St. Brigid's

Teaching your child fine motor skills enables them to grasp and move objects, reach for things and perform tasks using their hands. We need to teach our children how to use the muscles in their hands and it is so important that we do the majority of this in Early Start.

As a result of Covid-19 and staying at home, here is a list of activities you can do with your child at home. All of these activities can be done, hopefully, with items you already have at home. You will not need to buy anything! 

Pick one activity and stick to that activity for this whole week. Then next week, pick a different activity. Children love repeating activities and they get better at something when they do it over and over again. Don't rush them. Let them take their time and use this time to reflect on how your little person is developing the strength in their little hands. 

1. Get a shoelace. Tie a knot in the end of it and give your child a bowl of uncooked penne pasta. Let them thread the shoelace through the pasta until they have made a necklace!
2. Give your child an empty lunch box, or any box (without the lid) and lots of pegs. Get them to use only two fingers and place each peg on the side of the box. When all the pegs are on the box, don't just pull them off, get your child to use their two fingers again and one by one take the pegs off the box.
3. Get a large potato and ten cocktail sticks. While watching your child carefully, allow them to push each cocktail stick into the potato. When all ten are in, allow your child to carefully take them back out one by one! 
4. Pour a packet of rice onto a baking tray. Give your child a plastic cup/small box and a teaspoon. Ask them to carefully fill the cup by taking spoonfuls of rice and putting them into the cup.
5. Go out into your garden or a safe local field, walkway or path. Tell your child that you're going to collect treasure today and get them to collect pebbles, lots and lots of pebbles! They will pick these up using only two fingers and this repeated activity will strengthen their little muscles well!
6. Get a shaving foam container and lots and lots of hair bobbins. Ask your child to put the bobbins around the container. This requires a lot of hand eye coodination so your child will need lots of help with this activity!
7. Allow your child to cut paper with a scissors if you have a small enough one at home for them to use. 
8. Put small pieces of masking tape all over a plastic toy or teddy. Ask your child to peel off each piece of masking tape. 
9. If you have a money box at home, empty it and ask you child to put all of the coins back in.
10. Make playdough and have endless amounts of fun manipulating it! I will attach a very simple recipe.

https://kidsnclicks.com/homemade-playdough-recipe-without-cream-of-tartar/