chase after them to pop them

o If you allow squirt guns or bubble guns, let them work on pressing the trigger to spray out the water or bubbles

Continue on scrolling past picture for lots more activity ideas!

o Place paper colored discs, bingo chips, checkers, etc on the table and have them push them one at a time across the table or through a set obstacle course using only their index finger

o Scrunch up little tin-foil balls or fuzzy craft pom-poms and have your child “flick” them away with just their one finger (where they curl up their index finger and them extend to “finger kick” the items)

o Point to specific items in a book – seek and find!

o If they can tolerate, draw circles all over a piece of paper then have your child touch some finger paint with just their pointer finger and “dot” each open circle; they can change colors used to create their own work of art

o Press stickers onto a piece of paper or into a sticker book using their pointer finger only to press the sticker flat

o Use finger puppets – Have fun with this one!

Continue on scrolling past picture for lots more activity ideas!

o Cut a slit into the plastic lid of a disposable container – let your child push pom-poms, buttons, other small soft and flexible items through the slit using only their pointer finger; if this is too challenging you can make the slit wider or larger, or get it just started through the slit and then let them complete pushing it through

o Have your child (if they will tolerate) pick up small, light items on their dampened fingertip to transport them to another area of the table or container (for example use sequins, small beads, paper cut outs from a hole punch, and the like)

o Come up with some ideas of your own and SHARE in the comments below! Support this site by liking and sharing this page and website TheraPlay4Kids.com - Visit us on Facebook too and join the group!

Continue On to The Next Topics Under Min-Mod: (Links being added soon - check back!)

Fine Motor Grasp

Fine Motor 2-Handed Skills

Self Help Early Skills – Use of Cup

Self Help Early Skills – Use of Spoon

Self Help Early Skills – Dressing

Construction & Creative Building

Countdown to 1st Day of Pre-School or Pre-K

Return to Main Page for Pre-School Readiness

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