If your child is struggling his or her way through preschool, the cause may be their fine motor skills are not at a decent level. Now, it's not always a cause for concern; some children just develop them more quickly than others. If you notice your child struggling to write, you can do things at home to help develop his or her motor skills. Here are some fun activities you child can do for practice.

Make pasta jewelry

Materials needed:

  • String or thread
  • Pasta with holes in the center (penne, macaroni)

It make sound silly, but making pasta necklaces is a perfect way to tune your child's fine motor skills. It's a lot of work for a child to thread pasta onto a string. Practicing it over and over again will promote hand-eye coordination. Start with pasta with slightly larger holes, such as penne, and work your way down to something smaller, such as macaroni, when it becomes easier.

Thread shapes

Materials needed:

  • Construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Yarn
  • A hole punch

Another way your child can gain sufficient motor skills is by threading different shapes. The finished product is also a fabulous decoration to hang up around the house. First, cut out different shapes with construction paper. Start with circles and squares, and move on to something more difficult like stars and hearts. Punch a hole at the top of each shape, and then punch holes along the edges of each shape. Keep the holes about a half inch from the top, and about a half inch to an inch apart so the paper between them doesn't rip.

Give your child the yarn to weave it through the holes. Start at the top, and have him or her weave through each hole all the way around until it's back through the top hole. Leave about 6 inches of slack at the end and tie the two ends together. Now you can hang it around the house as a decoration.

Write in shaving cream

Materials needed:

  • Foaming shaving cream
  • A smooth, flat surface

If you want to practice letters, writing in shaving cream is fun and doesn't feel like work. All you have to do is spray shaving cream all over a smooth, flat surface. Spread it out a bit so the entire surface is covered. Have your child use a finger to write letters in the shaving cream. When practicing letters, it can be better to start with your child's name than worry about learning the whole alphabet. Once his or her name is conquered, practice a few letters each day from the alphabet.

Bake bread

Materials needed:

  • Homemade bread ingredients

A great way to build your child's fine motor skills is to bake bread or anything else that requires kneading dough. Kneading the dough will build help build muscles in your child's hands needed to have fine motor skills. Try baking a fresh loaf every Saturday or twice a week if you can.

Spray bottle watering

Materials needed:

  • Spray bottle
  • Plants

If you have a garden or plants around the inside of you house, have your child mist the plants every day with a spray bottle. Squeezing the bottle over and over will build up hand muscles and improve fine motor skills.

Just about anything that build muscles in the hands or requires particular movements will improve your child's fine motor skills. Build, bake, and create every day to help your child. If your child is not improving and you are worried about a motor skill disorder, contact your child's pediatrician. However, these ideas will likely have your child writing and drawing easily at preschool, like Kid's Country Child Care & Learning Center, in no time.

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