As I have written about recently, and will probably continue to write about, I had my 17-month old son evaluated for physical therapy. In the process, they also look at several other areas of development, including fine motor skills. I realized that there were a lot of fine motor tasks/skills I had never introduced to him, so I decided to find creative ways to target each skill. I’m not an occupational therapist, so I apologize if any of my terminology is a bit off.
Homemade Paints ~ a combination of cornstarch, water, food color, salt, and sugar
Targeted Skills: Crossing Midline, Bilateral Coordination, Tool Use
Sensory Bins ~ Dry pasta, dry beans, rice, oatmeal, measuring cups, spoons, colander
Targeted Skills: Crossing Midline, Tactile Exploration, Tool Use (specifically learning to scoop with a spoon/small cups)
Block Stacking
Targeted Skills: Grasp, Release, Visual-Perceptual
Turning pages in a book
Targeted Skills: Crossing Midline, In-hand Manipulation
Put-in Tasks ~ this was a paint cup with a small opening for the brushes and pom-poms
Targeted Skills: Bilateral Coordination, Pincer Grasp, Finger Isolation
Any Comments?