14 Fine Motor Activities To Do At Home: Our Teachers’ List (2025)

Fine motor skills are the tiny movements that make a big impact on a child’s ability to perform everyday tasks. From holding a pencil to buttoning a shirt, these precise actions help your child navigate their world with confidence and independence.

In the foundational years, nurturing fine motor development is essential—not just for school readiness, but for building cognitive, emotional, and social growth too. 

At My First Skool, our teachers value building fine motor skills through play. For parents in Singapore looking to support their child’s development at home, we’ve compiled 14 simple and engaging activities to strengthen coordination and confidence.

For each activity, we cover:

1. The items you need
2. How to set it up
3. The fine motor skill benefits of the activity

What Are Fine Motor Skills?

Fine motor skills involve the small, precise movements we make using the muscles in our hands, fingers, and wrists.

These seemingly simple actions—like picking up a crayon, fastening buttons, or tying shoelaces—are essential building blocks for a child’s independence and success.

Strong fine motor skills enable children to perform everyday tasks with confidence, preparing them for more complex activities such as writing, drawing, and self-care. Supporting this area of development early on helps lay the foundation for cognitive growth, emotional resilience, and greater self-esteem.

14 Educational Fine Motor Skills Activities (With Instructions)

1. Threading with Beads

Introduce your child to the joys of threading using safe, chunky beads and string, an activity particularly beneficial for older children. This classic activity strengthens hand-eye coordination and fine motor control, while also offering a chance to reinforce colour recognition and patterning.

What You Need:

• Large beads
• Shoelaces or pipe cleaners

How-To:

1. Provide your child with a shoelace or pipe cleaner.
2. Lay out large, chunky beads in a shallow tray or bowl.
3. Demonstrate how to thread a bead onto the lace.
4. Encourage your child to create patterns or sort by colour.
5. Celebrate their creations with praise and conversation.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

Threading strengthens finger dexterity and hand-eye coordination, while also introducing pattern recognition and sequencing.

2. Tearing Paper Collage

Sometimes, the simplest materials spark the biggest creativity. Let your child tear, arrange, and glue paper scraps to craft a vibrant collage that strengthens hand muscles and imagination alike.

What You Need:

• Old magazines
• Coloured paper
• Glue
• Canvas or recycled cardboard

How-To:

1. Gather old magazines, coloured paper, glue, and cardboard.
2. Let your child tear paper into small pieces using fingers only.
3. Apply glue to the base surface.
4. Invite your child to arrange and stick the paper bits creatively.
5. Display their finished collage proudly.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

Tearing encourages a pincer grasp and finger strength, laying the groundwork for future writing skills.

3. Peg Transfer Using Tongs

Turn everyday tools into playful challenges. Using tongs to move pegs between containers boosts precision and grip strength—perfect prep for holding pencils or chopsticks. Alternatively, you can use cotton balls instead of pegs to add variety and challenge to the activity.

What You Need:

• Child-safe tongs
• Clothespins
• Small containers

How-To:

1. Set up two bowls—one with clothespins or small objects, one empty.
2. Provide child-safe tongs.
3. Demonstrate how to pick up an item and transfer it to the empty bowl.
4. Let your child take over, offering encouragement and challenges like “Can you do all the red ones first?”

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

This activity enhances grip strength and precision, mimicking the movement needed to hold writing tools.

4. Sticker Play

Who doesn’t love stickers? This easy activity is a fuss-free way to engage your little one in focused finger work while creating mini masterpieces.

What You Need:

• Various stickers
• A blank notebook or paper

How-To:

1. Offer a sheet of various stickers and a blank notebook or paper.
2. Encourage your child to peel and place stickers freely or follow a theme.
3. For added fun, ask them to create a scene or picture with the stickers.
4. Support their effort with positive feedback and display the artwork.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

Peeling and placing stickers refines control over finger movements and promotes focus.

5. Playdough Sculpting

From rolling to squishing, playdough offers endless possibilities. Encourage your child to use their whole hand to roll and shape the dough, which helps in developing hand strength. It’s more than just fun—it’s a full workout for those little hands, enhancing strength and control.

