Children can build fine motor skills by making yarn pictures: drawing a tree, for example, then collecting objects and cutting out pictures to glue on the tree. Before beginning the activity, take children on a nature walk in the backyard or around the neighborhood. Take a bag to collect leaves, flowers, small pebbles, blades of grass, seeds, tree bark or any other thing the children find interesting. Allow them to pick up the objects and put them in the bag. After the collecting activity, give each child a piece of white paper and help them draw a tree. Give each child a glue stick or small bottle of school glue and a pair of safety scissors. Have the children glue their collected items on the tree. They can glue bark to the trunk of the tree, grass at the base and leaves at the top. They can also glue flowers in the grass. When the glue is dry, display the beautiful art projects the children created.
Cutting paper is another way to help children develop fine motor skills. They can create beautiful, intricate paper snowflakes by cutting folded paper. Fold a piece of white paper in half and then in half again. More mature students can fold the paper a third time for more intricate patterns. Children then draw patterns around the edges of the paper. Encourage them to draw different shapes like squares, triangles and circles. Next, the children carefully cut along the lines of the shapes. After they finish cutting, the children unfold the papers to reveal the snowflakes. Tape the snowflakes in a window or hang them from a mobile. Glue the small cut pieces on black construction paper to create interesting abstract art projects.
Cutting, drawing and following lines also helps children develop their fine motor skills. Give each child a pencil and a piece of paper. Have them create simple line drawings of their favorite things, such as a car, a flower or a doll. Assist children with their drawings if they need help. Give each child lengths of colorful yarn and a bottle of school glue. Instruct them to cut the yarn into different lengths. Using the glue, the children outline the drawing and glue the yarn to the paper along the outline. Fill in the large areas of the drawing by covering them with glue and then placing strips of yarn in the glue. Encourage the children to cut the yarn into small lengths and to complete one section of the drawing before beginning the next area.