Recommendations for Fine Motor Toys, Tools & Cool Activity Ideas

Top Five Favorite Fine Motor Tools

Yep, the first one isn't fine motor related at all! That said, kids that can't sit still have a hard time with all things fine motor, so sometimes you have to start there. These chair feet are game changers for many students! They allow just enough of the right kind of wiggle. This type of pencil grip is great for training little fingers to hold the pencil using an optimal grasp, and it looks like a cobra which makes it cool. I love click tiles, hole punches and snap beads! If I could only have three fine motor toys in my school bag, these would be the ones. I will be rolling out a new demonstration video every week to highlight multiple uses for these tools - starting with these favorites.

The perfect solution for alternative seating. These chair feet fit on most standard school chairs. They provide just the right amount of controlled movement for students who need it. These are my number one pick for classroom seating support.

This is my go-to pencil grip for students of all ages. I have found that after using them consistently for several months, students demonstrate a more functional grasp, even without the grip. Use is straight forward, and you can see if the student is holding incorrectly from across the room.

These click tiles are an all-in-one activity. It works on visual attention, pincer grasp, wrist rotation and bilateral skills all at the same time, making it a perfect fine motor activity. Very portable, easy to clean and kids really like them.

These, easy to squeeze, decorative punches are big enough and easy enough for young kids to operate. Targeted skills include hand eye coordination to line the paper up in the punch slot and finger strength to push down on the lever. Kids like the paper cuts outs as much as they like punching holes in the paper.

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So many students write better when they have lines. There are a ton of applications for these stamps that make writing lines. Adding lines to worksheets, thinking maps and the name/date part of the paper can boost your struggling writer's performance and handwriting self-esteem. These line rollers don't roll 100% straight all the time, but they help students write far straighter than they might without lines. A lot of the school day is spent writing; I am all about things that help our struggling writers out.

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Skill areas include: visual attention, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination and finger pinch. There is also a satisfying "pop" sound when you disconnect them.

Suction toys are a bit hit with kids! Skill areas include: visual attention, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination and finger pinch. They can also suction to the table so you can build tall creations.

Skill areas include: visual attention, hand-eye coordination and precision finger skills. The texture of the two sides also has a nice tactile sensory feel.

Skill areas include: visual attention and hand-eye coordination. Very popular with younger elementary kids because you can create your own unique dinosaur by mixing and matching parts. You really need two sets if using them for a center.

Skill areas include: visual attention, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination and finger pinch. These are a little easier for younger kids with emerging fine motor skills because they are thicker and easier to line up to click together than some of the other tiles.

Skill areas include: visual attention, hand-eye coordination and precision finger skills. These designer snap beads have somewhat of a jewelry vibe but kids like the variety of shapes and textures. These are fairly easy to snap together.

Skill areas include: visual attention, hand-eye coordination and basic grasping skills. A simple activity for younger kids working on basic shape and color concepts.

These magnetic blocks use a variety of skills including visual attention, hand-eye coordination and basic finger grasp. They are magnetic so they stay together which is great for kids with emerging fine motor skills. Kids like them because they resemble a certain building block video game. These make a good independent work center activity, but you might need two sets depending on how big your center groups are.

These click tiles are an all-in-one activity. It works on visual attention, pincer grasp, wrist rotation and bilateral skills all at the same time, making it a perfect fine motor activity. Very portable, easy to clean and kids really like them.

Snap beads are great for improving bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination and finger pinch strength. You need to line them up visually, hold on tight with your fingers and use those hand muscles to snap them together. Depending on the level of resistance in the beads, these can be difficult for kids with emerging strength and coordination but perfect for older kids and those with more established strength and coordination.

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Wooden stacking blocks are visually appealing because they look a bit like gems. I have several students who are "stackers" and love to see how high they can build. They also make a good adult fidget.

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These come in a three pack of star, heart and circle shapes. You use your whole hand to squeeze them like a normal hole punch. Smaller hands might have trouble grasping all the way around, but they are easy to squeeze, and most kids do just fine with them.

Decorative Hole Punches, Stamps & Stencils

These decorative punches are great for students who need more of a fine motor challenge. They require some finger strength, or you can press down using your palm. There are a lot of cool shapes in this multipack of punches.

These easy to squeeze decorative punches are big enough and easy enough for young kids to operate. Targeted skills include hand eye coordination to line the paper up in the punch slot and finger strength to push down on the lever. Kids like the paper cuts outs as much as they like punching holes in the paper.

These are the larger, high-quality stencils that will stand up to lots of use. I use them with a clip board to help keep them still while tracing. These are easy to clean and come in several different picture themes.

These stencils are offer a little more detail. They are larger, high-quality stencils that will stand up to lots of use. I use them with a clip board to help keep them still while tracing. They are easy to clean.

These are the larger, high-quality stencils that will stand up to lots of use. I use them with a clip board to help keep them still while tracing. These are easy to clean and come in several different picture themes.

These alphabet stencils are smaller, high quality and they work well on scratch art paper and the electronic drawing tablets. I use a clip board with regular paper and the scratch art paper and tape to secure them to the electronic drawing tablets.

Very basic and durable starter stencils for younger kids. They include spring open scissors.

Skill areas include: visual attention, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination and finger pinch. This set includes a bunch of different activities all in one - sorting, lacing, stacking and is a higher quality item.

Fine motor tools and toys for younger children and those with emerging skills

Skill areas include: visual attention, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination and finger pinch. You can stack by matching the pattern, by color or by shape.

These tweezer tongs fit well in little hands and they are virtually indestructible. Skill areas include: visual attention, hand-eye coordination, and finger pinch. Great for prewriting skills development.

Lacing is a great for working on skill areas including: visual attention, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination and finger pinch.

I am not sure exactly what these are called but I refer to them as electronic doodle pads. The are great because no paper or writing utensils are needed. I use them with stencils. They come in multi packs which make them affordable for centers and groups.

These dough extruders work by putting dough in and then pushing it out making a variety of designs. These work best with softer doughs.

Egg crayons are great for younger kids with early emerging fine motor skills.

Magnet wands and tiles are a lot of fun. You can use things other than the tiles, like paper clips or small metal objects. These are not super high quality, but get the job done.

This shark grabber is super popular with kids and works on whole hand grasp while also being very entertaining.

Animal foam magnets stick nicely to cheap metal pans. You can trace the shapes with a permanent marker to make a shape matching activity or copy the pictures and tape them to the pan so you can match the magnet to its picture.

This is a smaller peg activity. It comes with a variety of animal picture cards and a wooden base that holds all the parts. This an inexpensive, lower quality product.

This egg matching set works well for simple matching but also works as a memory game - like the old card game where you turn one card over then have to remember where the matching card is.

Get those fingers working with nuts and bolts letter matching.

A hands on letter/object matching activity. Kids get good at finding the object they want without being able to see it.