Looking for winter fine motor activities that boost the skills kids need? These fine motor ideas develop the skills that kids need for tasks like handwriting, pencil grasp, cutting with scissors, managing clothing fasteners, and more. You'll find winter activities that boost hand strength, grasp, precision and endurance in the hands...all through play! We've even got free arctic animal fine motor worksheets for you, so scroll on! 

First, stop by our fine motor skills library for tons of ideas to work on the motor skills kids need.

It has been fun sharing winter activities this week! If you missed any of the posts, be sure to check them out below. We've talked about indoor recess ideas for winter, brain break ideas, and activities to address bilateral coordination skills, and even mindfulness! You will have ideas for a season of development!

Check out the Winter Activities on the site this week: 

Monday- Indoor Recess Ideas

Tuesday- Winter Brain Break Ideas

Wednesday- Winter Bilateral Coordination Activities

Thursday-Winter Mindfulness Activities

Friday- Winter Fine Motor Activities (TONS of  Free Printables!)

Now on to today's topic, fine motor activities!

Winter Fine Motor Activities

This beaded snowflake craft from Early Learning Ideas encourages bilateral coordination, separation of the sides of the hand, precision, in-hand manipulation, and a tripod grasp...with pretty results!

Use paper hole reinforcers to improve precision and dexterity by forming letters and names like Fun-a-Day did. 

We used those same hole reinforcer stickers to make a fine motor snowman craft that boosts skills like tip to tip precision, separation of the sides of the hand, and arch strength. 

If you're looking for another craft idea, then this clothespin snowman craft uses a clothespin clip to really work the muscles of the hand. Move that snowman around and clip him onto bags, coats, and books! 

If you're looking for a fine motor activity for kindergarten kids, then this sight word tic tac toe game is the ticket! Kids can make the game pieces, and move them around to play a game of tic tac toe while strengthening skills like tip to tip grasp, arch development, separation of the sides of the hand, and finger isolation.

For more craft ideas that boost fine motor skills, check out all of these winter bird crafts. You'll find ideas for strengthening the hands and other fine motor skills while making cute bird crafts, bird feeders, and other activities. 

If working on scissor skills is a priority, a paper snowflake is the way to go this winter. But what if you took the paper snowflake up a notch by cutting cupcake liners? This cupcake liner paper snowflake activity boosts hand strength with a pretty result!

Working on pencil grasp? You don't need a pencil! Make this snowflake stamp art and promote the fine motor skills that are needed for a functional grasp: separation of the sides of the hand, arch development, and an open thumb web space for example. This creative winter painting idea has a sensory component, too.

Arctic Animal Fine Motor Worksheets 

To end out the Winter Week here on The OT Toolbox, I wanted to create a few free fine motor worksheets for you. These are arctic animal worksheets that cover a variety of different fine motor abilities:

Play Dough Roll Mat- We've shared some free play dough mats before. They are perfect for developing fine motor skills and hand strength needed for tasks like coloring with endurance, manipulating small items, and holding a pencil. Kids can roll small balls of play dough with just their fingertips to strengthen the intrinsic muscles. This Arctic Animal theme play dough mat can be used all winter long!

Pencil Control Worksheet- Connect the arctic animals and stay on the shaded lines while mastering pencil control. Some of the lines are small and are a great way to strengthen the hands, too.

Arctic Animal Cutting Strips- Work on scissor skills to cut along lines to reach the arctic animal friends. This is a great way to strengthen the motor and visual skills needed for cutting with scissors.

Arctic Animal Clip Cards- Cut out the cards and clip clothespins to match the number on the cards. If you laminate the cards, you can use them over and over again and write on the section below the number. Kids can practice tracing the number and then writing the word for the number. Pinching clothespins onto these cards is a great way to strengthen the hands while incorporating other skills like handwriting.

All four fine motor worksheets are included in this fine motor set and it's totally free! 

Just enter your email in the box below so the set can be delivered directly to your email inbox. Enjoy!

Arctic Animal Fine Motor Set

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Teaching kids mindfulness techniques can be a way to incorporate self-awareness, self-regulation, and the senses. The winter months, can be a time when mindfulness is especially necessary. The winter mindfulness activities for kids listed below include tips for mindfulness in the classroom and creative mindfulness exercises with a winter theme. These mindfulness activities can be used as a support for so many occupational therapy goal areas. In fact, the benefits of mindfulness are many! Read on to learn more.

