Fine Motor Activities Using Things Found at Home
Since Singapore’s Circuit Breaker was implemented, we are all spending most (if not all) of our time at home which means we needed to come up with a number of ways to keep our children entertained. While schools are conducting online teaching and giving out worksheets, there’s so much more activities that can be done at home which our children can benefit from.
If you are worried that the space in your home is not enough or if you are thinking you can’t do activities at home because you cannot buy things outside, then you are mistaken. This is why we listed some fine motor activities that can be done at home even if you have limited space. What’s good is that all materials that are used are certainly available in your home.
What are these fine motor activities?
- Water and sponge
Who would have thought that this is actually a good way to strengthen our finger muscles? This is activity is very easy. You just need a pail of water, sponge (any type) and cups/bowls. Ask your child to take a sponge, dip in the pail of water and transfer the water to the cup or bowl by squeezing the sponge. You can start of using right hand, then left hand and then do both hands at the same time.
- Cotton or paper ball drop
If you have an empty shoebox and cotton ball or paper, then you have another activity to make your children entertained. Simply put a hole on the box and ask your child to take and drop the ball into the hole. If cotton balls are not available, just take any paper, roll it into a ball and use these to drop into the box. This will help them practice their pincer grasp and finger muscles. Make it more interesting by putting a face of a hungry baby or animals. Then, ask your child to feed them using the paper balls.
- Pasta Pull
If you like food or if you are a fan of pasta, then this next fine motor activity is perfect for you! Go to your kitchen then look for long pasta and vegetable washer. If not available, you can also use plastic straws and tissue box with small holes. You can do this activity in two ways. First, you can let your child place through the holes the long pasta or plastic straw. Second, you can let them pull it one by one. This activity also helps them to increase their focus and attention.
- Bottle Caps
Empty bottles make my children entertained at home? Yes! You got that right. Empty bottles may be considered as trash for most of us but this is something we can use to strengthen our finger muscles. By simply twisting the bottle caps, small muscles in our hand are exercised. You can increase the difficulty depending on how tight you close the bottle caps. In addition to that, if you have different colours or types of bottles, you can also do a matching game.
These are just some of activities you can do at home. We are sure that you have a thousand more items that you can make use of at home. Be creative and resourceful! We hope this is article is of help to the parents who want to keep their children entertained. Stay home and stay safe!