Fine Motor Success

Fine motor activities for kids can help with handwriting, strengthen pencil grip, improve handwriting (which makes writing easier!) and it is just fun!  These ideas work great in a preschool, preK, kindergarten, or 1st grade classroom!

Do you ever read a blog post and then just think.....oh man, I need to do that! But then I think no, I don't have the time, when would I ever implement it, I'm sure it works for her but it won't for me....wait it's really cool though and I'm sure my kids would love it.......

Yeah, me too. The struggle is real!

I am an avid blog hopper and today's success is all thanks to Marsha at A Differentiated Kindergarten. You can read her post that inspired me HERE. It's all about fine motor morning work.

I read her post some time last year and thought to myself I should put those together because they would be great. Well...fast forward a year later and I finally got around to it! I am kicking myself because they are so awesome!  I followed her directions almost exactly to set up my fine motor drawers. Right down to the drawers I purchased at Walmart. I had most of what I needed from scrapbooking, craft time, and just random things I have saved over the years. I went to the Dollar Store and bought about $13.00 worth of materials to get started and I bought the bins at Walmart for about $56.00. That was the priciest part of the project. 

The idea of fine motor morning work is to get kiddos working with their hands to build those muscles. This was success and totally worth the money.  
Small beads and tweezers to build letters. 

Straws and scissors. Building those skills! 

Hole punches from my scrap booking days. 

$1 playdough set from the Dollar Tree. Win! 

We are working these in after our initial morning work every morning. As soon as they finish they are able to go to their bin and get to work. It is making our morning routine a super productive time! I didn't think I would have the time to fit these into my day but this little 10 minute slot is perfect! Now my fast finishers have something super productive to do and my slow bugs are motivated to get done! 

Here is an example of the morning work we use each day. You can see it in my store HERE
Right now they are all about introducing the alphabet and building routines. Later we introduce sight words, grammar skills, and sentence writing. 

Thanks for stopping in today! Again, check out A Differentiated Kindergarten for more great ideas for fine motor bins! I have just about all of her monthly sets now. They are amazing (and a great price too!)  Here are a few more things that will work great for these bins! 



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Fine motor activities for kids can help with handwriting, strengthen pencil grip, improve handwriting (which makes writing easier!) and it is just fun!  These ideas work great in a preschool, preK, kindergarten, or 1st grade classroom!

6 comments

  1. I know this post is 4 years old but I love your fine motor activities… and would love to incorporate some next school term but my question is “ what eventually happens to the cut up straws and scrap paper used with the cute punches?” Yes, I am sitting her 2 weeks into summer break - pondering the next school term🤣.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! Thanks for the question! The straws end up in teeny tiny pieces and I throw them away or save them for crafts. You can also repurpose them as a threading activity. I just do one package of straws a year. They last a really long time!

      Delete
  2. I know this post is 4 years old but I do I am 2 weeks into summer break …. Prepping for “next year.” My questions are
    1. what eventually happens to the straws and scrap paper?
    2. How many packs of straws do you need for a school year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know this post is 4 years old but I do I am 2 weeks into summer break …. Prepping for “next year.” My questions are
    1. what eventually happens to the straws and scrap paper?
    2. How many packs of straws do you need for a school year.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I know this post is 4 years old but I do I am 2 weeks into summer break …. Prepping for “next year.” My questions are
    1. what eventually happens to the straws and scrap paper?
    2. How many packs of straws do you need for a school year.

    ReplyDelete

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