You may also be interested in checking out a previous post here on The OT Toolbox where we shared a collection of videos on Mindfulness for Kids over on YouTube.

Winter Mindfulness Activities for Kids

This post is part of our Winter Week here on The OT Toolbox. Each day this week, we're sharing creative winter activities that can be used in occupational therapy plans, therapy home programs, the classroom, or home! 

Check out the Winter Activities on the site this week: 

Monday- Indoor Recess Ideas

Tuesday- Winter Brain Break Ideas

Wednesday- Winter Bilateral Coordination Activities

Thursday-Winter Mindfulness Activities

Friday- Winter Fine Motor Activities (AND Free Fine Motor Printables!)

Now on to today's topic, mindfulness activities!

What is mindfulness? 

 First, let's talk about what is mindfulness. Mindfulness is the ability to be aware of one's actions and self in the moment. Mindfulness is an important part of self-regulation and the ability to regulate our senses, feelings, and body. It allows us to focus on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting what's happening on the inside: in our feelings, thoughts, or sensations.

Mindfulness is a skill that allows us to be aware of our body without responding rashly. In kids, mindfulness is important in the ability to pay attention and responding to input from the world around us.

For kids, mindfulness is noticing their body and the things happening around them. It has a lot to do with impulse control. Just like any other skill, mindfulness is an ability that develops over time.

It's easy to see how this skill relates to so many other areas that occupational therapists address: self-regulation, self-confidence, attention, social-emotional skills, coping skills, sensory processing, impulsivity and inhibition, and overall well being.

It's a big part of treating the whole person!

How to Teach Mindfulness

There are ways to develop and refine self-awareness. The good thing to know that as occupational therapists, we are skilled in the areas that play into mindfulness: sensory processing (including interoception), coping strategies, self-awareness, and self-regulation.

It's important to recognize that there is no one way to teach mindfulness. Each child is different and with different needs, strengths, and interests. The winter themed mindfulness activities below are just some strategies that teach the skill of self-awareness in a variety of ways. They all have one thing in common though...they are all winter themed!

Winter Mindfulness Activities for Kids

Sensory Snow Painting- If you live in an area with snow, bring some indoors and pull out the watercolors. We shared an activity when this website was just a baby site on painting snow with watercolors. Add some calm and quiet music as you paint to make it a mindful act. Slowly and deliberately attend to the watercolors as they mix together. Add slow breathing for a mindfulness activity that results in a sensory component.

Use what you've got! This post from Grow Wise Yoga shares tons of easy and creative ways to use everyday materials in winter themed indoor mindfulness activities. I love that there are suggestions to use craft pom poms, beads, clay, scarves, and other materials that promote fine and gross motor skills in the act of mindfulness, too!

Make a Winter Themed Sensory Bottle- Blue glitter, water, snowflake sparkles or beads...this sounds like a winter sensory bottle idea that would make a great mindfulness tool! In fact, kids can use a sensory bottle to calm down, focus on the moment, concentrate on breathing, and attend to the present moment. A sensory bottle is a mindfulness tool that can be used as a coping strategy and in self-regulation. Here are tips and suggestions for how to make a sensory bottle.

Attending to a sound or sounds can be a way to mindfully focus in a moment. We've shared auditory processing activities here on The OT Toolbox that can help with this skill. Some ideas include listening with concentration to a single sound as it moves around a room or changes in volume. Some tools that we've shared on our auditory processing page include DIY shaker bottles, bell dominos, DIY rhythm sticks and other tools.

Stretch and move- Intentional breathing combined with stretch as in yoga stretches can be a strategy to teach mindfulness. This Winter Yoga Pack from the physical therapist at Pink Oatmeal has printable cards that can be used over and over again (with the whole family!) in mindfulness.

Practice Guided Mindfulness- Counselor Kori has some great winter themed printable resources that guide mindfulness including a hot cocoa activity and craft, a snowglobe activity and craft, and a snowman mindfulness activity. These can be used to teach mindfulness while exercising the ability to refocus with a centered breathing pattern.

Guided Meditation and Relaxation Script- Follow a guided script to recenter with meditation and mindfulness. Greenchild has some free guided meditation scripts for kids that you can follow within a theme during the winter or all year round.

