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Fine Motor Activities For The Classroom

Before we get into some fine motor activities for kids, let it be known that I had the pleasure of working with the best occupational therapist in our entire district. No other coworker compared to her! She would always come into my classroom with amazing ideas on how to help each student make progress and thrive while keeping in mind their unique sensory needs. Many of these ideas came from her. I am simply sharing them with you today in hopes that her ideas and influence can make it into other classrooms too.

image featuring fine motor activity connect four mini game

Mini Connect Four

This mini Connect Four from Amazon has been a favorite lately! The game chips on the mini version of this game are smaller than a dime which makes them pretty challenging to pick up. It’s great practice for students who need to strengthen their pincer grasp.

image featuring fine motor activity Mr. Munchie which is a squeezable tennis ball with a face

Mr. Munchie

Mr. Munchie has endless possibilities. Simply take a tennis ball and draw a face on it. Cut out a hole for the mouth and have students place objects inside the mouth. Mr. Munchie can munch on small pieces of paper that contain sight words, letters, numbers, and so much more! This can even be used with small objects like pom poms or checkers.

image featuring play-dough in the shape of fruit and vegetables

Play-dough Challenges

Play-dough challenges are so fun! Especially on those dreaded indoor recess days. All you have to do is show them a picture of something and they have to try to recreate it. It leaves lots of room for creativity and fine motor practice.

image featuring fine motor activity mini eraser sorting

Mini Eraser Sorting

Target is my favorite place to purchase mini erasers! Sometimes you can find them in these magical little boxes. The box itself makes the perfect visual for sorting. Sorting small objects is always a go-to when it comes to fine motor practice!

Sticker Art

There are so many ways to incorporate sticker art into your student’s days. One of my favorite ways is to use felt shapes from the dollar tree and seasonal stickers. For example, on Valentine’s Day we used felt heart shapes with a variety of stickers that they could create freely with.

Spinning Marker Tops

These are such a fun way to incorporate visual sensory input with fine motor practice. They’re a great low prep option since all you have to do is provide spinning tops and blank paper! Keep your eyes peeled for these in the dollar section at Target since they have them there too.

I hope these fine motor activities for kids inspired you to add something new to your rotation. There are countless fine motor skills that are practiced and strengthened with each of these ideas.

If you liked these tips on fine motor activities for the classroom, be sure to check out my tips for incorporating more movement in the classroom too.

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Toy rotations are a great way to increase toddler Toy rotations are a great way to increase toddler independence during play time!

Here are a few guidelines I try to follow when rotating toys. These are all things I learned in my classroom and teacher days!

⭐️present the toys “undone”. For example, take the pieces off the puzzle to help encourage completing tasks from beginning to end

⭐️encourage a variety of toys. Toys the encourage imaginative play, toys that encourage building/stacking, toys that encourage fine motor practice, toys that encourage problem solving, etc. 

⭐️Be sure that the toys are clearly visible. I used to use tall baskets to display toys within the shelves, but baskets = hidden toys🙅🏻‍♀️ open and easily accessible if possible!

Comment below if you’d like any links!❤️
✨3 MONTHS✨ What I loved the most about month ✨3 MONTHS✨ 

What I loved the most about month 3 are all the memories we made as a family🥰 We got to take the girls to the beach and it was so special! Lily showed us so many smiles and giggles this month too🥹 Month 4 here we come❤️❤️❤️
Lily’s first dip in the ocean🥲 love this litt Lily’s first dip in the ocean🥲 love this little family of mine!
Halloween Toddler Finds! Let me know if you wanna Halloween Toddler Finds! Let me know if you wanna see part 2 🎃🎃🎃
September Sensory Bin Details👇🏼 Trying out September Sensory Bin Details👇🏼

Trying out a new sensory bin filler this month-oats!

What’s in this sensory bin:
Oats
Mini pie tins 
Funnel
Scooper
Apples

What’s on the activity bin side:
Apple trees (made of water containers for painting and paper)
Pouch lids
Scooper tool

Let me know if you’d like to know where anything is from!👇🏼
It’s the final day of 10 days of learning tower It’s the final day of 10 days of learning tower toddler activities and it’s also September 1st so we’re making an apple garland for our September bookshelf!

All you need is apple shapes and literally whatever are supplies you have

Just tape your paper down and put out some art supplies! This was something that took us a whole day and came back to 3-4 times to complete.

Once you’re finished cut out the apples, add a little whole punch, and string them all together. Tape to your bookshelf and you’re done!

I still need to change out my September books but I loved the way this turned out!
It’s day 9 of 10 days of learning tower toddler It’s day 9 of 10 days of learning tower toddler activities and we’re doing a little dot sticker rainbow

All you need is paper, markers, and dot stickers

Just tape your paper down, draw a large rainbow, and hand your toddler some dot stickers. I like to just give her one color at a time so it’s less overwhelming

My toddler loved this activity! Can’t wait to do it with more shapes!

Stay tuned for day 10
It’s day 8 of 10 days of learning tower toddler It’s day 8 of 10 days of learning tower toddler activities and we’re gonna set up a little threading station

All you need is a cut up pool noodle and jumbo pipe cleaners (got these at Target)

You could also easily do this with cheerios and regular pipe cleaners too 

I love these thick pipe cleaners for this activity because the pipe cleaners don’t fall off easily.

Stay tuned for day 9
It’s day 7 of 10 days of learning tower toddler It’s day 7 of 10 days of learning tower toddler activities and we’re doing some toddler science!

Okay this is nostalgic because we did vinegar play all the time in my classroom and now I get to do it with my toddler.

All you need is a large tray or container, muffin tin, baking soda, vinegar, food dye or liquid water color, and some sort of squirt bottle or dropper tool

This activity gets messy so you’ll want to make sure to put the muffin tin inside a larger container to contain all the mess.

First fill all the muffin tin about 3/4 full with baking soda

Then add some liquid water color and mix up the mixture

Fill up your squirt bottle with vinegar and have them pour it over the muffin tin

If your toddler has a tendency to dump things (normal curious behavior!), this may be a better outdoor activity!

Stay tuned for day 8

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