It’s been shown that children lose skills over the summer so I wanted to share 20 activities you can have your preschooler do to help them practice their fine motor skills. Most of these work for other seasons as well so this list can be used year-round.
1) Have them blow bubbles and pop them with their pointer finger or clapping with two hands.
2) Have them use sidewalk chalk to draw pictures or practice writing their name
3) Let them help you pull weeds using their pincer grasp.
4) Play finger soccer with cotton balls
5) “Paint” with water on the sidewalk
6) Make a rain stick out of toothpicks, beads, and pebbles and a paper towel tube. Let them poke the holes in the tube with the toothpicks.
7) Have a toy wash. Have them squeeze the water out of the sponge while washing the toys and press the nozzle on the hose to rinse the toys off.
8) Make cookies together. Have your preschooler help stir the thick batter.
9) Have your child make a paper chain to count down to a vacation or fun summer event. Have them cut out strips of paper and then loop together and glue the ends to make a chain.
10) Squirt shaving cream onto a clean table and let your child draw pictures in it. (Watch that they don’t put it in their mouth)
11) Have a picnic in the backyard or at a local park and let your child open the containers and baggies.
12) Get the playdough out and have your child make faces with the playdough. Roll the playdough into a long piece for the mouth, roll into balls for the eyes, etc.
13) Make necklaces. Have your child paint pasta noodles and then, once dry, put them on a string.
14) Celebrate friendship. Color a picture for a friend.
15) Have a lemonade stand! Let your child stir the lemonade.
16) Sponge paint flower pots together and then plant something in them.
17) Head to the beach or a sandbox and have your child practice writing their name in the sand.
18) Make a marshmallow sculpture with your child. Poke toothpicks into marshmallows and build a sculpture.
19) Read books together. Let your child turn the pages themselves.
20) Have your child sort pom poms or other small items into ice cube trays. You can have your child do the sorting by shape or color.
These are great ideas. When I taught Kindergarten a lot of kids really needed help with fine motor activities. I used a lot of these ideas in my classroom
Making necklaces and string large beads is something we use to do all the time with the girls when they were little. It is amazing to see their faces concentrate so intently!