Play
Play is the most important thing that many children do. Their primary job is to explore and experience their environment. Their bodies are busy growing and their brains are learning about how their body moves in space, what is fast, slow or too fast, too slow, or how hard do you have to throw a ball to hit the target you are aiming for. At the same time they are strengthening all their muscles, both large and small in preparation for the tasks ahead of them. Success in academics happens when a strong foundation in play experiences that uses all the senses has been formed. Our muscles become refined with use and we develop large (gross motor) muscle strength and coordination before we develop our small (fine motor) muscle use. We encourage you as parents to provide your preschooler with a variety of opportunities to use their muscles. Below are some suggestions to help encourage both gross motor and fine motor development.
What is a Gross Motor Activity?
swinging, climbing, sliding, monkey bars, rolling down hills, hopscotch, jumping rope, hoppity hops, pogo sticks, play tunnel, wheelbarrow racing, riding a bike or scooter, swimming, hiking, digging in the sand, hide and seek, playing catch, kicking a ball....
What is a Fine Motor Activity?
Craft projects with any of the following can be a lot of fun:
popsicle sticks, glitter, crayons, chalk, markers, paint with water, sand play, playdough (For Playdough.recipe Click Here ) weaving, finger painting, glue, etc.....Use your imagination!!
Games
Memory, Lotto, My first UNO, magnetic shapes and letters, legos, blocks, tinker toys, colorforms, magnadoodle, etch a sketch, puzzles, Floam, Gak, etc...
More OT Home Suggestions to promote fine motor skills:
1) Playdough and clay
- rolling out with rolling pins or making snakes by rolling with hands.
- pinch off pieces using thumb and index fingers and rolling between fingers.
- just creating sculptures and having fun.
2) Water Play
- use a turkey baster to squeeze water up and transfer from one container to another.
- sponge play, do same as above, only use sponges.
- fill a bucket with water and have child "paint" the outside of the house with it using a large paint brush and promoting large vertical and horizontal movements of the arms.
3) Using Tweezers/Tongs
- you can play pick-up games. Anything from cotton balls, playdough, marbles to as small as dried beans and peas.
4) Tactile Play
- shaving cream, pudding, whip cream, cooked spaghetti, anything "ooey and gooey" The child can draw pictures in it or write letters and numbers.
- draw in the sand or use salt in a box to practice letters, shapes, etc.
- let child play with dried beans, rice and/or macaroni in a box. You can hide things for him/her to find. Same is true with sand or salt.
5) Have a child color with paper laid over sandpaper or an old screen with edges taped. This adds lots of feed back to the drawing, be it shapes, letters or numbers.
6) Practice ball skills
-catching, throwing at a target, bouncing, rolling etc. using various sized balls .
7) Painting/Coloring/Writing at an easel or some vertical plane. Promotes good writing posture and pencil grasp.
8) Chalk on the side walk, driveway or chalk board, again drawing pictures, shapes, letters or numbers.
9) Paint colored paper with water and paint brush or use paint with water books. You can buy in stores, or water colors, poster paint, etc., whatever you are comfortable with.
Internet Resources for Parents of Children with Special Needs
