Try this fun finger gym idea using unit blocks and marbles to help your children develop their fine motor skills.
Fine motor skills finger gym with unit blocks and marbles
Fine motor skills are so important for our children; they need them to fasten buttons, tie laces, and hold a pen and write well.
There are many ways we can help our children to develop their fine motor skills through fun play activities. Try this finger gym idea which uses marbles and unit blocks.
How to set up the finger gym activity
Set out a pile of unit blocks and a dish of marbles.
It’s a good idea to set this finger gym out on a large tray, or a dish with raised sides, or a tuff tray: use a surface with slightly raised sides so any loose marbles don’t escape.
Invite your children to make towers with the unit blocks, and then see if they can balance a marble on top.
Marbles and unit blocks are great loose parts to include in a finger gym.
Pulling the unit blocks apart and snapping them together builds finger and hand strength.
Picking up marbles exercises a pincer grip, where children are encouraged to co-ordinate their thumb and first finger.
They need to use hand-eye co-ordination to place the marble on top.
If they find it a challenge, or their marble falls, that’s OK. Encourage them to have another try. Practice is the key!
Variations and extensions
Can they build a series of towers, one with one block, a next with two blocks, a next with three blocks..?
Can they build a tower using only one colour of blocks?
Can they build a tower with a repeating pattern of blocks: one pink, one blue, one pink, one blue..?
More fine motor skills finger gym ideas
Try these other fine motor skill finger gym ideas from NurtureStore library of resources:
More ways to use marbles
And use your marbles in other ways with these ideas:
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