Fine Motor is so important in an Early Childhood classroom. Strong Fine motor skills help to strengthen those little finger muscles needed for writing stamina. Students without writing stamina will write less then their peers, not because they do not have the ideas, but because they will fatigue before they can write their ideas. They will write simple sentences rather then elaborate sentences full of exciting ideas.
I know what you all may be thinking.
What about social distancing?
When will I have time to teach fine motor when the kids are only here half the time or they may even be learning in a virtual setting?
I get it. It’s going to be hard. This school year will not feel like a normal school year. It’s going to be a little scary. It’s going to feel uncomfortable. My only words of advice is please remember, this is every preschool or kindergarten student’s first learning experience. It is not their fault that the world is turned upside down. We need to do out best to make a school a fun and positive place for students to learn. We want to foster a love of learning. Hopefully these tips and tricks will help relieve some of your anxiety on how you can make this year feel as close to normal as possible.
I have even included a few free resources to get you started.
I love the little photo boxes you can get at Michael’s or Walmart. You can use these to create individual task boxes. With individual task boxes, you don’t have to worry about students sharing materials (and germs). Clothespins are a great way to practice fine motor skills. Get those pincher fingers ready! You can fine these letter cards in my Back to School Literacy Centers or my Back to School Math and Literacy Bundle. I created the leters and numbers on my Cricut, but you can also purchase similar cutouts at the Dollar Tree or Target. I made the letter clothespins by sticking foam letters to the clothespins, but in recent years, I have seen clothes pins with letters and number in the Target Dollar Spot.
Play dough is another great way to practice fine motor skills. Kids won’t even realize it is work! These play dough sheets are great because they also include a space for students to write their letters to. Do you want to learn more about teaching handwriting? Check out this post. These play dough mates are in my Fine Motor and Letter Tracing Cards unit. They are full size sheets, but I printed them two to a page so they will fit in the boxes. You could use these during literacy centers or for Morning Work. When I think about taking temperatures, kids eating breakfast in the classroom, and parents sending in notes, I know this year, it’s going be very important to have Morning Work buckets set up in my classroom. If you are interested in learning how I set up Morning Work Tubs, check out this post.
These FREE Play dough dot cards are great for fine motor skills and strengthen math skills. Each number, 1-10 has 4 different dot patterns. These are great for subitizing. You can print these two sheets to page (that would be 8 cards to a page) and send them home with students. I think a lot of parents have play dough, but if they don’t you can make a large batch for fairly in expensive and send it home with students.
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Links are one of my favorite fine motor tools. You just have to add holes to existing letter or number cards that you have and students can link them together. In addition to beginning sounds, you can match upper to lower case letters. You can purchase the link through Amazon here. Again, these activities come from my Back to School Math and Literacy Activities, but you can do this with any center you may already own.
Pipe Cleaners and beads are another great fine motor skill. You can get these apple cards free here. I laminated the apples, hot glued them to the pipe cleaners and then added the red beads. In the past, I used these in a Morning Work Bucket, but you can easily bend the pipe cleaners and place them in a photo box. If you have students that are only working from home, this would be a great tool to send home. It not only gives them fine motor practice, it supports counting and one to one.
Cutting and gluing our essential fine motor skills that not all have kids have. they need to be taught how to just use a little bit of glue. They need to be shown how to hold scissors and take small bites and large bites. I have this FREE cutting sheet and glue dabbing sheet for you. Students can practice cutting on the lines or even writing on the lines. This would be a great sheet to send home to parents to practice with.
I have additional FREE cutting and tracing line cards HERE. These would also be great for a Morning Work Bucket or to send home.
I hope these ideas help you to support your students with strengthening their fine motor skills for Back to School. Yes, the year is going to look and feel different, but it can still be an amazing year for your students.
You Got This!!!!
