Fine Motor Skills
Coloring Skills
Start with larger, less detailed images to color.
Start with simple images with straight or slightly curved borders.
Encourage slower, smaller strokes near the boundaries and larger strokes in the center.
Side-to-side motion when coloring; sing song "back and forth, back and forth this is how we color"
Color with small markers or broken crayons to promote proper grasp on writing utensil
Scissor Skills
Hold scissors and paper with a thumb-up position
Thumb goes in the little hole
Helper hand holds the paper
Rotate paper while cutting rather than holding shoulders and elbows in the air
To encourage children to cut on the line; can pretend that the scissors have a mouth and they are eating the line
Fine Motor Activities
Practice forming shapes, letters, and numbers using Play-Doh or pipe cleaners
Crafts that use paper, scissors, glue, hole puncher, crayons, and markers
Practice fasteners such as snaps, buttons, zippers, tying shoes
Lacing cards and stringing beads
Prewriting activities- mazes, dot-to-dots, hidden pictures