Looking for more Winter Activities? Be sure to check out the other activites we're sharing this week!

You may also be interested in:

Sensory Coping Strategies for Kids

Sensory Play Activities

One Simple Coping Strategy That Really Works

Self-Reflection Activities for Kids

Bilateral coordination is a big topic in child development. The fact is that the coordinated use of the hands is a tricky skill for many kids. Using the hands together in tasks is necessary for hand dominance and tasks like handwriting, managing clothing fasteners, catching and throwing a ball, fine motor tasks, and so many other skills. Below you will find winter bilateral coordination activities. These are winter themed activities that improve bilateral integration and can be used in occupational therapy activities in the winter months. Scroll through the activities below and add them to your therapy toolbox this winter!

Winter Bilateral Coordination Activities

This post is part of our Winter Week series here on The OT Toolbox. Each day this week, we are sharing activities, ideas, and tips for getting the kids active and moving...and working on occupational therapy goals in the winter months. This time of year can be tough on therapists; It's right after the holidays. If in a cold weather environment, it can be a glum and gloomy time of year with cold temps and shorter days. It can be hard to come up with fresh ideas! That's why I decided a Winter Week was in order. Each day this week, you'll find winter themed activities designed to meet occupational therapy goal areas in fun ways. Here's what's going on this week: 

Monday- Indoor Recess Ideas

Tuesday- Winter Brain Break Ideas

Wednesday- Winter Bilateral Coordination Activities

Thursday-Winter Mindfulness Activities

Friday- Winter Fine Motor Activities (AND Free Fine Motor Printables!)

On to the Winter Bilateral Coordination Activities! Have fun in OT these winter months!

First, What is Bilateral Coordination?

In short, bilateral coordination is the use of both hands together in a coordinated manner. There are three components of bilateral coordination, which include Symmetrical movements, Reciprocal movements, and Dominant hand/supporting hand movements. 

These movements require both sides of the body.  Also called bilateral integration, the movements of both hands together in activities requires processing and integration of both hemispheres of the brain to enable both hands working together at the same time.

Bilateral coordination is needed for skills like: eating, writing, coloring, drawing, self-dressing, brushing one's teeth, playing, tying shoes, and so much more!

The winter themed bilateral coordination activities below are ideas for activities that can help to work on coordinated use of both hands in fun activities!

Winter Themed Bilateral Coordination Activities

1. Cutting Paper Snowflakes- Folding and cutting are bilateral coordination activities that require both hands being used together. Make paper snowflakes with different textures or types of papers to put a fun spin on this winter activity. Try making paper snowflakes with cupcake liners, paper bags, tissue paper, or large construction paper sheets!


2. Paper Snowmen- Remember making strands of paper dolls? Try making a strand of paper snowmen while working on bilateral coordination while folding and cutting the snowmen.

3. Lacing Mittens- Make a cardboard set of mittens and poke holes around the edges. Then lace with cord, yarn, or string like Fun Family Crafts did with their mitten lacing activity. Lacing is a bilateral coordination activity that boost the skills kids need for tasks like handwriting. Read more about how lacing is such a great activity for kids here. 

4. Play Dough Snowmen- Mixing and rolling dough is a fantastic bilateral coordination activity. Here's why: By mixing dough, both hands are working together against resistance of the dough, providing a sensory component in the form of proprioception. This feedback can provide a powerful muscle memory to the hands as they work. Kids can mix, stir, and knead while strengthening the hands and arms. This Baking soda dough is perfect for creating snowmen, which require rolling and building...and more bilateral coordination!

5. Snowman Sensory Bag- This is such a fun sensory activity that allows kids to work both hands together to move parts of a snowman face while working on finger isolation and dexterity. This snowman sensory bag version from Mama Papa Bubba is very cute!

Be sure to stop back the rest of this week to find more winter activities to inspire movement and development! 


Looking for more bilateral coordination ideas? Try these: 

Development of Bilateral Coordination and Feeding

Bilateral Coordination Lacing Plate

Bilateral Coordination Activity with Pop Tubes

Bilateral Coordination and Visual Motor Activity with Hearts

Bilateral Coordination and Visual Motor Activity Clover

Homemade and Store Bought Lacing Cards for Bilateral Coordination Skills