Fine Motor Skills, Occupational Therapy Activities

Super Fun Fine Motor Activity That Kids will Love

Colleen Beck OTR/L

Colleen Beck, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist and the owner and author of The OT Toolbox website. She manages all of The OT Toolbox social media accounts and runs the popular newsletter. Colleen created The OT Toolbox in 2011 and since then has written thousands of blog posts designed to support therapy providers, educators, parents, counselors, admin, and caregivers in promoting the healthy development of kids. Check out Colleen's blog posts below:

by Colleen Beck OTR/L
October 27, 2015

We’ve been on a bit of a fine motor and grasp roll around here! The last couple of days, you might have seen tips and ideas to work on precision in grasp and types of fine motor grasps.

Today, I’ve got a fun activity for you that really works on fine motor skills. And the bonus is that it is a super big hit with the kids.

Every time.

Can you tell from the picture below what we used to work on neat pincer grasp? Any guesses?

You can scroll down to the comments and take a guess of what you think we might have used to work on neat pincer grasp…or you can just keep reading. Both are cool.

Back to our neat pincer grasp activity. This was an absolute blast.

Neat Pincer Grasp activity to work on fine motor skills with kids using the precision grasp of neat pincer grasp.

Neat Pincer Grasp Activity for Fine Motor Function

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First, let’s talk about Neat Pincer Grasp. What is it? And what makes a grasp “neat”? While I am a believer that all things fine motor is pretty darn neat, the thing about a neat pincer grasp is actually the fact that it’s used for ultra-small grasping. I explained a bit about what neat pincer grasp is over here.

Neat Pincer Grasp is a precision grasp using the very tips of the thumb and the pointer finger to pick up and hold very small items. Sometimes, the fingernails are used in the grasp of items. Neat pincer grasp is used to pick up and hold a pin, a needle in sewing activities, or super small beads like Perler Beads. This can be a tricky grasp for kids with difficulties in fine motor skills or core weakness.

So? Did you guess what those stripes are up above? It’s tape! We used tape in a fine motor activity a while back and it was such a hit that I had to pull out the activity again. In fact, the last time we used tape in fine motor play, my third kiddo was about the age of my fourth baby is now. And my littlest one loved this activity as much as her big sister did two years ago.

Simply stick masking tape to a table or plastic surface. We used the lid of a storage bin at first. And then did the activity again using a dry erase board. You want a surface that is easy to pull the tape off without pulling off bits of paper, for example.

RELATED ACTIVITY: Try this DIY Pick-Up Stick Activity to work on pincer grasp.

Pulling the tape from the surface requires a tip to tip neat pincer grasp and is a great fine motor workout, with the sticky back of the tape. It’s such a fun strengthening and sensory experience for kids who might not typically play with tape.

We decided to add a little color to our tape play and painted long pieces of masking tape with brightly colored paint. This poster paint
is my favorite for it’s bright color that doesn’t thin as it dries.

Get the kids in on the painting fun for tool use with the paint brushes. Let the paint dry. Have your kids peel the long strips of tape from the dry erase board. Peeling those long strands of tape is another workout for little fingers. Not only do they have to use a neat pincer grasp to pick at and peel up the edge of the tape, they need to peel up long strands with coordination and control to keep the tape from sticking on itself. This can be a tricky activity for adults, depending on how long the tape strands are. If you’ve ever painted walls and peeled off the painter’s tape, then you know the stickiness of masking tape.

Tape sticking to itself isn’t a problem, though. Show your kids how to stick it to paper and create artwork with the painted tape. Tear the tape into small pieces for an intrinsic muscle strengthening exercise.