Below are some of my all time favorite toys and tools for fine motor development that are great to have in your home!
The mini loop (red) and loop scissors are great “first” scissors to help young children grasp the motion of opening and closing without having to manage finger placement just yet (which is a common struggle with learning to cut).
The Maped “Koopy” scissors are a great next step. They have a spring, which helps with that opening and closing motion that is still tough for little hands to manage with standard scissors. Unlike the loop scissors, finger/hand placement is learned with these scissors. Once they get the hang of it, the spring can be released and they transition to standard scissors. *Always supervise your child when using scissors and store in a place where they can not access on their own!
The pie sorting game and Mr. Potato Head are both great activities for building fine motors skills. Yes–toys can be “tools”! The pie game includes tongs that children use by squeezing the small muscles in their hand to grab the fruit. Mr. Potato Head boosts hand-eye coordination as children push the pieces into the openings on Mr. Potato Head.
The Melissa & Doug dough tools set is great to use with homemade or store-bought playdough. If your child needs cutting practice, using these scissors during play can make it fun! My recipe for homemade playdough can be found at the bottom of THIS blog post.
Crayon rocks are one of my absolute favorite fine motor tools! They encourage children to use the correct “tripod” grasp with their finger placement because of their small size which helps with eventual pencil grip. Kids love these!
Here are some additional ways you can support your child’s fine motor development:
Lacing Cards
A great activity to build up the small muscles of the hand and also to practice before learning to tie shoes!
Peg Boards
These boards are beneficial for hand-eye coordination. They require children to use the small muscles of their hand while simultaneously having to focus on the small target using visual perception skills.
art supplies
These first art tools are a great way for little ones to get creative while building their fine motor skills! The Jumbo paint brushes are great for babies to practice holding and “painting” with just water on colored construction paper!
Activities/games
There are so many activities and games out there and probably many that you already have in your home that focus on fine motor skills (without kids even knowing it!). Here are a few of my favorites that I had in my early childhood classroom:
Questions?
Questions about how I have used these tools or activities with young children? Just ask! Write in the comments below, e-mail me at: eatplayreadMI@gmail.com or message me on social media.
DISCLOSURE: Eat Play Read is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you valuable content on child development. Read more about these links in my privacy policy.