A quick Google search will lead to endless possible
activities to build fine motor skills. Pinterest is full of imaginative
activities to get kids creating with their hands. In this digital world, there is definitely no
lack of ideas of WHAT to do. However, in
the focus on the WHAT, it can be easy to lose the WHY. Fine motor activities
done without knowing the WHY behind them are still beneficial for the child,
after all, their fingers and hands are still being challenged and their brains
are working to integrate the new experience. However, when the adult leading
the charge isn’t quite sure why the activity matters or why it should done a
certain way, it is much harder for them to place value on the task and be
encouraged to continue to provide the child opportunities to further develop
skills.
It is said that knowledge is power. It is time to give power
to the parents, power to the teachers, and power to the therapists looking for
an easy and effective way to communicate with families about fine motor skills
and home programs. All this power will
lead to empowerment, with adults having a comprehensive picture of not only
what to do to help kids develop fine motor skills, but how to do it, and why it
is important.
But let’s be honest. Most people don’t have time to research
each activity to learn the foundational components that are being addressed.
What is needed is a quick and easy reference that pairs skill-building tasks
for children with straightforward and understandable parent education. That combination has come together in Fine
Motor ABC, an easy-to-implement resource with 26 targeted activities to develop
foundational and functional fine motor skills.
Fine Motor ABC from Skill Builder Books engages children with the WHAT and adults with the WHY while including an alphabet focus to facilitate literacy development, sign language to support kinesthetic learning, and rhyming words to reinforce cognitive development.
Why are animal walks important and why bother doing
them
before a fine motor activity?
Besides the wonderful alphabet activities this book offers, I truly enjoyed the incorporation of American Sign Language. This is very beneficial for my students who have speech and language delay.
This activity is my favorite!
The question is, how many of your littles need
help with proper pencil grasp? Most of them I bet!
Even for the students who doesn't need pencil grasp help can
truly benefit from this activity.
Parents, teachers, and therapists will benefit from this
interactive and informative book that highlights the WHY behind the activities.
More importantly, children will benefit because they will be guided by adults
who see more than a fun craft or cute project. The adults will see, and
understand, the true benefit behind each task. Why ask why – because it’s
important!
Who wants a free eBook???
Enter the Giveaway for the chance to win!
Keep learning!
What a wonderful resource for early childhood educators! My favorite fine motor activity is 1:1 correspondence with pinchers/tweezers and small items such as pom poms and themed erasers.
ReplyDeleteThose are great! I often incorporate math as well, like placing the correct amount based on the numbers.
DeleteIt will be my first year teaching this school year! I've spent a lot of time in PreK classes during my internships & service learning. I love how the PreK team I will be joining encourages the students to use "alligator fingers" to develop their fine motor skills with picking objects from a bin.
ReplyDeleteAlligator fingers are a great way to promote small motor skills development.
DeleteI like using songs and finger plays to isolate each finger. I will have to try the animal walks for upper weight bearing before fine motor activities!
ReplyDeleteThat's very developmentally appropriate! It's funny how some kiddos can't even show "thumbs up" at the beginning of the school year, and in a few months they're progressing tremendously.
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