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Essential tools for supporting your toddler and preschooler’s fine motor development

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Fine motor development is one of the most important skills your child needs for school and beyond. Developing these skills can be easy with the right knowledge and tools and can happen quite naturally in the everyday life and play of our children.

As parents, our task is give our children lots of opportunities and experiences where they can build strength and coordination in the small muscles of their tiny hands.

This page contains a list of basic tools you can use to facilitate your child’s fine motor development. These are the kinds of tools I have found useful for my own children as they’ve been developing through the toddler and preschooler stages.

Essential tools for developing early writing skills

Bridge the gap between using crayons and pencils with these twistable crayons. They have the same texture as crayons but because they’re longer require the same kind of control used in using a pencil.

These jumbo crayons have a triangular shape which is comfortable for little hands and fosters the development of the tripod grasp.

This magnetic drawing board is a favorite in our home. Easy to draw on, easy to swipe, no messes and can be used on car trips too.

Tools for developing scissor skills

These scissors are a great starting place for developing scissor skills. They’re safe to use as they have the blunt tip and have a plastic blade. The little lever helps to open up the scissors between cuts which makes it easier for little hands that are new to this skill. Can be used by left- or right-handed littles.

When your little one is ready to upgrade to training scissors with a steel blade, these are the ones! The little lever helps to open up the scissors between cuts which makes it easier for little hands that are new to this skill. Can be used by left- or right-handed littles.

These fun scissor skills activities are a great way to practice those cutting skills.

Tools for Playdough play

Playdough is such a valuable tool to build strength in those little hands. This basic kit will have your kiddos busy for hours!

Shape, model and mold exciting playdough creations with these fun playdough tools.

These playdough tools allow your little one to manipulate playdough in a variety of ways to build strength and coordination in their little hands.

Tools for painting

Facilitate hours of creativity as your child paints with their fingers, paint brushes, sponges or a variety of other tools.

Keep all your little one’s creative endeavors in one neat paper pad instead of trying to find a blank paper they can paint on and then having a hundred bits of paper lying around.

How fun are these tools designed to take your child’s painting creativity to a whole new level?! With a variety of brushes and sponges and rollers the possibilities are endless!

Other goodies perfect for fine motor development

These little fluffy pompoms can be used for SO many things when it comes to fine motor skills. From crafts to correcting pencil grip, they’re a must have.

This kit is a fun alternative that includes different types of tweezers or tongs to build our child’s fine motor strength as they sort the pompoms into different colors.

From practicing threading skills to sculpting more complex creations, these pipe cleaners are an essential to add to any fine motor kit.

Stickers are always a win with little people. Use these round stickers for crafts and simple activities like placing stickers along lines of shapes, letter and numbers.

This simple bead and lacing set is a great way to build fine motor strength and coordination while developing color recognition, counting and patterns as well!

Add some extra fun to fine motor activities with these cute little stickers that come in all sorts of shapes and themes.

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