12 Fun Ways to Improve Fine and Gross Motor Skills
Fine and gross motor skills are important for a child’s development because they’re used to perform essential routine tasks. For example, doing up buttons, writing your name, and eating with cutlery all require fine motor skills, which concern the small muscles in the hands. Gross motor skills – those that deal with larger muscles in the legs, arms and upper body – are responsible for functions like walking and climbing stairs. Delays in mastering these skills might hinder a child’s ability to develop independence and might contribute to low self-esteem and delays.
My child recently started seeing occupational and physical therapists to strengthen weak hand and leg muscles. The therapists make every session a fun one by using playtime activities, such as drawing, bowling, and hopping on a trampoline, to make even the most challenging of exercises a good time. In only a few months, we’ve already seen some improvement, which brings me great joy as a parent.
This article explores some simple, yet fun and effective activities you can do with your child at home to strengthen their fine and gross motor skills. These aren’t just exercises for children with delays; any toddler or preschool-age child can benefit. It never hurts to exercise a muscle group. All the activities require materials you likely already have around the house or could purchase cheaply at a local discount store. There are both outdoor and indoor activities, as well as those for all seasons, so you can try them out whenever or wherever is best for you and your child. The most important thing is to have fun!
Fine Motor Activities
1. Drawing Xs and Os
Drawing and coloring activities are great ways to help your child learn the proper way to hold a crayon, piece of chalk or marker. Get them to imitate the drawing of lines – vertically, horizontally, and diagonally – as well as circles. These are the foundational steps to writing out the letters of the alphabet.
2. Do The twist
…with your hands, that is. Twisting the lids off jars and learning how to open and close other types of containers is good exercise for little hands and promotes independence. Turn this into a game. Hide a small treat or toy inside some jars and have your child twist their way to the buried treasure!
3. Make A Necklace
Threading beads onto string helps to develop grasping skills. If your child isn’t keen on jewelry, make a tower instead. To do so, take a dried spaghetti noodle and stick it into a piece of playdough. Then have your child thread beads down the pasta strand to make a beautiful tower.
4. Play With Blocks
Building with blocks promotes the development of skills like dexterity, balance, hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness. Help your little one to build cities, bridges, and castles…the possibilities are endless.
5. Pick up Games
For this activity, you’ll need clothespins or small tongs. Have your child use them to pick up small balls like marbles or pom-poms and then drop them into cups. Sort by colour to elevate this activity; drop red balls into red cups, green balls into green cups, and so on. Pick up games help little hands get ready for the motion required to use scissors.
6. Make Playdough Cookies
Molding playdough strengthens hand muscles and improves dexterity. Practice rolling the dough in between hands or on a hard surface using the palms of the hands. Squish down on the playdough to flatten it into a cookie shape. Make teeny tiny balls for pretend chocolate chips. Just remind your little one not to snack on them!
Gross Motor Activities
1. Become A Soccer Star
Kicking a ball around is a great way to strengthen those leg muscles and improve coordination. While this task is easily accomplished outside in warmer months, there are alternatives. Use a small, light-weight ball (maybe even a balloon) in an open space, like a basement or a hallway, to practice kicking and passing.
2. Pass It On
For this activity, you’ll need two people. The object of the game is for players to pass a ball to one another in fun and innovative ways. For example, one person can lie down on their back, with their calves up and parallel to the ground while using their feet to pick up and pass a big ball to their partner’s feet. You can also do this activity standing up, back-to-back. Twist at the torso to pass the ball back and forth.
3. Jump Up and Down
Jumping requires great strength and helps to develop overall good health. If you have a trampoline to practice on, that’s great, but if not, you can play hopscotch or practice skipping (with or without a rope). Another fun game is to pretend the floor is lava, and the only way to safety is to jump from one designated safe spot to another.
4. Throw and Catch
Tossing a ball to your child and having them toss it back is a simple, yet effective activity to build arm strength and visual skills. If the weather is good, try a game of baseball or basketball outside. If not, you can set up a game of indoor bowling or have your child toss balls or small sandbags into buckets.
5. Dance Like No One Is Watching
Dancing helps to develop coordination as well as your child’s awareness of rhythm. Put on your child’s favourite music and let loose! Elevate this exercise by playing games that also require listening and social skills, like Simon Says or Musical Chairs.
6. Namaste
Doing yoga with your child is a great way to help them improve balance, develop body awareness, and increase flexibility. It’s also a great way to help children calm down and better focus their energy.
Have a good time trying out these fun activities at home. If some start off as too difficult for your child, just keep practicing. You can guide them using hand-over-hand prompting and by helping them to imitate your movements. Happy exercising!