More Fun!
• See if your child can make a pattern by using different colors of straw pieces. Simple patterns using two colors will work well for three-year-olds.
Walk Like an Animal
Develops your child’s upper-body strength and improves bilateral coordination
What You Need
No materials needed
What to Do
• This is a great activity to try inside or outside although it requires a certain amount of open floor space.
• Sing the song “This is the way we walk like a (insert animal name)” to the tune of “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush.”
• Select animals that your child can imitate. Animals that require him to place his hands or his body on the floor will build more strength in the upper body. Some suggestions include: bear, cat, dog, snake, frog, crab, and giraffe.
• Demonstrate how to “walk” like the animal.
• Encourage him to move his body and pretend to be each animal.
Chapter 4
Now I’m Four So I Can Do More!
At age four, many children expand their repertoire of fine motor skills dramatically. Your child may learn to use thin writing and drawing utensils to trace, copy, and form a variety of shapes. He may also gain independence in simple scissor skills, such as cutting on a straight line. At this age, your child may enjoy manipulating clay, playdough, and sand and exploring new tools to create artwork. These experiences are necessary to prepare his hands for more challenging fine motor activities.
At age four, your child may be interested in learning how to:
• Cut out large shapes (for example: circle, square, triangle)
• Copy a square
• Copy a triangle
• Copy a cross
• Draw a person (may include a circle with two lines or be as detailed as a head, body, legs, arms and fingers)
• Make marks to represent her name
• Draw and paint with a variety of sizes and types of utensils (such as markers, paintbrushes, pencils, or crayons)
• Put together simple puzzles
• String small beads
• Use an easy-to-squeeze 1-hole punch and stapler, with close supervision
• Lace simple cards
• Manipulate clay or playdough with his hands
• Use tools such as a play hammer, rolling pin, or plastic knife with clay or playdough
• Use fingers to act out simple fingerplays and songs
• Use a zipper independently (may need help starting)
• Button large buttons
• Snap easy snaps
• Pour liquid into a cup
• Draw a picture that does not include all the characteristics of objects known to her (for instance, she may draw a square for a car and leave out the wheels)
• Attempt to sign her name (although she may often delete, reverse, inaccurately form letters, or write them from right to left)
• Undress and dress independently
Your child may hold a crayon with his thumb, index, and middle fingers in a more basic way, with his ring and pinky fingers slightly bent and held high up on the pencil; or he may hold it with the tips of his thumb, index, and middle fingers, ring and pinky fingers bent, moving his hand separately from his forearm.
Have fun doing the activities on the following pages with your child. They are designed with four-year-old children in mind, and they address more challenging precursors of fine motor skills, such as refined grasp of utensils and coordinating two hands together. They will prepare your child for the fine motor tasks she’ll need in kindergarten.
Crayon Rubbings
Improves your child’s eye-hand coordination
What You Need
large and/or small crayons with paper peeled off | white drawing paper | flat objects with texture, such as leaves and coins | templates of shapes, letters, or animals
What to Do
• Ask your child to select an object.
• Ask him to close his eyes and feel the object with his fingers.
• Show him how to place the paper on top of the object and color over it.
• Talk about his creations and label them by the objects he used to make them.
More Fun!
• Give your child black paper and chalk to create more rubbings.
• Choose new or unusual objects to use in crayon rubbings.
• Encourage his imagination (for example, ask him, “What if the object isn’t flat?” “What if the object doesn’t have a texture?”).
Dressing Up
Gives your child practice with using zippers and manipulating buttons and snaps, and encourages her independence in dressing
What You Need
dress-up clothes with zippers | dress-up clothes with large buttons | dress-up clothes with simple snaps
What to Do
• Give your child dress-up clothing that includes zippers, large buttons, and snaps, and show her how to use them, if necessary.
• If your child can’t do it independently, start the process and allow her to finish. For example, help her place the button inside the buttonhole and then help her pull the button through. This technique will help your child develop confidence in her attempts at fastening.
More Fun!
• Use dolls or stuffed animals with fasteners on their clothing to give her another opportunity to develop independence in dressing.
Finger Puppets
Develops your child’s finger coordination
What You Need
child-size gloves (small women’s gloves may also work) | scissors (adult-use only) | school glue or fabric glue in small bowls and cotton swabs (school glue will require more drying time) | markers | sequins, small buttons, small pompoms, and plastic eyes
What to Do
• Cut the fingers out of the gloves (adult-only step).
