Classes, games, and exercises for the development of fine motor skills

There are many activities, games, and exercises for the development of fine motor skills. They can be divided into the following groups: finger games, games with small objects, modeling and drawing, finger massage. Articles about child development in the Montessori system as well as Montessori games will also be interesting.

Consider the most simple and effective games:

Palm massage

This is the easiest and most versatile for any age method of developing fine motor skills. With your finger, slide your hands around the baby, stroke and massage them. Accompany your actions with funny songs.

Clap your hands

Since childhood, everyone knows “Clap your hands” games. These activities will teach the youngest to straighten fingers and clap their hands.

Tearing paper

This exercise is suitable for children from 7 months. Give your baby a few sheets of soft colored paper. The kid with pleasure feels it, will start to twirl in hands and to tear. This exercise will entertain and develop.

Turning pages

After a year, tearing the paper can be replaced by turning the pages of some picture book or magazine.

Beads

Children like to sort out small items, which is very useful. Therefore, you can put on some beads with beads of various sizes and shapes. The child will be happy and interested to touch them with fingers.

Stacking and sorting toys

These toys are useful as they can be stacked, put them into each other. This game forms the concept of the size of the objects to a child.

Cereals

Put any cereal in a bowl and give it to your baby. This game develops fine motor skills and tactile sensations.

Jars of cereals

Put different cereals in jars and let the child take turns to lower each hand into each jar. So he or she will be able to probe different grains and take them with fingers. You can complicate the task. Before the child’s eyes, bury some small object in the cereal and give a jar. Let your child try to find this item.

Drawing on the sand

Put sand on the Art Light Activity Box. Take the child’s finger in your hand and run it on the sand. You can start with simple shapes – lines, rectangle, circle, gradually complicating the task.

The development of fine motor skills plays an important role

Fine motor skills are the ability to perform small and precise movements with hands and fingers as a result of coordinated actions of the most important systems: nervous, muscular, and bones. The field of fine motor skills includes a wide variety of movements: from simple gestures (for example, to seizing toys) to very complex movements (for example, to write and draw).

The development of fine motor skills plays an important role in the overall development of the child. Fine motor skills develop already from early childhood. First, a baby examines the hands, then the baby learns to control them. First, kids take objects with the whole palm, then with only two (thumb and thumb) fingers. Then the child is taught to properly hold a spoon, pencil, brush.

Fine motor skills have a very important feature. It is associated with the nervous system, eyesight, attention, memory, and perception of the child. Also, scientists have proven that the development of fine motor skills and the development of speech are closely related. And this is can be simply explained. In a brain speech and motor centers are located very close to each other. Therefore, when stimulating the motor skills of the fingers, the speech center begins to be activated. That is why for the timely development of the child’s speech, great attention should be paid to the development of fine motor skills. Fine motor skills directly affect manual dexterity, handwriting, which will be formed later, on the child’s reaction speed.

According to the peculiarities of the development of fine motor skills, the child is later judged on his readiness for training in a school. If everything is in order, then the child is prepared for learning to write, knows how to think and reason logically, has a good memory, concentration, attention and imagination, coherent speech.

Fine motor skills develop gradually, this is an individual process and it passes at its own pace for each child. At first, the movements of the baby are awkward, inept and disharmonious. To help your child improve fine motor skills, you need to play developmental games.

Development of fine motor skills of kids 3-4yo

The development of fine motor skills of children of 3-4 years old helps not only to improve the coordination skills of the kid but also contributes to the formation of beautiful and clear speech. One of the teachers and young kid development researchers said that the children mind lives at the tips of their fingers. And this beautiful metaphor has a lot of scientific explanations. Psychological research has shown that the development of finger dexterity has a beneficial effect on almost all thought processes – speech, memory, attentiveness, etc.

So will consider how we can promote and support our kids at this age?

Development games which improve kids’ fine motor skills have been already understandable for them in this age but any new information should be provided in an accessible game form.

For the development of motor skills, teachers recommend paying attention to the following types of activities:

“Circle the subject.” This exercise not only improves the fine motor skills of both hands but also develops the child’s artistic abilities. The task is very simple – ask the child to circle around the contour of any suitable object, for example, your own palm, the bottom of a glass, etc.
Finger theater. The development of fine motor skills in this age should be accompanied by an exciting game because at this age, children are no longer interested in simply sorting or pouring objects. Play with the child in the finger theater, which will permanently draw the attention. Finger toys can be sewn independently or you can buy a ready-made set. Coming up with actions for your character, the kid will train his fingers well, making them more flexible and agile.
Snowflakes and paper figurines. In 3-4 years, the child already knows how to use scissors, so it’s time to teach him or her to cut snowflakes and paper figures. Finished crafts can be painted with colorful paints, what also has a good effect on the development of fine motor skills.
“Little musician.” Playing musical instruments perfectly develops fine motor skills of hands, and also has a positive effect on the mental processes of the kid. If you did not plan to teach your child music at such an early age – buy him or her a toy instrument (piano, guitar, flute), mastering which will improve the child’s motor skills. In addition, fine motor skills can be developed with the help of other creative activities – drawing, sewing, modeling clay, dough or kinetic sand.

Crafts and drawing with colored pencils

Have you ever sharpened colored pencils? Most likely, you do this regularly. And when the sharpener is filled, what are you’re doing with its contents?

