In this BLOG post I will teach you how to set-up this simple, fun and effective fine motor activity!
Fine motor skills are an integral part of our everyday life: they help up with self-care skills such as brushing our teeth, feeding ourselves, buttoning buttons and zippering our coat. They are also responsible for important tasks such as pencil grasp and scissor skills.
Incorporating sensory play, especially play dough, into your daily routine is an AMAZING way to strengthen those fine motor skills, through PLAY!
It doesn't matter if you use storebought or homemade playdough, the benefits will be the same! If you do want to make your own together, check out the BEST recipe in all the land HERE!
If you do make your own, you get the added benefits of teaching how to follow a recipe and stove safety, plus it will last 6 months or longer!
Play dough is a great tool to use to strengthen fine motor skills for SO many reasons. To start, it is soft and squishy and a fun tactile experience for kids. You can make it colorful and add in a layer or color identification and color mixing. You can add in scents (seasonings or essential oils) and explore the senses through smell.
You can differentiate set-ups in an endless number of ways. Is your child a fan of trucks and diggers? Add them in!
Do they love mermaids and princesses? Let them smoosh them into the dough!
Are they a lover of all things sparkly? Add in some gems and hide them in the dough!
Truly, play dough lends itself to any theme and has never-ending possibilities for learning and play.
Not to mention play dough is an INCREDIBLE way to work on skills such as scissor and knife skills in a safe and developmentally appropriate way!
This activity is perfect for the holiday season, but it can be done year-round with different materials!
To set it up, roll play dough into "snake shapes" and put them on a sensory tray or baking pan. Provide the child with small lights (these are from Hobby Lobby!) or any other small trinket that you have. The key is you want it to be small enough to encourage their fingers to move into the pincer grasp! Other options you can use are small Lego pieces, rocks, cheerios, gems, Pom Poms, golf tees etc.
While they push and smoosh the objects in, they are strengthening their finger grasp, while also working on skills such as:
hand-eye coordination
bilateral coordination
crossing the midline
social skills (manners, turn-taking, sharing)
language and vocabulary
cognitive skills
You can extend your learning by also practicing:
color identification
patterning
sorting
counting
When they're done, have them PULL all of the objects out for more fine motor strengthening and play again!
You can switch it up by giving them challenges such as:
Can you put all of the blue lights in?
Can you make a pattern with the red and blue lights?
Can you close your eyes and try to put the ornaments in?
Can you use your non-dominant hand to put them in?
Can you use tongs or tweezers to pull them out?
Play dough truly is the best and the opportunities for learning and play are endless!
Here is a list of alternate activities you can try to strengthen motor skills!
Roll the play dough into three equal sized balls. Hide a light (or any small trinket) in one of them. Have them smoosh and dig through the balls until they find the hidden treasure! Repeat!
Roll the play dough into a snake shape. Use safety scissors (no blade) or a kid-friendly knife to work on scissor and knife skills.
Grab cookie cutters from the kitchen and practice flattening the dough and cutting out shapes.
Roll the dough into a big ball. Smoosh golf tees or toothpicks into it.
Smoosh buttons or beads into the dough.
Use a rolling pin and practice pushing down with just enough force to flatten the dough out.
Pull off a piece of dough and practice rolling it into balls. You can do this by holding the dough in between both of your hands and rolling it OR put it on a table and roll the dough under one hand. Switch hands and see which feels stronger!
Use play dough stamps to stamp into the dough.
Use plastic letters, numbers or shapes to stamp into the dough.
Use small trinkets to make patterns in the dough.
Flatten the dough and roll race cars, trucks and/or diggers in the dough and examine the tracks that each one makes.
Flatten the dough and use dinosaurs to "walk" across the dough. Examine the different tracks that each one makes!
Flatten the dough. Collect leaves that have fallen to the ground. Press the leaf into the dough and slowly pull it off, examining the intricate lines of each leaf!
Pull off small pieces of dough and roll them in between your thumb and pointer finger.
Roll the dough into a long snake. Twist it into a flower or cinnamon roll shape!
Make different color dough and practice color mixing.
Make different color dough and practice sorting pom poms or other colorful objects.
Make a ball of dough and put a long piece of spaghetti in it so it is pointing up. Practice threading cheerios onto the piece of spaghetti without breaking it!
Print out play dough mats and practice forming letters, numbers and/or shapes.
Just let them CREATE!
You get to decide what is safe and manageable in your home. Always monitor children for safety.
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