Setting up an obstacle course, using various playground equipment items and other household items, allows preschoolers to expand their large motor skills. Use jump ropes, hula hoops, construction cones, large cardboard boxes and small step stools. Preschoolers can jump over the jump ropes, and in and out of the hula hoops on the ground. They can run around the construction cones, crawl through open cardboard boxes, and climb up and down the step stools, working many of their large motor skills. Change the obstacles' order for a change of pace.
Using balls of all sizes works a child's large motor skills. Play an improvised game of kickball with preschoolers. Let one child roll the ball for another child to kick. The other children try to catch the ball after it's kicked. Give everyone a turn at each position. Throwing and catching slightly smaller balls improves hand-eye coordination and other large motor skills. Use even smaller balls for target practice. Create a target board and have the preschoolers throw and hit as many targets as possible.
Dot-to-dot activities and tracing objects help a preschooler to fine-tune her small motor skills. Choose pictures that fit with the season, such as hearts for Valentine's Day, Christmas trees and stars for Christmas, Easter eggs for Easter and pumpkins for Halloween. Allow the preschoolers to color the pictures to encourage creativity and further hone small motor skills. Children can also cut the shapes out using child-safety scissors.
Puzzles teach the preschooler thinking and reasoning skills. Buy small puzzles that are geared toward preschoolers or make your own. Glue a magazine picture onto a piece of poster board. Cut the pieces into manageable sizes for a preschooler and store them in an envelope. Preschoolers use their small motor skills to assemble the puzzle, and their thinking skills to determine where to put the pieces and their direction.