Let s start BIG! Around the House

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1 Pre-kindergartners benefit from experiences and activities that support the development of fine and gross motor skills. Gross motor skills work the coordination of the whole body, while fine motor skills concentrate more specifically on hand strength. Children should have strength and dexterity in their hands and fingers before being asked to manipulate a pencil on paper. The following activities are full of fun games and ideas on how to improve fine and gross motor skills in your preschooler. Many activities should be done with an adult present. Let s start BIG! Gross Motor exercises for the whole body: Animal Walks (the crab, the bear, the snake) Wheelbarrow Walking Push-ups: Can be done seated on a chair and lifting your bottom up, against the wall or on the floor. Skipping, jumping and balancing all improve coordination, too! Playground, playground, playground! Climbing, pumping a swing, sliding...it s all great gross motor! Around the House Help wash & dry the dishes Load/Unload the dishwasher Use a broom or dustpan Use spray bottles to wash windows/tables and dry with a towel Dust furniture Mix with a wooden spoon Spreading mixes on bread (butter, jelly, peanut butter) Ziploc baggies are great for using two hands together Peeling fruits and vegetables Dry and sort silverware Opening/closing containers and pouring (milk, juice) Folding laundry Setting the table Button/zip/tie/lace/snap Open/close toothpaste cap and squeeze onto a toothbrush Brush teeth Typing Water plants with spray bottle Using keys Turn on/off faucets or lights Spooning items from one container to another Gardening: digging, placing seeds in holes, watering Help throw out peelings from potatoes, carrots & apples (very challenging for little fingers to pick up!)

2 Games to Make & play at Home Coffee Can make a slit in the side or top and place small objects into the can (coins, bingo chips), or make a hole and push worms (pipe cleaners) through. Have fun decorating your can to make a monster, a bank or a fun theme. Man Overboard fill a bucket with soapy water and put people in it (pegs). Have the child save the people using tweezers, tongs or fingers and put them back onto the boat (peg board). Put sponges in the water and the child can squeeze out the life preservers and let them dry. Mouth Ball cut a slit into a tennis ball. Place fingers at one end of the split and the thumb at the other end. Feed the ball items (coins, small toys) or talk with the ball. Pick-Up Games use tongs, (tweezers, game tongs, chopsticks held together with an elastic) to sort all kinds of items...pasta, pompoms, shells, nuts and bolts. Sorting Games sort various small objects such as paperclips, rubber bands, and buttons into small containers. Flashlight Tag follow a friend s light that is projected on a wall with your own flashlight. Frisbee Fun throw/catch a ball or a frisbee. Use a water ball on hot days for more fun! Dig and pour with sand toys in a sandbox. Commercial Games Don t Break the Ice Pick Up Sticks Jacks Marbles Jenga Ants in the Pants Don t Spill the Beans Kerplunk Lite Brite Checkers Connect Four Etch-A-Sketch Magna Doodle Battleship Operation Perfection Dominoes Yahtzee Games with Spinners

3 Play musical instruments Small wind-up toys Toy Time Tops using thumb, index & middle finger, turn wrist away from the body Finger puppets Pop beads Lincoln Logs Lego s Blocks Transformers Mr. Potato Head Bubbles hold wand and blow bubbles, then pop with index finger and thumb Toy phones Toys with keys/buttons/levers Nesting toys Dressing dolls or Barbie Scissor Activities When scissors are held correctly, and when they fit a child s hand well, cutting activities will exercise the very same muscles which are needed to manipulate a pencil in a mature tripod grasp. The correct scissor position is with the thumb and middle finger in the handles of the scissors, the index finger on the outside of the handle to stabilize, with fingers four and five curled into the palm. Making fringe on the edge of a piece of construction paper Cut play dough with scissors Cut junk mail or pictures from magazines Cut various textures: card stock, felt, straws Craft Ideas Play Dough! Mold it, roll it, pinch it, press it, pull it, cut it...the possibilities are endless! Use pegs or toothpicks to make designs, hide a toy inside for your preschooler to find. Squeeze sponges make a puzzle out of sponges put the pieces in a bucket of water and put the puzzle together Clothespins: cut a turkey or dinosaur out of cardboard and place clothespins on the edge to make his scales or feathers Origami paper folding Make puppets out of paper bags Finger print art: dip finger into inkpad or paint and place finger on paper on the table or wall Toothpicks: stick toothpicks into gumdrops and make a sculpture Eye droplets: make watercolors with water and food coloring and drop onto paper, then blow with a straw. Also fun on coffee filters Sticker Art Books Stringing beads or macaroni to make jewelry Wood working projects. Sewing cards Stencil/color/cut or trace Popsicle stick boxes Stamp art Fill spray bottle with water and food coloring and spray on snow or on a large sheet of paper Chalk art on sidewalk/driveway. Collages with pieces of paper, fabric or yarn Glitter glue art Tearing newspaper into strips and crumpling into balls. Use to stuff scarecrow or other art project Ready for Letters? Let s practice writing in...shaving cream, salt or sand in a tray, with play dough, baggies filled with paint.

