Squeezing uses the hand and finger muscles to grip an object with constantly increasing pressure. Children can squeeze play dough, squeaky toys, foam balls or sponges. Daily activities such as squeezing bottles of ketchup, mustard, chocolate syrup or shampoo also develop fine motor skills.
Scooping and pouring rely on movements by the hand, fingers and wrist to grasp and turn. Use measuring cups, plastic storage containers, laundry scoops or plastic shovels to practice scooping, filling and pouring. Dried beans, potato flakes, salt, noodles, sand, bird seed and aquarium gravel each provide slightly different fine motor experiences.
The pincer grasp involves bringing the thumb and first finger together to pinch or pick up an object. Children will more easily be able to pick up larger objects such as noodles or crayons before they are able to pick up smaller objects such as buttons or beads. Using clothespins or tweezers to pick up items also strengthens and refines fine motor skills.
Stringing involves the ability to control the movements of the hand, wrist and fingers as well as the ability to coordinate the hand's movements with the eyes. Using shoelaces, yarn or ribbon, children can string individual pieces of cereal, noodles, beads or buttons. Alternatively, children can weave shoelaces through lacing cards made of cardboard shapes that have holes punched along the outer edge of the cardboard.
Cutting relies on a complex series of fine motor skills that include grasping, squeezing and releasing. Children will more easily be able to cut with scissors when the object they are cutting is firm yet pliable, such as cutting through play dough or straws; this allows the child to focus on the coordination of movement needed to use the scissors rather than on the material being cut. Once the child is more familiar with scissors and has developed some hand strength, cutting materials could include index cards, envelopes, foam sheets or yarn. As the child develops more control over both the scissors and the material, she can try cutting paper or magazines.
Writing requires a high level of coordination and involves the pincer grasp and squeezing as well as wrist movements. It often is easier for children to begin writing with large items such as chalk or markers, gradually moving on to pencils, pens and crayons. In the earliest stages of writing, children often use the whole hand to grasp the writing utensil. Demonstrate how to hold the writing utensil between the thumb and first two fingers about an inch from the writing tip. Children can practice applying the appropriate pressure to a writing utensil by poking uncooked spaghetti noodles into play dough or by using a mechanical pencil.
Hand and eye coordination involves the ability to control the fine motor movements of the hand so that an object is placed where the eye sees it should go. Puzzles, shape sorters, peg boards and small building toys help develop hand-eye coordination.