You may have read the title “Developing Fine Motor Skills in First Grade” and thought why would we have to do that? Most fine motor skills are developed by first grade. Five years ago I would have agreed with you. But teaching during the pandemic has taught me a thing or two. The past two years I have noticed that my students fine motor development is delayed. I’ve also noticed delays in gross motor development, especially crossing the midline, but that story is for another day.
What are Fine Motor Skills?
Fine motor skills are the coordination of the body’s small muscles, especially movements that involve the fingers, thumbs, and hands. Fine motor skills are necessary for eating, getting dressed, and performing in school.
I don’t know about your students, but 90% of my class could not tie their shoes when they entered first grade. The same number had an awkward and incorrect pencil grip. About half of my class couldn’t put on the coats correctly, glue properly, {we went through glue sticks like crazy} or use a scissor. I can’t tell you how many tongues hanging out of mouths I saw when cutting and pasting. It was overwhelming.
I am not a new teacher. I just finished my 27th year of teaching. I’ve been in first grade for 16 years in a row. This was a new phenomenon for me. I believe this is the result of the pandemic and being online for preschool and kindergarten.
Why are Fine Motor Skills Important for School-Aged Kids?
We use fine motor skills all day long in school. They are imperative to learning!
We use fine motor skills when we:
- turn the pages of a book
- draw
- glue
- color
- cutting with scissors
- paint
- write
- build
- measure
- type
Like I said, we use them all day long!
What I Did (And You Can Too)
I knew I needed to do something about the lack of fine motor skills in my classroom. School was very hard for most of my class. Their hands tired easily and once the fatigue set in, they were spent. And, my parent couldn’t afford to buy a new glue stick every week! I spoke to our OT and asked what to do. She gave me some activities and I created my own.
Fine motor skills are the foundation for school. Without fine motor skills, school would remain difficult for students.
The dilemma was TIME. Isn’t it always time? We just don’t have enough of it. But I knew this was important, so I had to weave in activities throughout the day – and you can, too!
Fine Motor Activities
- activities with tongs
- bead on thread
- Legos
- dot paint
- Play Doh
- cutting activities
- tracing activities
- push pin activities
- blocks
- Q-tip painting
- the list goes on and on.
I also recommend using special tools to help your students. There are special scissors, pencil grips, pencils, and more to aid students.
Activities to Use in Class
You want to find activities that strengthen fine motor skills. Activities like lacing, drawing, coloring, building, putting beads on string, puzzles, etc. are great!
I also use activities in my Fine Motor Activities resource.
this resource is available on my blog here.
Here are some of the activities in this 130 page 13 centers pack.
It’s so important that we help develop the skills necessary for learning and fine motor skills is one of those skills that take practice.
Students really enjoy doing these activities and make a lot of growth because they are fun. I plan on using these activities as morning work again this year and then as intervention for those who need it.
What do you do to develop fine motor skills with your first graders?
Thank you for this post! I have been wracking my brain on why a set of students are having such a hard time writing. The connection to the pandemic was an epiphany. These kids have been stuck behind a computer for two years and all of that good motor skills practice has fallen to the wayside. I will make sure my kids are doing more FMS training next year!