4 When some body stability has developed, the hands and fingers begin to work on movements of dexterity and isolation as well as different types of grasps. Children will develop fine motor skills best when they work on a VERTICAL or near vertical surfaces as much as possible. In particular, the wrist must be in extension. (Bent back in the direction of the hand.) Attach a large piece of drawing paper to the wall. Have your child use a large marker and try the following exercises to develop visual motor skills: Have the child work on a chalkboard, using chalk instead of a marker. Do the same kinds of tracing and modeling activities suggested above. Make an outline of a number, one at a time. Paint at an easel. Some of the modeling Have the child trace over your line from left to activities suggested above can be done at the right, or from top to bottom. Trace each figure easel. at least 10 times (in different colors if you choose). Then have the child draw the figure next to your model several times. Magna Doodle turn it upside down so that the erasing lever is on the top. Experiment making vertical, horizontal and parallel lines. Trace around stencils the non-dominant hand should hold the stencil flat and stable against the paper, while the dominant hand pushes the pencil firmly against the edge of the stencil. The stencil must be held firmly. Attach a large piece of felt to the wall, or use a felt board. The child can use felt shapes to make pictures. Magnetic boards, or a refrigerator can be used the same way. More fun ideas... Practice shapes: circles, triangles, squares Draw pictures with crayons, pencils, markers and more! Trace stencils: simple shape stencils can be cut from old cereal boxes Play tic-tac-toe. Try X, O or other shapes Paint with brushes or sponge pieces Finger-paint with shaving cream on a shower wall. (Supervise to keep hands out of eyes and mouth) Mazes & Dot to Dot Trace outlines of pictures in coloring books Trace hands, then make them into turkeys Rub crayons over stencils, leaves, coins taped under a paper Make felt board or color-form pictures Draw and color a target, then throw koosh balls at it Scribble designs. Scribble a design first, then choose a small area to color Chalkboard activities: Use sidewalk or regular chalk. Erase with a sponge Zoo animals: Make a square, draw an animal inside, then have child craw cage bars (vertical, horizontal, diagonal lines) Rubber stamp designs. Roller stamps and regular stamps can be used, also washable ink pads! Cooperative drawings. Parent and child take turns adding parts to a drawing Draw on a foggy window with index finger Paint on outside walls with a CLEAN paintbrush dipped in water

5 Strong Hands and Fingers are Important The hand muscles are vital for skilled movement, speed, and an efficient functional grasp. As the hand develops, the thumb side becomes more skilled in precision while the other side, the power side, becomes stronger. This is essential for developing a functional writing grasp and general hand dexterity. Snap fingers There are lots of fun activities to help with the small muscles in the hand... Play games with cards, coins, chips or pegs to manipulate Work on stringing or lacing activities. Begin with larger beads and work toward smaller Use tweezers. Have a race to see who can move 10 cotton balls from one cup to another the fastest. Pick up small objects on the floor or table Do art projects using a hole punch. Craft stores have fun shaped hole punches Practice dressing skills with buttons, zippers and snaps Use clothespins with putty or clay to pinch or to hang up papers (make an art gallery) Play tug of war Use toys that push and pull apart, such as Lego s, Duplo s, bristle blocks, Mr. Potato Head Stir/kneed batter, cookie dough or bread dough. Chilled dough will increase resistance. Play with large sponges and basters in a water tub or bath Use a manual eggbeater Pop packing bubbles More Fine Motor and Bilateral Co-ordination Fun Shake dice by cupping hands together, forming an empty air space between the palms Practice using small-sized screwdrivers (similar to ones found in Erector sets) Turn over cards, coins, checkers or buttons without bringing them to the edge of the table Learn the sign language alphabet Hold a pencil in your thumb and fingertips so that the point is facing toward you. Without putting the pencil down or helping with the other hand, twirl the pencil in your fingertips so that the point is facing away from you. Drum fingers against tabletop. Start with the little finger moving towards the index finger.

