Fine Motor and Graphomotor Skills Exercises
Fine motor and other hand-related skills
Fine motor skill is the coordination of small muscle movements—usually involving the synchronization of hands and fingers—with the eyes. Fine motor is an area which is often overlooked, yet it is so important. Fine motor skills are the foundation children need before they learn handwriting, in order to have proper pencil grasp and control of a writing instrument. Graphomotor Skills are a combination of cognitive, perceptual and fine motor skills which enable a person to write.
My first numbers
Print and play with your children - you can use fingers, pencils, crayons, toy car or whatever your child like. Find and print free PDF file here! >>>
Mazes - Finger paths
Trace the way through the maze with the finger. The goal here is not to find your way through the maze, but to run through the maze - with the pen or finger - and thereby practice hand and finger coordination.
Cutting skills
Cutting out in all forms helps young children to develop their fine motor skills - and it's also fun. This worksheets will help your children practice their cutting skills. For children who are just learning how to use scissors, you can print these cutting sheets on thicker paper. The thick paper is easier to hold for the helper hand while the working (dominant) hand cuts. If your child already has experience with scissors, you can use normal paper. (Always use scissors with rounded tips for children).
Pre-Handwriting skills
Dot-to-dot activities are excellent for improving graphomotor skills and hand-eye co-ordination. There's a lot of concentration that goes into completing a dot-to-dot! Visual motor control is developed through dot-to-dot work and it is fun too. Click on image to open free printable PDF.
Some children begin very early to trace, paint, draw or copy the written characters, while the others show no interest in the pencil. Therefore, one of the first activities of the pencil may be solving the maze, where the child must trace between the lines. Look here >>>
Shadows on the wall / Hand Shadows
Explore the magic of interactive shadow walls... fun activities that help children develop gross motor skills. Click on image to open free printable PDF. Have fun and enjoy.
Other activities
Among the fine motor skills your child will perfect in the preschool years are the abilities to:
- paste things onto paper
- clap hands
- touch fingers
- button and unbutton
- work a zipper
- build a tower of 10 blocks
- complete puzzles with five or more pieces
The best way for you to help promote these and other hand-related skills is to provide your child with a wide range of materials to manipulate. Good choices include blocks, crayons, glue, modeling clay, construction paper, safety scissors, coloring books. This is also a prime time for puzzles, sand and water toys.
Enjoy your time with kids and, the most important, have fun.