Picking up puzzle pieces and completing the picture exercises fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Small children might prefer puzzles where the large puzzle piece fits into a corresponding hole on a puzzle board with the picture of the piece inside the hole. As children get older and have more control over their fingers and eyes, you can increase the number of pieces to the puzzle and decrease the size of the pieces.
Play dough, modeling clay or any similar type of substance can be used to create shapes, hold small items and let creative juices flow. Hide small items like coins and buttons inside balls of clay and allow the child to hunt for them. Children like to play with play dough because they can do so many things with it. It works well to build fine motor control.
Place a small collection of items inside a paper bag and have the child reach into the bag and identify items by touch. The child can manipulate the object in any manner to discover what it is, except the child may not remove it from the bag until he or she identifies it. You might add incentive to this game by allowing the child to keep those items he or she correctly identifies.
Art projects provide many opportunities to use fine motor skill tools. Pencils, paintbrushes, pens, scissors, paper, glue, stickers and pre-cut shapes can all function as teaching tools. Using an easel or other upright surface helps improve motor control according to Shirley Erwee, creator of Shirley's Preschool Activities. You can encourage your child to use both hands to write, draw or manipulate objects.
Clothes and shoes can be tools for teaching fine motor skills. The hand-eye coordination necessary to use snaps, buttons, hook-and-eye closures, zippers and shoelaces builds dexterity. Dress up might be more enjoyable for children than getting dressed because this is play. Use a variety of your old clothes to encourage the child's imagination as well as fine motor skills.
Beads and cording can create attractive jewelry and build fine motor skills. Stiff cording or shoelaces with a plastic cover to the end might be an easier tool for some children to work with than softer materials. You can start with large plastic wooden beads and gradually decrease the size of the bead as the child's skills improve and you worry less about the child swallowing the beads.