6 Sensory Activities The following activities can be done frequently to increase postural muscle strength and endurance. These activities also strengthen the child s awareness of his/her hands. Wheelbarrow or crab walking Clapping games (loud/quiet, on knees) Catching (clapping) bubbles between hands Drawing in a tactile medium such as wet sand, salt, rice or goop. Make goop by adding water to cornstarch until you have a toothpaste-like consistency. Pick out small objects (pegs, beads, coins, etc), from a tray of salt, sand, rice or putty. Try with eyes closed too! Midline Crossing Establishment of hand dominance is still developing at this point. The following activities will facilitate midline crossing: Encourage reaching across the body for materials with each hand. For some, it may be necessary to engage the other hand in an activity to prevent switching hands at midline. Start making the child aware of the left and right sides of his body through spontaneous comments like, kick the ball with your right leg. Play imitation posture games like Simon Says with across the body movements. When painting or drawing at an easel, encourage the child to draw a continuous line across the entire paper and from diagonal to diagonal.

7 Encouraging Young Children to use their VISION There are many visual skills a child needs to develop. Exposing your child to a range of activities and experiences will assist them with this and have some fun too! Visual Perception Activities: Matching, sorting & labeling based on color, shape, size, texture, function, etc. Sorting and labeling pictures Picture matching games Matching object to outlines drawn Pattern making using pegboards or threading beads Pictures requiring the child to find What s Wrong Spot the difference between 2 pictures...start simple Picture sequencing using simple sequences for daily life Memory games using a small selection of picture cards and finding pairs Memory games where beads, pegs or cards are placed in a color pattern and then covered. The child tries to remember and copy the pattern (start with 4 items.) Traffic Lights : Create 3 large cards: Red=sit, yellow= stand, green=run. Same idea can be applied to other movements and shapes: circle=hop, square=jump, triangle=crouch, etc. What s Missing? - present 2, 3, 4 or 5 objects, cover and take one or more away What s Been Added? - see above but add an object What did you see? - show 2, 3, 4 or 5 objects for 10 seconds. Cover and the child recalls what has been seen. Blanket Game: using a small group of children (not more than 5), cover one child with a blanket which the children close their eyes. One child guesses who is missing.

8 Tracking Activities This involves focusing the eyes on one point and moving them rhythmically from side to side, up and down and diagonally. Blow bubbles and the child watches and snaps with their hands Torch Tag: where two children each have a flash light and follow the beam of one flash light from one place to another with the other child tracking the first Visually track a ball as it is rolled down a slope, across grass, over a table or down a slide. Count until the ball stops or catch it as it stops. Use a large beach ball (slow) or a tennis ball (fast) or a hoop Shadows : watch partner s shadow and try to tread on it as it moves Blow ping-pong balls with a straw Track colored water traveling through clear PVC tubing as it is syphoned from a water trough into a bucket Bouncing balloons up in the air, keeping them off of the floor Child kicks a ball as it is rolled towards them Rolling a ball up a slide, watch it return and catch it Batting a ball suspended in a doorway There are lots of commercially made toys that involve tracking little men, balls, cars, etc. down a slope Visual Motor Integration This is the ability to coordinate vision with the movements of the body or parts of the body...e.g. hand/eye coordination. It is important to remember that each child s success with these activities will depend on their level of vision, their previous experiences, level of motivation and level of cognitive function. This would include sand and water play, construction kits and most gross and fine motor activities. Here are some other fun ideas: Throwing beanbags through hoops or into hoops lying on the ground Throwing balls at a chalk face drawn on the wall Catching and throwing balls. Throwing balls through a tunnel or through a friend s legs, throwing balls into a bin nailed to the fence Cutting and pasting activities. Provide thick texta lines if cutting along a line Sewing and weaving activities Dot to Dot exercises with very simple pictures Puzzles, games and manipulative activities Hammering activities both commercial varieties as well as when doing woodwork Nuts and bolts, screwing lids on containers, and as part of a construction set Using walk boards; on the ground, raised, sloping or with objects for the child to step over, carry or pick up Climbing activities using ladders, slides, stairs, trestles etc Printing with fingers, hands, feet and a variety of objects