Fine Motor Skills

Developing your child's fine motor skills is a hugely important step in preparing them to write and record their work. There are lots of really fun ways that you can do this at home.

Click here for a link to 40 great fine motor activities to try that don't involve handwriting.

 Below are some more activities that you can do, as well as some pencil control and handwriting sheets for you to print. Try to mix it up so that your child is developing the muscles in their fingers in lots of different ways, and have fun with it! 

Multi -sensory mark making ideas: 

• Draw letters with the index finger of the dominant hand   in sand, paint or shaving foam.
•  Practise writing the letters in the air.
•  Trace letters on the child‘s back and let them guess the letter you have drawn.
•  Practise writing the letters with their eyes shut as well as open.
•  Write on paper that is hanging on the wall, and develop whole arm movements to formulate a pattern.
•  Draw using crayons, chalk, pencils and pens and focus on the different feels of the writing when doing it. 
•  Use pavement chalks to draw on the pavement.
•  Try writing on coloured paper.
•  Use aluminium foil to write on or construct the shapes or letters.
•  Use different types of paper.
•  Use different types of tool, crayon, pencils, chalk etc
• Write on the side of the bath with wipe clean pens

Top tip:

If you choose to do some handwriting or pencil control worksheets, why not laminate them or pop them in a clear plastic wallet so that they can be used more than once? You can even buy wipe clean pockets online if you want to.