With these “waste” you can create a real masterpiece of art! I want to suggest you a lot of ideas of simple and complicated crafts from colored pencils shavings.

To create a real masterpiece you need:

Sheets of paper;
Glue stick;
Napkins to remove the waste of glue;
Colored pencils, pens, and markers;
Sharpener and shavings from colored pencils;
Something heavy to press.

Useful tips for crafts with pencil shavings:

Select the image you like and make a layout on a piece of paper.
Sort out long shavings from colored pencils by color and length.
Apply glue to the desired area.
press the shaving to the glued area, wipe off the excess glue, if it appears.
We put the final art piece under glass or cover it with any other press that will be easily separated from it with glue residues.

To master the technique of this craft, it is better to start with simple and small projects, gradually increasing the complexity. Other parts of the image can be made in another technique: draw or cut out of colored paper.

In New Year holiday season, it will be great to decorate a hand-made postcard or a letter to Santa Claus with a pencil shaving Christmas tree. It does not have to be just green: multi-colored looks even more fun. Try to decorate it with beads or any other small details.

Another interesting tip is not to glue the pencil shavings completely, just along the inner edge to get more voluminous images. Perfectly obtained this technique you will be able to create floral arrangements.

From large pencil shavings, you can create a “real” rose.

Crafts of colored pencil shavings look like the texture of animal wool and especially bird feathers. Let’s be inspired by these beautiful projects to create a real masterpiece!

Also, it fits perfectly to express fish scales, this feature can be successfully used and inspire you to make something special.

This technique you can use for any projects even with boys. For example, a spaceship or rocket. And if you take a colored metalized paper it gives the work a festive mystery.

Do not think that this craft is interesting just for toddlers. Famous artists use the “waste” of colored pencils reaching truly perfect results. Look at the portraits of famous people by artist Kyle Bean (Kyle Bean).

With the shavings you can create magnificent ballroom dresses for princesses and beautiful ladies.

We wish you the inspiration to create something really great!

Unusual painting technique on the surface for kids art activity

An unusual painting technique on the surface of the water called ebru art, also known as “paper marbling”. It is completely different from the usual painting and at first glance, it seems like a miracle. Drawing in the Ebru technique is exciting and not so difficult task that perfectly develops not only fantasy but also a sense of color for kids. The interpenetration of colors makes it possible to obtain unpredictable ornaments that more resemble a pattern on natural minerals or the plumage of exotic birds than the result of handmade art. Do not think that this art demands special skills, take a chance and this hobby will color your life with new colors!

Ebru painting art is suitable at home for kids and everyone, this is an unusual fascinating form of creativity. Watching the mystical birth of images from colorful chaos is an indescribable pleasure. In addition, each resulting imprint of colorful patterns is unique and inimitable, like a pattern of lines on the fingers.

It gives your kids an opportunity to fantasize, also drawing, you will receive a huge incentive to improve your skills. Paper marbling is especially entertaining – having tried it once, you will definitely want to touch magic again. In addition, amazing results can be obtained from the first time – no special skills are required.

ebru painting Marble painting, suitable for both people with expressive character and calm person – everyone can find something for themselves in it. Perhaps the only category that should not enjoy ebru art is people with a pattern of thinking, accustomed to acting according to a predetermined plan and getting the expected results.

Ebru technique is not only art but also a recognized method of therapy. This is a kind of meditation, plunging into which the artist is completely dissolved in his work. This method is often used to reconcile a person with the surrounding reality, bringing harmony into his life.

Interacting with the constantly changing pattern, a person learns to live in an unpredictable world, accepting, and see the beauty in the most ordinary things and situations. In addition, colorful marble painting, like sand drawing, helps to overcome depression and to believe in our own strength.

Ebru – an ancient kind of painting. How to learn to draw on the water surface? We share the secrets!

For adults, this is one of the ways to relax and dive into the world of color, get a positive charge and a lot of pleasant impressions for a long time.

For children, ebru is an excellent tool for developing imagination, motor skills, and creativity.

It is amazing how unique pictures are created on the floating background – this is the underwater world with all its inhabitants, exotic birds, animals, butterflies, flowers and landscapes.

In the Ebru technique, special paints are used which do not mix with each other and the liquid, for transferring a drawing to paper or fabric. All materials for drawing are made from natural components which allows you to draw with children. Children who do not possess great skills in drawing are able to create real masterpieces in this technique.

In order to create a masterpiece, you need:

Ebru starter kit

or:

low plastic tray;
water;
carrageenan powder/ready-to-use thickener;
paints for ebru ;
brushes and styluses(separate for each color);
a palette for mixing paints ;
paper (not glossy).

Pour prepared liquid into the tray.
Spray different colors of paint using a brush for the background of the future picture.
With a special comb, sweeping across the surface, we create a unique pattern for the next drawing stage.
Further, we use styluses of various thickness. Apply colored drops on the surface and stretch them into the desired shape.
Using the color scheme for the pattern, we add elements, giving the freedom of our imagination.
Next, take a sheet of paper to fit the size of the tray and gently cover the image with it.
In a few seconds, you can see real magic. We slide the paper carefully to the side of the tray and here it is … A masterpiece is ready!

We hope you`ll enjoy it!