• Give your child at least two finger puppets to decorate with markers, sequins, buttons, small pom-poms, and plastic eyes.
• After the glue dries, invite him to use his finger puppets to put on a show.
• Encourage him to use puppets on both hands in his finger puppet show.
More Fun!
• Ask him to act out a favorite story, book, or song with his finger puppets.
Photo Puzzles
Gives your child practice with putting together simple puzzles and using various tools in play
What You Need
digital camera | printer | thick paper, such as card stock or oak tag | glue sticks | child-size scissors | resealable plastic bags to store puzzles after use
What to Do
• Use the digital camera to take a close-up photograph of your child.
• Print the photograph on 5” x 7” or 8” x 10” photo paper.
• Give your child a piece of card stock to fit her photograph (5” x 7” or 8” x 10”), and have her glue the photograph to the card stock. Allow it to dry completely.
• Show her how to cut the attached photographs into six or eight irregularly shaped puzzle pieces, and help her, as needed.
• Encourage her to take apart and put together her own puzzle.
More Fun!
• If a camera and printer are not available, use magazine photos instead.
• Make puzzles out of photographs of her favorite people or pets.
Cookie Decorating
Refines your child’s grasp and release and builds
hand strength
What You Need
sugar cookies | cake icing | edible sprinkles | tubes of decorating icing (squeeze type) | plastic knives and spoons
What to Do
• Encourage your child to spread icing onto cookies using knives or spoons.
• Encourage him to use his fingers to place sprinkles—one pinch at a time—on his cookies. Eat and enjoy!
More Fun!
• Offer toothpicks for him to draw designs in t
he icing.
Drops of Color
Develops your child’s grasp and pre-scissor skills
What You Need
medicine droppers | food coloring | water | small bowl(s) | coffee filters (basket-style work best)
What to Do
• Mix food coloring with water in a bowl. You may prefer to use several colors in different bowls for this activity.
• Show your child how to fill the medicine dropper with colored water. Then, show her how to squeeze the medicine dropper to make “drops of color” on the coffee filter.
• Let her create her own “drops of color” on the filters.
More Fun!
• The “drops of color” art makes a very interesting sun catcher. Help your child punch a hole in the top of the filter and tie on a piece of string. Hang the art in front of a window. Laminate if desired.
Reusable Stickers
Improves your child’s grasp and release of small objects
What You Need
reusable stickers, such as Colorforms, Unisets, or window stickers | small dry-erase board or unbreakable hand-held mirror | easel or incline board (see Incline Writing Boards activity on page 71 for instructions)
What to Do
• Place a dry-erase board or mirror on an easel or incline board.
• Encourage your child to use stickers to decorate the board or tell a story.
• When the play is over, ask him to remove stickers and replace them into storage.
More Fun!
• Provide dry-erase markers for your child to trace around re-usable stickers.
• If possible, let him decorate a nearby window with stickers.
Seed Art
Helps your child develop her pincer grasp
What You Need
variety of seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower, or apple | glue | small bowls or nut cups | cotton swabs | construction paper | large markers | shape templates
What to Do
• Encourage your child to draw shapes on her construction paper. Alternately, she may use templates to trace shapes.
Note: Do not cut out the shapes.
• Pour glue into small bowls, provide cotton swabs for dipping, and pour seeds into small bowls or nut cups (adult-only step). Use a separate bowl for each type of seed.
• Show your child how to use the cotton swabs to dab glue onto her shapes, and invite her to place seeds onto the glued area, remaining inside the traced area.
• Hang the work once it dries.
Stick Houses
Gives your child practice with his pincer grasp and
develops bilateral coordination
What You Need
toothpicks | glue in small container for dipping | cotton swabs | thick paper, such as index cards, oak tag, or poster board
What to Do
• Give your child a piece of thick paper to use as the “foundation” for his construction.
• Demonstrate how to dip toothpicks into glue or use cotton swabs to place glue on a structure to hold it in place.
• Encourage him to build houses with toothpicks.
More Fun!
• Read or tell the story of the “Three Little Pigs,” and then encourage your child to try building with pieces of straw or craft sticks.
Tape It Up!
