Children with articulation delays often have fine motor delays. Sometimes, a consultation with an occupational therapist (OT) is necessary. Other times, children may simply need to be exposed to the types of activities listed below to encourage the development of the hand muscles.
Supervision is crucial for safety (many of these activities contain small parts) and to ensure that the fingers are used appropriately within each task. If the fingers are not used correctly, your child is simply playing with the item and not developing their fingers/hand muscles.
Encourage the writing fingers to do the work during precise fine motor activities. While holding a marker or crayon, encourage a proper grip.
During writing and many other fine motor tasks, the writing fingers (thumb, pointer, and middle fingers) are active, while the pinky and ring fingers stay tucked in, secure against the palm.
Proper use of the fingers lays the foundation for higher-level fine motor skills like writing letters and tying shoes.
Some of these activities are great in the car or airplane.
Begin with these fine motor tasks
- Mr. Potato Head
- Crayons – try coloring with small, broken crayons to encourage a better grip.
- Pip-Squeaks Crayola Markers
- Stickers – peel off stickers with a pincer grasp and place them on a vertical surface (a piece of paper taped to the wall).
- Magnetic Sets
- Wikki Stix
- String large beads or dried pasta – make a noodle necklace!
- Place coins in a bank – you can make a slit in a coffee cup top.
- Playdoh, Silly Putty – break off small pieces and roll them into balls between the pads of the thumb and pointer finger. Then, squish the small balls between the thumb and pointer finger. You can also roll and squish between the thumb and middle finger, thumb and ring finger, and thumb and pinky. Place toothpicks or thin birthday candles into Playdoh and make a birthday cake!
- Glue dry macaroni – make a collage
- Scissor work – make sure the thumb stays facing upwards. Begin with My First Fiskars and promptly transition to a kid’s blunt tip scissors.
- MagnaDoodle
Later, try these fine motor activities
- Standard hole punchers or try challenging shape punchers
- Lacing cards (or make your own with a hole puncher)
- Clothes pins – pinch them onto the edge of a container or a dishcloth. Alternate fingers (first squeeze with thumb and pointer, then thumb and middle finger, then thumb and ring finger, and finally thumb and pinky).
- Paper clips – connect colorful clips
- Practice fasteners (buttons, snaps, buckles, zippers)
- Eat with children’s chopsticks
- Blunt plastic tweezers – pick up small cotton balls and transfer them from one cup to another.
- Unifix cubes
- Zoobs
- Legos
- Lite Brite
- Small Pop Beads
- Pick Up Sticks
- Theraputty – Choose a texture that will slightly challenge your child and increase the resistance with a firmer texture. Hide pennies inside and encourage your child to find them, and then place them into a bank.
As mentioned, these activities are only helpful for fine motor skills if they are completed using an appropriate grasp. If you find the exercises difficult for your child, a consultation with an occupational therapist may be appropriate.
My favorite Manhattan Occupational Therapist, Lauren Stern, has helped me compile these activities over the years. She can be contacted at laurendstern@gmail.com or 516-298-4084.