Busy Fingers: Fine Motor Fun (EYFS)

Inside Busy Fingers: Fine Motor Fun (EYFS)

hold your pencil with a comfy grip and trace wavy lines, trace curves, zig-zags and patterns, trace letters and numbers, snip and cut along dotted lines with scissors, then thread, peg and squish playdough at home. Take it slowly and have fun — about 60 minutes at a time.

Learning objectives

• holding a pencil with a comfortable, effective grip in preparation for fluent writing;
• tracing lines, curves, zig-zags and patterns to build control and hand strength;
• beginning to form recognisable letters and numbers by tracing over guides;
• using scissors safely to snip and cut along a line;
• developing hand and finger strength through threading, tweezers, pegs, playdough and colouring inside the lines.

Activities in this book

1. Play 1 — Comfy Pencil Grip

   hold your pencil gently between your thumb and first two fingers, like you are pinching a little crumb. Rest your hand on the table and let it move slowly — there is no rush.

2. Play 2 — Trace the Patterns

   say the shape out loud as you trace — "up and over" for a curve, "zig, zag, zig" for a zig-zag. Slow and steady stays on the line best.

3. Play 3 — Trace Letters & Numbers

   start each letter and number where the little green dot is. Take your time — forming letters neatly is much more important than going fast.

4. Play 4 — Snip & Cut with Scissors

   always use child-safe scissors and cut sitting down with a grown-up nearby. Hold the paper with one hand and open and close the scissors with the other — snip, snip, snip!

5. Play 5 — Busy Hands at Home

   threading, pegs, tweezers and playdough are wonderful for busy fingers — and they are everywhere at home. Have fun and take your time together.

Suggestions for teaching

• Keep it playful and short. Five to ten minutes of busy fingers is plenty — stop while it is still fun.
• Model the pencil grip. Show the "pinch a crumb" tripod grip and let your child copy you, rather than correcting their hand over and over.
• Trace together first. Guide their hand along a dotted line once, then let them try on their own.
• Scissors need a grown-up. Use child-safe scissors, sit down to cut, and start with little snips before cutting along a line.
• Strengthen fingers through play. Threading beads, using pegs and tweezers, and squishing playdough all build the same muscles as writing.