To promote fine motor development, a game that children will enjoy is clothespin pickup. To play this game, children are provided with clothespins and small objects, such as pom-poms, stickers or ribbon. The children use the clothespins to pick up the objects and place them in a cup. The goal of the game is to place all of the objects in the cup. The opening and closing of the clothespin exercises fine motor skills.
This classic children's game is useful for teaching a number of skills in a fun and engaging way. To play this game, you stand in front of the class and say and act out directions. The children mimic your directions and actions, but only those that "Simon says" to do. If a child is caught following an action and direction that Simon didn't say to do, he sits out. The last one standing is the winner. This game helps with gross motor skill development, develops listening comprehension and teaches children how to follow directions.
Children enjoy going on treasure hunts. You can organize a treasure hunt that reinforces letter and sound recognition. Have children gather in a common area. Ask them to find an object in the room that begins with a certain letter or sound. The children are then sent off to find any object that meets the criteria you stated. Once they have found something, they return to the common area to share what they have found. This game can be modified to reinforce colors, shapes and numbers.
This game come from the website Preschoolrainbow.org. Children are provided with cut outs of ice cream cones and scoops of ice cream. The cones have numbers written on them and the scoops have a specific number of dots. The object of the game is to count the number of dots on a scoop of ice cream and match it to the correct numbered cone. This game can be played alone or in pairs.