Lacing & threading activities
- Thread beads, cotton reels, buttons, etc.
- Punch holes in cardboard to make lacing boards
- Punching of holes in any paper
- Lace around edge of cardboard box/ polystyrene tray
- Sewing cards
- Pushing spaghetti sticks through a straw
Stacking & building activities
- Stack building blocks
- Stack household items e.g. washers, nuts, plastic containers, etc.
- Construction toys e.g. Lego
Winding, twisting & screwing activities
- Nut and bolt toys
- Screw/unscrew containers e.g. jars, bottles
Tweezers type task activities
- Put clothes pegs on and off the sides of containers
- Peg doll\s clothes on a play washing line
- Transfer items, e.g. beans, with tweezers and tongs from one container to another
Puzzles
- Commercial puzzles
- Let your child make their own puzzles by gluing a picture onto cardboard and cut into pieces
- Cut a picture from magazine or colouring in book into pieces and have your child reassemble the picture.
Cutting, tearing, folding activities
- Cut out magazine/newspaper pictures
- Variety of materials e.g. polystyrene to cut
- Controlled tearing of newspaper/ magazine paper
- Folding of paper e.g. fans
- Wrapping/unwrapping activities
Nesting activites
- Nesting toys
- Nesting boxes, tupperware or cups from biggest to smallest.
In-hand manipulation activities
- Turning pages of a book
- Picking up coins, beans, beads, etc. Try and pick up more than one and hold in same hand
- Stapling
- Syringes
Balance and stacking
- Toys to balance & stand up on one another
- Figurine animals, people, trees, blocks, dominoes, etc. can also be stacked and balanced.
Games involving timing
Play with a timer and time:
- Sorting objects
- Turning cards over
- Matching objects
- Putting pegs into a pegboards
Article by Heather Light