Fine Motor Fun This Summer!

Summer is a great time for children to engage in fun activities that both entertain and work on important skills needed for development. Fine motor skills in particular are an important part of everyday life and can be worked on through a variety of fun activities.

Fine motor skills involve the coordination of small muscles in the hands and fingers, essential for tasks like writing, drawing, and manipulating objects. Below are some fine motor activities to keep kids engaged and learning this summer break:

Playdough Creations:

Set up a playdough station with different colors and play-doh friendly tools. Children can roll, pinch, and mold the dough into various shapes and figures. Playing with playdough addresses hand strengthening, finger isolation, dexterity, and can encourage creative and imaginative play.

Water Play:

Set up a water station with sponges, buckets, and containers. Children can transfer the water by squeezing and pouring it, using sponges of various sizes. This activity can be refreshing on a hot summer day and will address hand strengthening and coordination. It can also work on sensory processing through tactile play.

Stringing Beads:

Provide beads and strings of different sizes and textures. Children can practice threading beads onto the strings to make necklaces, bracelets, or other fun projects. This activity works on hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, bilateral coordination, and visual perceptual skills.

Nature Collage:

Take a nature walk and collect leaves, flowers, and small sticks. Use glue, paper, and scissors, to assemble a collage of the fun things they collected along their walk. This promotes fine motor, visual motor, bilateral coordination, and creativity.

Building with LEGO or Blocks:

Encourage children to build structures using LEGOs or building blocks. Manipulating small pieces and connecting them together improves hand strength, spatial awareness, problem-solving skills, bilateral coordination, and creativity.

Painting:

Cotton swab painting or finger painting can be a fun activity for kids. Use cotton swabs instead of brushes to promote a pincer grasp. Finger painting can work on finger isolation. This activity not only works on fine motor skills, but can address sensory processing difficulties as well. If wanting to up the challenge, have the child attempt to copy a picture. This will address visual perceptual skills.

Summer is an ideal time for children to explore and develop their fine motor skills through playful activities. The above listed activities are just a few of the many fun activities you can provide your child this summer. When working on developmental milestones and motor skills, it is essential to keep the activities interesting and create just the right challenge to keep the child engaged. Although these activities are great for children working on fine motor skills, they can be just as much fun for the whole family to participate in together!

I hope the above activities can inspire you to think of other ways to engage your child this summer while working on development. If you’re interested in learning more about supporting your child this summer break, give Therapeeps Occupational Therapy a call at (605)-204-0677 or complete our intake form. Check out how Occupational Therapy can help neurodivergent individuals here!

More information and resources:

• https://www.theottoolbox.com/summer-occupational-therapy-activities/
• https://www.therapyshoppe.com/parents-place/175-summer-fun-fine-motor-activities

Written by:
Taylor Giglio OTR/L