60 TeachNursery.com

Helping children to develop the dexterity andstrength of their fingers and thumbs needn’t bedull, says Kirstine Beeley…

TENNIS BALL BUDDIESSlit a tennis ball, add googly eyes, a nose andhair. Squeeze your ball buddy to open hismouth and feed him counters, pompoms orwater beads for hours of fun. The smaller themouth slit, the harder children must squeezethe ball to open the mouth.

SQUIRTY BOTTLESOutdoors isn't just about gross motordevelopment! Introduce a wide range ofsquirty bottles and containers to build uphand muscles. Add targets to floors and wallsfor lots of pump actionexploration. Add paint tobottles and water pistolsfor squirty creativity with afine motor twist.

SPAGHETTI SCISSORSBefore children can controla pair of scissors to cutsomething out, whichinvolves strength andcoordination in bothhands at the same time,children need a lot ofopportunities to repeatand build their snippingskills. Giving children

access to lots of soft materials to snipbuilds the squeezing action and strengthin hands. Try colouring spaghetti andadding scissors and superheroes forsome fun cutting action.

SYRINGE PAINTINGExploring syringes of a wide variety ofsizes helps children build their handstrength and coordination. Addmeasuring syringes to coloured waterplay or fill them with watered-down paintto squirt some art. Fill with watery gloop(cornflour and water) or hair gel goo for astiffer squeezing experience.

CLUNK CLIPSBuild up a collection of bulldog/stationeryclips that children can clip to pots, stringand paper to build hand muscles. Lots ofdifferent sizes and colours ensures aninvitation to play that promotes strengthand coordination development.

Pinch an inchPinching is an action key to so manyeveryday skills. Zipping up coats, doingup laces, buttoning shirts, opening tincans and packets, sewing, holding cutleryand, of course, holding a pen all involve apinching action and require thedevelopment of both strength andcoordination.

Fine control

Fine motor skills – the cornerstoneof so many things we expectyoung children to be able to do,from getting dressed andundressed, to feeding, using

scissors and moving and handling everydayobjects. Of course strength in little fingers (andtoes), wrists and hands is important forcontrolling pencils in time, but it’s worthremembering that writing is only a tiny part ofwhat children need to be independent andconfident in their lives.

Here I’ve gathered together a selection ofsimple and engaging activities that build onfine motor development as part of children’songoing play, with the aim of buildingawareness of the underlying action or skillinvolved. Fine motor skills can broadly bedivided into four categories: to build strengthin hands and wrists children need to practisesqueezing, pinching and twisting, as well astheir hand-eye coordination – they need totrain not only their bodies but the linksbetween body and brain.

Squish, squash,squeezeThese activities will help children to buildstrength and coordination...

Kirstine Beeley_Layout 1 03/11/2014 10:21 Page 2

TeachNursery.com 61

physicaldevelopment

– this allows children to use toy woodenhammers and still be able to get the teesinto the pumpkins. Out of pumpkin season,try using half a melon or a watermelon.Alternatively, hammer coloured matchsticksinto play-dough.

THREADINGThreading is one of the most common finemotor activities, but with a little tweaking itcan be given a new lease of life. Trythreading beads onto stretched-out metalegg cups, or push spaghetti into foam forfun straw threading.

CURTAIN RINGS & CUP STANDSThis is a heuristic play activity that builds onhand-eye coordination, as well as providinglots of sorting, matching and size talk.Collect lots of wooden curtain rings indifferent sizes and colours. Use wooden cuptrees to give children something to hangthe rings on, and add a wooden kitchen rollholder to make a curtain ring sorting tower.Great for really small children and babies.

RICE & SANDUsing small containers and a range ofmessy play materials is great for buildingcoordination. Try colouring some rice orsand for added excitement andengagement. Plastic shot glasses are idealtiny containers and come in a range ofbright colours and designs.

and action, andprovide childrenwith a great rewardas the toy unwinds.

NUTS & BOLTSChildren love totinker, so providinga tray of nuts, boltsand washers in avariety of sizesalways provespopular andpromotes ‘twisting’whilst providinglots of creativedesign fun. Addmetal cutleryholders with holes for children to thread thebolts through before twisting on the nutsand washers.

BOTTLES & JARSA really simple but highly engaging andeffective activity is to provide a basket full ofsmall jars, bottles and containers and theircorresponding lids for children to explore. Aswell as the twisting motion, this activityencourages lots of size and shape sorting aspart of their play.

LOCKS AND KEYS Keys and locks hold eternal curiosity forchildren. Building up a basket of differentsizes and shapes is great for encouragingthat twist action as well as the hand-eyecoordination needed to put keys into locks.Try taking this a step further by buildingyour own lock board, where children canfreely explore a wide range of locks andbolts for tiny fingers.

SPINNING TOPSAge-old fun for little fingers, spinning tops aregreat for developing twisting skills, and thelarge pump-action ones are good forbuilding gross motor skills in shoulders andarms. The possibilities for open-endedexploration on a tray are immense, especially if you add timers and stopwatchesto the mix.

Get coordinatedAs I’ve already mentioned, fine motor skillsrequire the development of both strengthand coordination, so here are some activities that promote coordination morethan strength...

PUMPKINS & HAMMERSThis fun seasonal activity involves pumpkins,golf tees and tiny hammers. Letting childrenhammer the tees into the pumpkins isbrilliant for building hand-eye coordination. Hint: tap tees into the pumpkins with a bighammer beforehand to provide guide holes

findout moreKirstine Beeley is an author,

preschool manager and educational

consultant working with settings and

local authorities across the UK – visit

pinterest.com/kirstinebeeley

PODDING PEASThis is a fun way to combine fine motordevelopment with exploration of the naturalworld: try podding peas or beans. Oncepodded, moving them into small pots andcontainers again builds on that essentialpinching action.

COTTON BUD PAINTINGGet creative and physical at the same time!Introducing tiny tools to your creation areawill help promote fine motor pinching, andthe spotty paintings you can create withcotton buds are great for introducing thework of artists such as Georges Seurat andPaul Signac.

GEOBOARDSThere are many man-made geoboards onthe market that give hours of elastic bandshape exploration whilst using anddeveloping the pinching action in littlehands. Why not try to make your own withlog slices and nails for a more natural,outdoor feel?

TONGS & WATERBEADSHandling waterbeads (available on eBay andAmazon as well as scrap stores around thecountry) in general helps promote finemotor development. Add them to water playor shaving foam and encourage children topick them out using finger and thumbmovements. Add sugar tongs and bath matshapes and the invitation to squeeze andpinch becomes irresistible.

Let’s twist againA skill essential to everyday survival in this world of packets, jars, buttons andknobs, twisting is a fine motor skill that is often overlooked...

WIND UP TOYSBuild a collection of inexpensive wind uptoys; they will build up that twisting strength

I can’t go without mentioning play-dough. A staple of early yearsprovision and a favourite withchildren, it can be made in a rainbowof colours and scents to stimulatethe senses. Whilst children play,encourage them to explore the fullrange of actions to build up handand finger strength. Try squashing,squeezing, rolling (into balls andworms), cutting and pinching.

Bring on the play-dough

Kirstine Beeley_Layout 1 03/11/2014 10:22 Page 3