Fine Motor Activity for Kindergarten

I am lucky that where I teach includes a play based program for our preschool/kindergarten children. I always prefer hands-on activities and love the learning that comes from them. When I create centers for children to rotate through and explore each day, I try to include at least one fine motor activity for kindergarten each day.

Fine motor skills can be anything that children have to focus while doing and make small, precise movements with their hands and fingers. They are also great for hand eye-coordination.

This fine motor activity uses simple materials you probably already have on hand if you work with kids, or have children at home. It’s really easy to set up and is open ended for kids to create and build whatever they want.

As with any activity with young children, make sure children do not put buttons or pieces in their mouths. If your group is not old enough to create with buttons, without concern of them putting them in their mouth, this is not an appropriate activity.

For more hands-on ideas for young children, perfect for the classroom, check out a collection of 35 Loose Parts Play Ideas and 20+ Sensory Tray Ideas for lots of hands-on learning!

Fine Motor Activity for Kindergarten Materials

For this activity you will need the following materials:

• Pipe Cleaners
• Buttons
• Styrofoam Board
• Beads (Optional)

Once you have all of your materials, you’re ready to set them up for kids to use.

Place all of the buttons in a container or bowl and the pipe cleaners in another container. The more of each material you can offer to children, the better. The more supplies they have, the more detailed and creative their project will become.

Simply set the materials out for children to start creating! I didn’t give children much instruction

Fine Motor Activity Challenge

I had a few Styrofoam boards left over from a project that I thought there must be some use for in kindergarten. I added the buttons and pipe cleaners to create this center and was pleasantly surprised by how popular it was. My students loved it!

There were children who stayed at the center almost the whole time and were focused and creating with such engagement that I had to share this center idea with you!

Some children decided to color coordinate the pipe cleaners and buttons. This created a really beautiful board with a rainbow of colors. Other kids decided to add some matching beads to their pipe cleaners.

Children may twist and combine several pipe cleaners through buttons. They can poke it into the foam board to create an arch or leave it standing tall.

Children will learn if they add too many beads their pipe cleaner will tip and fall. They may learn that adding more buttons to the bottom will help steady and stabilize their pipe cleaner.

I left the board out with the supplies and my students created a beautiful piece of art. It may look like a wild creation, but each pipe cleaner and button were thoughtfully placed in each spot.

This is a great fine motor activity in the classroom or at home.

Classroom Activity Extension Ideas

If you want to use this center for a specific theme, you can cover the Styrofoam with tissue paper or you can paint it. You can also offer specific, color coded pipe cleaners and buttons. For example, for Christmas, I paint the Styrofoam gold and offer, red, green and sparkle pipe cleaners and similar colored buttons.

If you have an older group creating, you can challenge them to create something specific. For example, challenge them to see how high they can make their structures. You can also challenge them to create something that resembles a house, forest, playground or even their classroom. The possibilities are endless!