Toddler Activities: Fine Motor
Toddler Activities: Two Simple Fine Motor Activities for Toddlers
Toddler Fine Motor activities: Jars & Lids and Chip Clips on a basket
Here are two super simple fine motor activities that will keep your child interested and engaged. Giving your toddler various sized jars with lids that open and close in different ways will peak interest and work their fine motor skills. Their cognition is also being worked as they try to figure out if the lids snap on or twist on. The second activity is chip clips on a basket. These clips work all the muscles in the hand, because it requires squeezing and hand eye coordination when trying to place them back on the basket. Activities like this are great because they use materials you already have on hand and they do not require much assembly time. Here is what you will need:
Activity # 1: Jars & Lids
Materials:
1. Jars of different sizes
2. Lids that snap on and lids that turn on
3. A tray to put all the jars and lids on
Instructions:
Place all the lids onto the jars and place them on the tray. Sit down on the carpet or on a toddler sized table and show your toddler how you remove the lids, then how you put the lids back on. Once you have given your toddler an example of what to do, them explore the jars and lids on their own. Talk them trough certain ones they are having trouble with but try to them figure it out on their own.
Skills:
Fine motor & cognition
Activity # 2: Chip Clips on a Basket
Materials:
1. Various clips, you can find fun ones with pictures on them, you can use clothes pins, or whatever you have in your drawers at home
2. A thin enough basket or plastic container to clip them to and take them off
3. Tray and container to place the clips in once they remove them
Instructions:
Place all the clips on around the basket and place the basket on a tray. Next to the basket on the tray, place an empty container to put the clips into once they are removed from the basket. Demonstrate how to squeeze the handles to open the clip and how to place it in the basket once it is removed. Once you have demonstrated how the activity works, allow your child to explore the clips. They may need a little help to figure out how hard to squeeze, or they may need a little help guiding the clips back onto the basket. Try to let them do this activity on their own as much as possible.
Skills:
Fine motor, cognition, hand-eye coordination