What You Need:

• Homemade or store-bought playdough

How-To:

1. Use store-bought or homemade playdough in a variety of colours.
2. Invite your child to roll, pinch, and shape the dough.
3. Provide simple tools like plastic forks, cookie cutters, or bottle caps.
4. Let them freely create shapes, animals, or pretend food.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

Moulding, rolling, and pinching dough strengthens all the small muscles in the hands and fingers.

6. Cutting Practice with Child-Safe Scissors

Snip, snip! Cutting with safety scissors is a favourite among children and a vital step in developing coordination between both hands.

What You Need:

• Child-safe scissors
• Coloured paper

How-To:

1. Provide safety scissors and coloured paper.
2. Draw wavy, straight, or zigzag lines on the paper.
3. Demonstrate safe scissor handling.
4. Encourage your child to cut along the lines and complete the shapes for a craft or collage.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

Cutting improves bilateral coordination, where both hands work together—one holding, the other cutting.

7. Bubble Wrap Popping

It’s irresistible for a reason! Popping bubble wrap isn’t just satisfying—it’s a sneaky way to strengthen finger muscles and boost sensory awareness. Encourage your child to use one finger to press and pop the bubbles, which enhances their coordination and motor skills.

What You Need:

• Bubble wrap

How-To:

1. Cut a manageable piece of bubble wrap.
2. Lay it flat on a table or tape it down for stability.
3. Encourage your child to press and pop the bubbles using their fingers.
4. Turn it into a counting game or race for added engagement.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

Popping those irresistible bubbles strengthens finger joints and muscles in a highly motivating way.

8. Water Transfer with Sponges

Add a splash of fun to your child’s day with this sensory-rich activity. Ensure that the sponge pieces are large enough to prevent any risk of choking if your child tends to put items in their mouth. Transferring water with a sponge encourages hand strength and introduces basic science through play.

What You Need:

• Two bowls
• Water
• A sponge

How-To:

1. Fill one bowl with water and place an empty one beside it.
2. Provide a sponge cut into small, manageable pieces.
3. Show your child how to soak the sponge, squeeze it into the other bowl, and repeat.
4. Let them enjoy this satisfying and strengthening activity.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

Squeezing helps build hand strength and control while offering a fun sensory experience.

9. Clothespin Colour Sorting

Sorting coloured pins may seem simple, but it’s secretly powerful. While this activity focuses on fine motor skills, it also engages larger muscles in the arms and shoulders. This playful task strengthens pincer grasp while reinforcing visual discrimination and colour matching.

What You Need:

• Coloured clothespins
• Matching paper circles

How-To:

1. Create coloured circles from paper and match with coloured clothespins.
2. Clip each pin to the edge of a tray or basket.
3. Show your child how to match each clothespin to the same colour circle.
4. Ask questions like “Which colour has the most pins?”

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

Pinching clothespins refines finger muscles, and the matching aspect boosts cognitive skills.

10. Button Boards

Buttoning isn’t just a life skill—it’s also a brain-building challenge. DIY button boards help young learners develop independence and finger dexterity.

What You Need:

• DIY felt board with sewn buttons and holes

How-To:

1. Sew various buttons onto a piece of felt and cut corresponding slits into another felt piece.
2. Show your child how to push buttons through slits.
3. Let them practice buttoning and unbuttoning freely.
4. Add themes or shapes for variety and interest.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

Buttoning involves a complex sequence of actions that teach independence and dexterity.

11. Pom Pom Push

Tiny hands love a challenge. Watch as your child carefully pushes pom poms through small openings, enhancing control, precision, and problem-solving all at once. You can also explore other ideas like using different-sized pom poms or adding a time challenge to keep the activity engaging.

What You Need:

• An empty container with small holes
• Pom poms

How-To:

1. Cut small holes in the lid of a recycled container.
2. Provide pom poms in various sizes.
3. Encourage your child to push them through the holes one by one.
4. For added challenge, assign colours or sizes to specific holes.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

This activity combines problem-solving with finger strength and control.

