Fine Motor Skills

autism-fine-motor

Fine Motor Toys – A List

The one thing I have learned since becoming a parent to Autistic children is that it can be difficult to decide what are good choices for activities that support their interests and capacities.

Over the years while going to many Occupational Therapy appointments with beautiful Conor and now with gorgeous Jack I became privy to the fabulous toys and resources the therapists use to support children’s interaction, engagement but also to help them develop skills they may be finding challenging.

In our home I have created “Homeschool” room wherein I have every type of resource and book you can imagine on Autism and Autistic experience.

Below I have put together a list of activities and resources that we use in our Occupational Therapy appointments and most importantly that my gorgeous boys find fun and want to engage with.

I have created a FREE PDF recommended resource list you can download in PDF format below.

autism fine motor free activities

Here you will find a list of toys that are excellent for Fine Motor Skill development, but that also help to encourage other key areas of development.

Below you will find a non-exhaustive list of Toys that help in a fun manner to develop fine motor ability.

Mr Potato Head

Mr Potato Head
Image- Amazon

If you are a regular follower of The Little Puddins Blog then you will already know we are HUGE fans of Mr Potato Head in our house.

Playing with Mr Potato Head is a great way to develop Fine Motor Skills as it comes with an array of small accessories which you must use in order to fully put Mr Potato together. It also is a great way to encourage communication, concentration together with hand-eye co-ordination.

Fisher Price Piggy Bank

Piggy Bank
Image – Amazon

This is one toy we always seem to have in the house! Hailey had one as a baby. Conor inherited it until it eventually broke down.

This is a great toy to teach about “Choice”, you could ask your child to pick between two (or more) coin colors, thereafter he/she would pick which ever one they preferred and place it in the slot at the top. It also encourages Hand-Eye co-ordination, and Fine Motor Skill development as your child will have to very carefully place the coin in to the slot in order to make it fall down to the Pig’s belly.

It is a great reaction toy in that it plays songs, says “a chew” and also makes a jingling coin sound when the coin falls in to the Pig’s belly.

Jumbo Tweezers

Jumbo Tweezers

Jumbo Tweezers are a MUST if you have a child who is learning to develop their Fine Motor Skills. They can be used any number of ways. For example encouraging your child to pick up craft pom poms, sorting buttons/shapes, out side picking up flowers.

Wooden Shape Sorting Box

wooden-sorting-box-by-bigjigs-6004833-0-1286199906000

Almost all houses with children will have had a shape sorter at one time or another, we have had numerous types, plastic, wooden and even fabric. The Shape Sorter is great because it encourages the use of the pincer and palmer grasp to name but a few. It also encourages, color/size and shape discrimination. It helps to develop Hand/Eye co-ordination and it also helps to improve concentration and the ideas of “finishing a task” and “sorting”. A great budget toy.

Peg Board and Pegs

IMG_3680

Conor LOVES his Peg Board but he can get frustrated with how long it takes to complete the task. It is a great way to discriminate colors and it really focuses on the pincer grasp.  A brilliant way to encourage Hand/Eye co-ordination together. A great all around toy that is a fun way to teach your child to slow down and concentrate. It cam quiet tedious to begin with for your child if they are having trouble getting the pegs in the holes but with time and practice they will overcome their frustration and will master this skill.

Threading Buttons/Objects/Beads

Photo from Amazon
Photo from Amazon

Threading beads/buttons/objects is another great way to encourage Hand/Eye co-ordination, pincer grasp, patience, color co-ordination, size discrimination. It also teaches your child about a start and an ending when all the beads/buttons/Shapes run out. You do not have to buy a Threading set specifically. You can make your own version quiet cheaply. I bought some colored pipe cleaners and some extra large plastic buttons for Conor to practice his threading technique he had great fun and it cost less than €5. He plays with them most days.

One of Conor's favorite activities
One of Conor’s favorite activities

Stacking Cubes

Photo from www.ELC.co.uk
Photo from www.ELC.co.uk

A great toy and commonly found in many stores for a few euro. It is a great toy to encourages numeracy, size discrimination, the ability to build and knock down. They are great for Hand/Eye co-ordination, for encouraging little hands to steady themselves as they carefully place blocks on top of each. This is one of the first toys we ever used with Conor to encourage him to interact with us and now with Jack he is using it everyday. He loves it when we build up his stacking blocks and then he knocks them down! He thinks it is the funniest thing ever and takes into fits of giggles.

Sorting

Sorting containers

Sorting objects is another excellent way to encourage Fine Motor development. I have collected heaps of different colored objects over time for Conor and now Jack to sort. The above pictures shows different sized wooden buttons, some of which I have hand painted so that I had a better selection of colors for Conor to try and sort.

In the picture I have the Jumbo Tweezers with the sorting bowls but ultimately if the child were using his/her hands that would also be an excellent manner to encourage repetitious use of the Pincer Grasp.

autism fine motor free activities

Click here to download your free fine motor activities pdf handout.

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