DEVELOPING FINE MOTOR SKILLS

A Fun 170-page Activity Book Suitable for Prek-3 Learners & Their Educators
Includes: Cut & Paste Line Cutting Shape Cutting Line Tracing Shape Tracing Shape Matching Number Tracing Letter Tracing Dot-2Dot Mazes Lacing Activities Fun Craft Recipes Fingerplay Finger Puppets Activities Paper Crafts Pipe Cleaner Crafts Printable Games Colour Sheets Teacher/Parent Ideas

www.staidenshomeschool.com Donnette E Davis 2007

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INDEX
Introduction Developing fine motor skills o Cutting o Placing and pasting o Tracing and colouring o Self-care skills o Finger tracing o Pre-writing o Writing Things to remember Age Rating Activities with fine motor manipulatives Fine motor activities Scissor activities Sensory activities Midline crossing Planning fine motor activities o Ideas to try o Making a prop box Section A Cutting activities o Line cutting activities o Shape cutting activities Section B Shape tracing & cutting activities Shape & colour recognition & matching Fringing Section C Tracing and colouring Sections D & E contain activities for you to do with your child outside of a workbook environment. Section F Pre-Writing Trace and Colour 3D Start Craft Circle Tracing Bear Route Line Matching Colour, cut and paste Sticker Fun Dot 2 Dot Trace and colour Tracing Mazes Tracing Alphabet Card Craft Letter Tracing Number Tracing Mosaic Tile Cutting & Pasting Activity

www.staidenshomeschool.com (c) 2007 Donnette E Davis

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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. It may be necessary to engage the other hand in an activity to prevent switching hands at midline. Refrain specifically from discouraging a child from using the left hand for any activity. Allow for the natural development of hand dominance by presenting activities at midline, and allowing the child to choose freely. 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 at easel, encourage the child to paint a continuous line across the entire paper- also from diagonal to diagonal.

Planning Fine Motor Activities

Credits & Thanks: The following content is (c) has been included with the express permission of Marcia Arpin of www.allthedaze.com Fine motor activities may and should, be incorporated into another subject area. A 'fine motor centre' doesn't need to be a separate entity. It is more successful it is part of another activity. For instance....a reading centre becomes both a Reading and a Fine Motor Centre when a child is using Wikki Stix to lay on top of large letters on a paper. At a Math Centre, have a bowl of marbles, a melon baller, one dice/die, and a plastic ice cube tray (the kind that makes a zillion little ice cubes). The children take turns rolling a dice and use the melon baller to pick that number of marbles to put in their ice cube tray. The activity is now both Math and Fine Motor. If a Fine Motor activity is not a part of something else, it's becomes simply exercise and is viewed as such.

Ideas to Try
Pick up and sort objects such as blocks, spools, coins, beans, marbles, cotton balls, pins, buttons, straws, nails, nuts, bolts, popcorn, etc.. and place them into containers of varying sizes (i.e. egg cartons, cups, mugs, jars, etc.)

www.staidenshomeschool.com (c) 2007 Donnette E Davis

SECTION B. Cutting, Placing and Pasting

1. Place a variety of forms (eg. blocks, felt, paper, string, yarn, cereal, cotton) on outlines 2. Match shapes, colour, or pictures to a page and paste them within the outlines Cut out the shapes on this page. Paste them on the next page in the spaces of the shapes that match. Have fun!

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This is a little more tricky. Cut out the shapes and paste them on the following page to form a picture. 33

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Cut out the apple on the dotted lines. Paste the two sides together to make a lovely red apple.

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Trace the outlines of the circles.

Colour the circles as follows:
#1 Red #2 Blue #3 Green #Yellow

www.staidenshomeschool.com (c) 2007 Donnette E Davis

Draw a line between the matching butterflies like in the example.

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Only one line goes from the monkey to the tree. Trace the lines to find out which one.

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Mosaic Tiles Print on cardstock. Have your child cut out the different shapes. When they are all separated, on a separate sheet of paper have your child paste them 96 into a picture, creating a stained glass or collage effect. For your convenience a page of blank shapes is included to print extra copies or for your child to colour him or herself.

www.staidenshomeschool.com (c) 2007 Donnette E Davis

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How to Make a Bird (Pipe Cleaner Crafts)

Pipe cleaner arts and crafts can be a fun way to entertain kids or the kid in all of us. Here are simple instructions to build a bird with 5 standard pipe cleaners. You will need 5 pipe cleaners per bird. STEPS

1.

Bend one pipe cleaner in half to form the legs.

2.

Shape another to form the body. 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) from tip of tail attach legs by looping twice over tightly.

3.

Move 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) from the tip of where the beak should be. At that spot attach a pipe cleaner with loop, and twist it in a pinwheel manner to shape the head.

4.

Use 2 pipe cleaners to enlarge the torso. Start at the bottom of the neck and roll around loosely: First with one pipe cleaner, then continue with the second up to 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the end of the tail. TIPS You can make larger or smaller pipe cleaner birds by appropriately resizing the pipe cleaners. Different coloured pipe cleaners are available at crafts shop to add some colour to the bird.

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Lacing Activities Print on cardstock. Colour the picture. Lace the picture using wool or string. 164

www.staidenshomeschool.com (c) 2007 Donnette E Davis