12. Sensory Bins with Small Objects

Let your kids’ fingers explore a world of textures with a sensory bin. As they scoop and search, they’re quietly building coordination, focus, and curiosity.

What You Need:

• A bin filled with rice, beans, or sand
• Tiny treasures like buttons or toy animals

How-To:

1. Fill a shallow bin with rice, beans, or sand.
2. Hide small items like buttons, mini toys, or shapes inside.
3. Give your kids scoops, cups, or spoons to dig and discover.
4. Name, sort, or count the items as they’re found.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

Scooping, grabbing, and sifting help refine fine motor skills while providing rich sensory input.

13. Lacing Cards

Introduce your child to the calming rhythm of lacing. This timeless activity builds patience, sequencing skills, and the bilateral coordination needed for writing.

What You Need:

• Cardboard with punched holes
• Shoelaces

How-To:

1. Punch holes around cardboard shapes (animals, hearts, stars).
2. Provide a shoelace or yarn with taped ends.
3. Demonstrate how to thread the lace in and out of the holes.
4. Encourage patterns or simply practice the motion.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

Encourages bilateral coordination and improves focus, sequencing, and patience, all while developing fine motor skills.

14. Pom Pom Sorting with Tweezers

A colourful game with big benefits—using tweezers to sort pom poms strengthens finger precision while reinforcing focus and pattern recognition. This activity is particularly beneficial for children at certain ages, typically between 3 and 6 years, as it helps refine their pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination.

What You Need:

• Tweezers
• Coloured pom poms
• Matching containers

How-To:

1. Place pom poms of different colours into a bowl.
2. Provide matching coloured containers and a child-safe pair of tweezers.
3. Show your child how to pick up and sort pom poms by colour.
4. Offer praise for accuracy and persistence.

Fine Motor Skill Benefits:

This enhances pincer grasp, visual discrimination, and colour recognition.

Why Building Fine Motor Skills at School Matters Too

Fostering fine motor skills at home can be a fun and rewarding journey for both you and your child. The activities listed not only strengthen important skills like hand-eye coordination and dexterity but also promote creativity, problem-solving, and independence. 

While home activities lay a strong foundation, developing fine motor skills consistently in a nurturing school environment can make an even greater difference. In Singapore, preschools play a key role in the development of your children’s fine motor skills as well.

Fine motor skills are crucial in the early stages of child development, especially during the preschool years.

In preschool, fine motor skills are linked to:

1. School Readiness. Developing fine motor skills helps children hold pencils correctly, cut with scissors, and manage classroom activities, setting them up for success in learning.
2. Cognitive Development. The process of refining these skills engages the brain, enhancing concentration, memory, and problem-solving abilities.
3. Emotional and Social Growth. Children who have strong fine motor skills often experience increased self-esteem, as they feel proud of their ability to complete tasks independently. This also supports social interaction, as they can actively participate in group activities.
4. Building Independence. Fine motor tasks like dressing themselves, feeding, or organising belongings help preschoolers feel more capable and independent, empowering them as they navigate their world.

Cultivating Confidence, One Small Movement at a Time

At My First Skool, we recognise the significance of fostering these abilities in our learning environments, where every class activity is designed to nurture a child’s dexterity and coordination.

Our teachers thoughtfully design everyday experiences that strengthen children’s coordination, confidence, and independence, helping them thrive both in and out of the classroom.

With our holistic approach to infant care, your child will have the support they need to grow confidently, develop essential skills, and discover their potential. 

Whether at home or with us, nurturing your child’s fine motor abilities is a vital step toward preparing them for a bright future.

Over 160 Centres Islandwide – Quality Childcare, Minutes from Home

Every year, over 26,000 families all across Singapore see their children benefit from our relationship-based curriculum – one that emphasises forging strong bonds between children, teachers and parents. 

Find a centre near you or take a virtual tour to explore our learning environments and learn how your child can thrive.

Explore Our Centres