Fine Motor Skills Worksheets

Related ELA Standard: W.K.1

Core Standard
Answer Keys Here

If we breakdown the words of this topic, it is easy to understand what they gauge. Fine means small, motor indicates movement, and skills means the ability to use. Putting it all together fine motor skills are having the ability to use our small movement muscles. Since our hands are the part of our body that we do most of feeling with, this focuses on the proper and successful use of our fingers and wrists. This helps use have better handwriting and track letters in reading. It also has implications on our use of technology as using a computer mouse and virtual pencil fit right along in this area. These worksheets will help students improve their fine motor skills through a variety of different tasks.

Fine Motor Skills Worksheets:

Trace and Color - Trace each shape. Color the shapes according to their labels. This worksheet helps students explore several different abilities at once.

A Kite - Trace the lines to finish the picture. Color the picture. This helps you learn the concept of straight edges.

Slippery Snake - Connect this guy with your favorite writing device. This works on arcs and circular pen or pencil motions.

Curves - Put all those curves together. We highly encourage you to use an erasable writing tool here.

Under the Sea - Those crazy stingy jellyfish. They have a ton of cool shapes in the composition of their bodies.

In the Garden - You've got to get your hands dirty. This is perfect when working on a spring time theme.

This Way! That Way! - Trace the directionals. This is helpful for helping students better understand their local community.

At the Picnic! - Was this guy invited? Have students tell a story about what is happening in this scene.

Fashion Sense - Trace and then color up the dress. You may want to extend this to include a sentence writing activity.

The Octopus - Give him a hand, he already has all the arms. They are one of the few sea creatures that scientists say can open child-proof pill bottles.

Stars and Stripes - A couple of new digs to the shape array here. A bit of a festive scene for you to work with.

A Summer Day - Trace the lines to see this summer treat. Color the picture. You can have them write a line about their favorite memory of this treat.

Who is Your Friend? - These guys sure can be friendly. You can explore the concept of friendship with students here.

At the Grocery Store - The cans you will find at a grocery store. Have students write their favorite department in a grocery store.

What's on Your Mind? - Are your thoughts bubbling to the top. Fill the bubbles with everything that is on your mind.

What Are Fine Motor Skills?


Fine motor skills are having a high level of proficiency to move your smaller muscles. They are used to make small, but essential movements in the body. These small movements come naturally and effortlessly to so many people that we don't think about the fine motor skills that often. However, they are very complex. They are carefully coordinated movements of the muscles and efforts of the brain. These little movements play a big role that allow us to make bigger movements as well. It is very essential to develop these movements and help students gain a high level of dexterity. This is because they require these skills for multiple tasks at school. They are used for

holding pencils or crayons
Writing neatly and drawing images
Using art supplies such as scissors and rulers.
Here are some activities that will enhance the fine motor skills of kids.


Play Dough

You can give your children or students some play-dough. Let them use their creativity with the play dough. This will allow them to use small movements of their hands. It will improve their fine motor skills.


Drawing

Art is one of the best ways to improve fine motor skills because it requires attention to details. You can give the students pencils, crayons, and markers. Let them draw whatever they want to on a plain paper. Their drawings don't have to be perfect in order to improve the fine motor skills. Everything just gets better with practice.


Origami

Origami is a fun and interesting way to enhance fine motor skills. It is the art of paper folding. You can give the students some colorful papers and teach them origami skills. Let them make fun shapes and objects with the help of the paper.


Jigsaw Puzzles

Manipulating these little pieces helps students not only learn how to identify shapes, but also have a level of patience that they are not accustom to. These types of puzzles often motivate students to continue on especially if the overall picture that they reveal connect with students. This does help their coordination and hand-eye skills immensely. I would caution you that younger students may put these pieces in their mouths.


Painting by Numbers

This is where each color gets its on individual color. I love this activity for kids and kids love this activity. In addition to the skill at hand, it helps them learn the concept of legend and match math with language skills. It is half puzzle, half fun activity. I would make sure that you use a very fine paint brush as this will make it easier for students to track their movements and stay within the lines.