Develops your child’s grasp strength
What You Need
masking tape | clear tape | variety of paper | child-safe scissors | paper towel rolls
What to Do
• Place the different tapes and variety of papers on a table.
• Encourage your child to tape the paper to the paper towel roll to create original work.
• Show her how to tear the tape.
• Observe how she uses the materials for self-expression.
More Fun!
• Ask your child to describe her creation and transcribe her words, if she is interested. Display the description alongside her original work.
All-Terrain Vehicles
Improves your child’s hand strength
What You Need
large plastic container | various “terrains,” including sand, potting soil, pebbles, pea gravel, and mulch | variety of very small toy trucks or construction vehicles
What to Do
• Prepare one “terrain” on each part of the container (For example, put sand at one end of the table and potting soil on the other end).
• Invite your child to drive his “All Terrain Vehicles” through/over the terrain.
• Ask him to build hills or mountains out of the material laid out on the table.
• Suggest that he drive his vehicles “over,” “around,” and “through” the hills. Demonstrate these directions, as needed.
More Fun!
• Ask your child to use his vehicles to make different track shapes in the terrain.
More Peas Please
Develops your child’s grasp and improves finger strength
What You Need
green playdough | plastic bowl and spoon
What to Do
• Demonstrate how to use your thumb, index, and middle fingers to create “peas” by rolling playdough into small balls.
• Remind your child that the “peas” are pretend and are not for eating.
• Encourage her to make tiny “peas” out of the playdough.
• Once your child masters the rolling motion, challenge her to use the spoon to fill a bowl with “peas.”
More Fun!
• Add plastic forks to the activity. See if your child can catch the “peas” on her fork.
• Encourage your child to use her index fingers to “smoosh” the peas.
Disappearing Holes
Gives your child experience using scissors and improves his eye-hand coordination
What You Need
polka-dot shapes (see Polka-Dot Shapes activity on page 84) | child-safe scissors
What to Do
• Do the Polka-Dot Shapes activity on page 84 . After this, your child will have a sheet of paper with holes forming a shape (circle, square, triangle).
• Show him how to use scissors to cut out the shape by cutting through the centers of the punched holes. The cut-out shapes will have scalloped edges when he finishes cutting through the holes along the edges.
• Encourage him to stay on the polka dots as he cuts out the shapes.
• Invite him to feel and explore the edges of these new shapes.
• If your child isn’t developmentally ready to cut out more elaborate shapes, use the hole punch to form simple lines (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) for him to cut.
Making a Wreath
Develops your child’s scissor skills and bilateral hand skills
What You Need
paper plates | glue sticks or small container of glue for dipping | tissue paper | child-safe scissors
What to Do
• Show your child how to fold a paper plate in half.
• Encourage her to cut a semi-circle around the inside of the paper plate.
• Unfold the plate to reveal a “wreath.”
• Help your child decorate the wreath by tearing small pieces of tissue paper and squeezing the paper into balls.
• Give her a glue stick to use to cover the “wreath” in glue, or dip each tissue paper ball into glue.
• Glue the tissue balls onto the wreath. When the glue dries, display the wreath prominently.
• Help your child punch two holes at the top of the wreath and lace yarn or ribbon through the holes so that she can hang the wreath.
More Fun!
• Use the wreath as a frame for a picture—either something your child has created or for a photo. Give it as a gift!
Paper Chains
Gives your child experience using scissors
What You Need
construction paper | child-safe scissors | glue sticks
What to Do
• Show your
child how to cut strips of paper. Draw lines on the paper for your child to follow, if needed.
• Ask him to cut strips of construction paper.
• Show him how to glue the ends of the paper to form circles, and then how to link the circles together to make paper chains.
More Fun!
• Use the paper chains as decorations during holidays, for special occasions, or as measuring tools. For instance, he can measure his height with the chains.
• Cut different lengths of paper so the circles are different sizes.
• Use other kinds of paper, such as magazine pages, wrapping paper, and so on.
Place Mats
Helps your child become more adept at using scissors
What You Need
construction paper or large, plain paper bags cut into rectangles | variety of writing utensils, such as crayons, markers, paint, and glitter glue | laminating materials or clear contact paper | child-safe scissors
What to Do
• Encourage your child to decorate her construction paper or cardboard place mat in whatever way she wishes.
Everyday Play Page 4