To be honest, your child’s fine motor skills aren’t all that different from his gross motor skills. That’s because, to put it simply, fine motor skills are the movements of small muscles and gross motor skills are the movements of large muscles. Still, there are certain fine motor skills you should pay attention to as your child enters kindergarten because they will help him or her become more adept at writing and other essential tasks down the road. 

There are countless fine motor skills every five-year-old child needs. This article looks at seven fine motor skills most common for children ages 4-6 to explore: gripping, cutting, lacing, drawing, unrolling toilet paper, building, and using zippers or buttons.

7 Fine Motor Skills to Begin With

1) Gripping with tongs or tweezers

If your child is not yet writing or drawing with a pencil, an excellent way to encourage her fine motor skills is to have her work with tongs or tweezers. 

Young children need to practice learning how to grasp things in their hands and maneuver them around their environment. Over time, doing so will help them learn how to manipulate a pencil and guide it across a piece of paper. In turn, this will allow them to begin practicing writing.

To work on grasping, ask your child to do things like hold a paper clip between two fingers for as long as possible. Or have them practice picking up popcorn kernels with a set of tongs or tweezers. As she gets better at these activities, gradually reduce your supervision and make sure you’re helping her try new challenges when she needs it.

2) Cutting activities

At age five, your child should be able to easily cut with a utility knife. If you’re using heavy-duty scissors and they aren’t cutting well, you can help her by putting one of her fingers on top of yours.

This technique can also be used with other cutting activities like coloring and tracing. Many brands offer blunt-tip scissors, which are perfect for beginners.

3) Lacing activities

Lacing activities, such as lacing up shoes and tying shoelaces, are part of a prekindergarten program to build fine motor skills.

Practice making horizontal loops by holding each lace with your index finger and thumb. Then use your thumb to pull one loop over your fingers while you hold onto it with your index finger. Repeat until all loops are securely in place.

4) Drawing with markers

Children are naturally inquisitive. Many develop an interest in scribbling with crayons or markers before they can even write their names.

Drawing doesn’t actually teach your preschooler how to write. However, drawing strengthens fine motor skills and encourages creative expression. 

5) Unrolling toilet paper

At age five, your child will likely enjoy helping you out in restrooms. Offer her some toilet paper to unroll from its dispenser. 

Encourage her to tear off a piece for herself and show her how to wipe. If she’s too young for that step, don’t give up. She’ll get there soon enough! 

6) Building with blocks or snap cubes

Play with blocks and snap cubes is an excellent way to build fine motor strength, and build a foundation for dexterity later in life. 

Blocks help develop eye-hand coordination and also teach cause and effect. If they push a block down, it falls over; if they move it around or tip it on its side it stays up there. 

Some blocks have knobs or other features that need to be turned or twisted. These building toys are fun because kids can make all kinds of cool designs once they get good at picking them up and putting them down again. 

7) Using zippers and buttons

Zippers and buttons are an excellent way for kids to practice hand-eye coordination and pincer grasp.

Start by showing your child how a zipper works, then let them try zipping up a stuffed animal or doll. Buttoning is great as well. Simply let your child button you (or button them). 

If your child’s fine motor skills aren’t quite ready for these tasks, don’t worry. The important thing is that you model how each activity works so they can see how things go together. Given an ample amount of practice, they will become better as their fine motor skills develop.

Activities to promote fine motor skills

If you’re looking for some printable activities, these downloadable and printable worksheets will help!