3 Winter-Themed Fine Motor Activities for Kids
With the recent blanket of snowfall covering Michigan, now is a great time for some indoor fine motor activities to keep your kids entertained!
Fine motor activity involves the use of small muscles that control the hands, fingers, and thumbs. By strengthening these muscles, it helps children perform important tasks such as buttoning a shirt, tying shoe laces, feeding themselves, grasping objects, and writing or typing.
In keeping with the current season, here are 3 winter-themed fine motor activities to try with your kids at home:
Beaded Snowflake
Materials:
Beads
Pipe cleaners (2 per snowflake)
Scissors
Instructions:
Cut the pipe cleaners in half
Take the two halves and cross them making an “X” and wind them around each other so they don’t fall apart
Repeat with another two halves of pipe cleaner in order to make a snowflake with 8 sections
Grab some beads and thread them onto each of the snowflake sections
View full instructions on Pinterest
Fill a Snowman
Materials:
Clear bottle
Cotton balls or white pom poms
Sharpie
Instructions:
Draw a face and buttons on your bottle
Have your child fill the bottle with cotton balls using their fingers, or clothespins and chopsticks for a challenge
Empty the container and build again!
Indoor Snow Shoveling
Materials:
A bag of cotton balls or crumpled paper
Small shovel
Bucket
Instructions:
Dump the materials of your choice all over the ground. It’s a little easier to pick them up on carpet, but hardwood also gives good practice for problem solving skills!
Physically model or give verbal instructions to your child to “pick up” the pieces and “put in” to the bucket.
When they’ve successfully picked up the materials, encourage them to dump the bucket (maybe onto themselves like falling snow, or even have a quick “snowball” fight) and begin again!
View full instructions on Pinterest
Important note: Although it can be tempting for adults to jump in and finish activities like this for their kids to help complete them faster, it’s important for kids to get the opportunity to finish these activities themselves so they can develop their fine motor skills!
