This is Part 2 of my series for fine motor activities for older kids. The 5 and up crowd, because we know the “bigger kids” don’t necessarily like to do what the “littles” are doing. So once again, let’s talk motor skills!
I’m showing you some ideas to work with your older kids on fine motor skills. If you haven’t seen Part 1, I’d highly recommend it to get more ideas.
#1 Lego Dotz – I love Dotz! This is the designer size set, but you can always pick up the more manageable size bracelet edition to begin. (Have a sandwich bag handy.) These are all tiny tiny bits and fit on lego plates, they come in all kinds of designs and colors. Super super cute! But seeing how small these little pieces are you see how fine motor is being worked in a different way than the regular lego brick size.
#2 Lego Bricks – As mentioned above Lego Bricks work great for motor skills, especially for hand strengthening. A basic creator box is great, comes with base bricks and a book full of ideas.
#3 Chinese Checkers – In the same idea as Triggle from Part 1, I wanted to suggest another game. Chinese Checkers, if you haven’t played before is similar to checkers, but with more players and more hand precision work, with those tiny ball beads. It is a simple strategy game jumping small beads over the others to make it across the board. Fun for multiple kids at once.
#4 – Perler Beads – Pretty sure we’ve all had these! Perler or “fused beads” is definitely a great activity for precision work. You have to have tweezers and move these tiny colorful beads onto a try peg to eventually melt together for the final result. Kids can pick to follow a template or get creative and imaginative, another great craft idea.
#5 Putty – Putty, Aaron’s Thinking Putty is great for all kids. (I actually have a video here all about them.) It’s my favorite kind of putty. Different kinds of putty for different feels, not sticky, not too young, and strengthens hands. One of the few putty-slime items I allow in my house.
#5 Lite Brite – I mean who didn’t have a Lite Brite as a kid!? Totally a great tool for those fine motor skills. Use it to challenge precision and hand strength. Challenge your kid to switch hands or make a design.
#6 Tetris Bubble Popper Fidget – Well, you know we love fidgets, but I particularly love this one, because there is a lot more of a challenge with this. Either by playing it as a puzzle piece, Tetris. Or it has an option for traveling as small individual bubble poppers.
#7 Diamond Painting Stickers – These smaller ones are a great start to see if your kid likes these, kind of like precision color by numbers with little tiny wax bits. These kits include a pen to pick up little diamond dots and attach them to adhesive paper with the design.
#8 Diamond Painting Posters – If your child liked the sticker version they may love these larger versions. Lots of color and character options too.
These are all a lot of fun and great for getting them working on their fine motor skills without even catching on. As I said at the top of Part 2, if you want more I highly encourage you to check out Part 1 or any of the links below.
Quick Links (affiliate links):
- Lego Dotz Bracelets
- Lego Dots Box
- Lego Bricks
- Lego Build it Books
- Wooden Chinese Checkers
- Perler Beads
- Aaron’s Thinking Putty
- Lite Brite
- Tetris Bubble Popper Fidget
- Diamond Painting Stickers
- Diamond Painting Large
VIDEOS MENTIONED:
Disclaimer: The products featured in this video were purchased by myself or sent to me for review for free. Some videos may be sponsored by brands that I enjoy. Make sure to *ALWAYS* use discretion when deciding on age-appropriate activities and supervise your children.
MUSIC: courtesy of Soundstripe.
