Print out a series of simple mazes for your students to finish. Make these yourself using graphing paper and pencils or print out mazes from online sources. Correct their grip on the pencil if necessary and give them tips on how to push down the pencil to the paper properly. Give them several minutes to finish and collect their mazes. Give each student a small treat for finishing.
Hand out several black and white pictures that utilize kid friendly images. Example images can include cartoon animals, sports images or even images of children from their class. Give each child a pencil and tell them to trace along the outside edges of the image. Show them how to do it so they understand the process completely. Double check their progress to make sure they are tracing properly. Let them free draw after a few minutes of tracing.
Put a large plastic tub of Play Doh in the center of each table. Make sure there is enough for each kid to use. Watch them to make sure they are sharing with each other politely. Ask them to mold their favorite item using the Play Doh. Encourage them to think of things that their fellow students aren't making. Make your own model along with your students and introduce them to more complex molding techniques. These techniques should utilize precise finger movement to improve their finger muscle strength.
Hand out dice for your students to roll on their table. Show them the proper method of dice rolling, including cupping the dice in your hand and controlling how hard you squeeze. Stop children from throwing the dice but encourage them to have fun with it. Few if any of them are likely to understand how to count so don't hand out board games with the dice. Instead, use this as a brief break between more complex pre-writing activities, such as drawing or molding with Play Doh.
Improve your students' fine motor skills by encouraging them to make toothpick art. You can also use craft sticks if you feel uncomfortable using pointed objects. Make several simple shapes before the class begins using toothpicks and glue. Show these to the children and ask them to copy your shapes. Give them a few minutes to glue the sticks together in the right shape. Let them make whatever kind of art they want after they are finished.